Sweaty Ms. Betty says it's okay to sweat

The current culture of health and fitness for women is messed up, to say the least. We are on a mission to deconstruct the current perspectives and norms of female health and fitness and to contribute to the fostering revolution of women's health. We are gals who are committed to a healthy lifestyle and who are sick of the status quo of the world of female health and fitness.

[sweatymsbetty]

[sweatymsbetty]

I'd imagine that the image of a super muscular woman would read words such as "masculine, obsessed, training disorder, aggressive" or other negative words that are tacked onto women who display seemingly "masculine" characteristics, as opposed to just, characteristics. The scrutiny of the female form never ends and you can be fat, skinny, super toned, muscular or whatever and someone will always find something to say about you. The real strength doesn't lie in the amount of weight that you can lift, or the dress size that you can fit, but in being able to love yourself and to ignore all of the other people. And, despite the fact that I like what this image represents, I can't sign off without mentioning something about the typography. I hate it. I think it's the gradient within the type that I dislike the most, but it could also just be the font face. 

[sweatymsbetty]

On gym flirting

Here is a nice little article from Everyday Feminism on The feminist guide to non–creepy flirting. Just a disclaimer, as is already noted in the article, that it's written with the image of cisgender, heterosexual interactions but it's applicable really to all interactions. I'm not sure about the experience of everybody, but likely, the experiences of being a woman who might happen to also enjoy fitness, you've likely been hit on/harassed. It might come in the form of cat–calling on the street while you are outside running, it might come in the form of a dude making a rather lascivious comment to you at the gym which he perceives as a compliment. Either way, as humans, we understand that people flirt. If you're attracted to someone, you might want to get to know them better. But remember that a person never owes you their time, attention or space and especially you are a woman. Respect boundaries and unless that person at the gym or the person taking a jog gives you the go ahead that they want to talk to you, most likely they just want to focus on their work out and nothing else. I write this in light of transitioning from a training regime that is female dominated (circus) to one that is male dominated (boxing). So far, everything has been peachy keen but sadly, I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Wouldn't it be nice if for once, I was proven wrong?

[sweatymsbetty]

Fitspo Sucks: 5 Reasons Photos of Hot Women and Catchy Slogans Are Ruining The World

What is Fitspo? It's a popular buzzword, short for Fitness Inspiration, and it's used to inspire and motivate people to get fit and healthy. It usually involves photos of super fit, lean women, oft...

[sweatymsbetty]

The paradox of pink

I just want to find some boxing gloves that aren't pink. Is that so much to ask for?! Read on at Fit and Feminist about the paradox of pink.

Edit from Sweaty Ms.J:

R might be looking for boxing gloves, but I've been dealing with this pink paradox for ages when it comes to running gear. Eventually, I caved and I just started to buy pink stuff because it is bloody everywhere. I'm starting to wonder if the production of pink sporting goods is really just a self-fulfilling prophecy. Do sporting goods companies know that, eventually, women will just buy the pink because at least then all their sports gear will match? I've managed to pick up a few bits in blue, and of course the high viz yellow, but a significant portion of my running kit features at least some pink. 

[fit-fabstroid-blog]

[sweatymsbetty]

legit-fitness:

[brutereason]

Here’s the thing. Men in our culture have been socialized to believe that their opinions on women’s appearance matter a lot. Not all men buy into this, of course, but many do. Some seem incapable of entertaining the notion that not everything women do with their appearance is for men to look at. This is why men’s response to women discussing stifling beauty norms is so often something like “But I actually like small boobs!” and “But I actually like my women on the heavier side, if you know what I mean!” They don’t realize that their individual opinion on women’s appearance doesn’t matter in this context, and that while it might be reassuring for some women to know that there are indeed men who find them fuckable, that’s not the point of the discussion. Women, too, have been socialized to believe that the ultimate arbiters of their appearance are men, that anything they do with their appearance is or should be “for men.” That’s why women’s magazines trip over themselves to offer up advice on “what he wants to see you wearing” and “what men think of these current fashion trends” and “wow him with these new hairstyles.” While women can and do judge each other’s appearance harshly, many of us grew up being told by mothers, sisters, and female strangers that we’ll never “get a man” or “keep a man” unless we do X or lose some fat from Y, unless we moisturize//trim/shave/push up/hide/show/”flatter”/paint/dye/exfoliate/pierce/surgically alter this or that. That’s also why when a woman wears revealing clothes, it’s okay, in our society, to assume that she’s “looking for attention” or that she’s a slut and wants to sleep with a bunch of guys. Because why else would a woman wear revealing clothes if not for the benefit of men and to communicate her sexual availability to them, right? It can’t possibly have anything to do with the fact that it’s hot out or it’s more comfortable or she likes how she looks in it or everything else is in the laundry or she wants to get a tan or maybe she likes women and wants attention from them, not from men? The result of all this is that many men, even kind and well-meaning men, believe, however subconsciously, that women’s bodies are for them. They are for them to look at, for them to pass judgment on, for them to bless with a compliment if they deign to do so. They are not for women to enjoy, take pride in, love, accept, explore, show off, or hide as they please. They are for men and their pleasure.

Why You Shouldn’t Tell That Random Girl On The Street That She’s Hot » Brute Reason (via timididammae)

[fullpraxisnow]

[sweatymsbetty]

Casual Sexism in Fitness

I recently completed the Men's Health Survival of the Fittest in Edinburgh. It was a superb event, and I can't fault the organizers aside from the very man-centric goodie bags (what I am going to do with a body wash sample that also doubles as shave gel and shampoo?) but I get that it's an event put on by Men's Health and that's fine.

The casual sexism I'm talking about is happening on the Facebook page for the event. They've been posting photos from the various race locations and I've noticed an alarming trend. First up, there was a photo of a lady with an impressive physique at the Edinburgh event, dressed as Waldo/Wally, depending on your country. Rather than comment on the costume, or performance, the comments ranged from:

"8873 having a cheeky perve! Ha" (8873 being the bloke behind her in the photo who didn't look at all pervy)

The clever reply from someone else: "Whatever keeps you running!  Top tactics!"

"Tidy!"

and someone tagging his friend followed by "there's those two birds who we walked in next to..."

I thought it might have been an anomaly, until I viewed the photos from the Nottingham event. Another woman with a great body, and you get these comments:

"Doesn't look like a man to me..not complaining"

and from someone who I thought might know this woman, but doesn't seem to:

"She is stunning."

Is there just no hope for women being able to compete in sport without being reduced to their body? I've looked through other albums, and haven't come across a single similar comment on a man's body or his overall appearance.  Have we reached the point where some men see a photo of a woman on the internet and just assume that she's there for their consumption and critique?

[deodomuique-deactivated20171004]

[sweatymsbetty]

M v. F — What's your excuse version

What's your excuse? It's not a new sentiment that has been used over and over again in the realm of "fitspo" but lately it's been making a lot of controversy over the interweb with Maria Kang's fitspo photo. As, as usual there are the "haters" and the "supports" but all in all, it's just another version of the rhetoric of not just fat–shaming, but also of unrealistic standards for women. By the latter, I mean unrealistic standards that no matter what a woman does, society finds some way to fault her and this is done by men and women both. In the case of Maria Kang, she has been accused of not being a good mother because she spends all her time on herself. Doesn't this sound similar to other rhetorics such as a woman who chooses a career over a family is a selfish bitch? A woman who chooses to stay at home and raise children is a non–ambitious anti–feminist? A woman who chooses to dress provocatively is a slut who is "asking for it" and the list goes on and on. There was actually a cartoon I saw the other day that illustrated exactly this issue, but for the life of me I cannot find it. Anyway, I digress. Let's a take a cursory look at the "what's your excuses" meme and its varieties and how it is applied when it's women v. men.

Here we have the scandalous Maria Kang image:

  and some varieties that follow the same sentiment

But when it comes to men, this is what we see:

In my searches, I only found 2 examples of fitspo for women that featured women who would not be traditionally considered as the typical models for health and fitness and these were:

But notice how the only imagery that is not a beautiful, sexualized woman is the 82 year old woman? I'm not saying that the fitness industry doesn't reduce men and objectify them as well. But we all know that the pressures are different between the genders and it permeates throughout the entire industry. Through the magazines, images, clothes, materials and what have you that are marketed towards us. If you're a woman, it's not enough to be fit and healthy, you also have to have abs, be jaw droppingly stunning, wear cute workout clothes, now we're encouraged to squat in order to have "an ass" as opposed to "a butt", and the list goes on. 

The thing is, the fitness industry is a billion dollar industry and the fact of the matter is that marketing is insidious. Nothing is going to change anytime soon and maybe that sounds pessimistic but we are continually fed images and rhetorics that either keep women in a small pigeon holed norm that we are supposed to fulfill, or put us in a new one. But I'm happy to see that in the advent of technology, communication, gaining access to knowledge, critical thinking and sharing ideas is now literally ready for us to consume by the clack of some keys and the click of a button. But it also means that the spread of toxic ideas is also that much easier. So the next time you're looking for fitspo, if that is the kind of stuff that helps to motivate you, just remember to stop and critically think about the images and the words that you are seeing. 

[sweatymsbetty]

Beautiful spoken word about the space men and women occupy in the world. 

[sweatymsbetty]

On toxic relationships and environments

I've taken nearly 2 months off from circus training and have just been doing my regular interval training in the interim. These 2 months off have put things in perspective for me and I am at the point where I've decided to take a step back from circus and explore other options of movement arts in the forms of dance and martial arts.

The thing is, we are constantly under scrutiny by everybody around us and by ourselves as well. Sometimes, we really have to stop and recognize the relationships and the environments that have become toxic for us and to be able to have the courage to step away from it. If we do not have the strength to be able to keep our heads in an environment that is toxic, then walking away is all that we can do. 

In our quests to become healthy, strong and capable woman, there are a billion ways to do it. What someone else does does not mean it will necessarily work for you. Find what serves you and keep it close, find what does't serve you and sever it.

[delightfullyruffled-deactivated]

[runnersclub]

[kateordie]

[sweatymsbetty]

Yesterday I was at a birthday party and a good friend of mine went back to her consistent rhetoric of cheat days. As someone who doesn't believe in cheat days and has the experience and maturity to be able to critically analyze the toxicity of the industry that I work in (circus arts), the rhetoric gets old, frustrating and annoying.  To label a day as a cheat day is to give that day a negative connotation. When has cheating ever been construed as positive? And when has cheating ever come without consequences? To label a day as a cheat day is to label yourself as a cheater and as such, you must suffer the consequences afterwards which is usually being wracked with guilt and then eating like a bird and over training the rest of the week to make up for it. Our bodies are not machines that have 0 room for ebbs and flows. It is as okay to gain weight as it is to lose weight as long as your body is healthy and functional. At the end of the day, wouldn't you rather be healthy and enjoy life, including eating cake and pie when you want to, instead of having the "perfect body" but being miserable all of the time in order to maintain it?  I look at my friends who are consistently depressed and miserable because they have low self esteem and it is frustrating because they are beautiful people. But our view of what the perfect female body is has completely messed up their own self perception of themselves. As for strong is the new skinny as the new popular rhetoric — I believe that being strong is awesome. But it doesn't discount women who are naturally thin and nor should we judge or reprimand the women who are. And, did you ever notice that all of the popular fitspiration images using this "strong is the new skinny" features, well, skinny women? Skinny women with some muscle tone of course. But hey, I'm a pretty strong woman myself who can deadlift and squat an impressive amount, but by no means do I look like the women in fitspiration photos.  The fitness industry is innocuous and underhanded. Sadly, they will never stop being like this and it is up to us to critically view the things that they feed us.