Lately all the rage in the fitness (and dare I say mainstream) world seems to be that "Strong is the new skinny" or "Fit > skinny." This new frame of mind should make me happy. It's something I have always thought actually, but now seems to be gaining some momentum with everyone else. I never wanted to be a skinny-mini; I wanted a toned, chiseled frame. Although, I do have an athletic build, I constantly struggle with the way I look and accepting my body because it isn't what I want it to be. Having this new change in direction of what is attractive should work for me to some degree with body-image issues, right? Well...I'm not so sure about that.
There seems to be a lot of people on board with this new mindset of what is attractive (and now acceptable?) in women. It used to be that waif-ish, thin chicks were what guys desired physically and now apparently its the strong girls. However, with all this going around, I don't know if I buy into it at all because everyone has a different definition of strong. Is it a feeling or is it a look? This is where I get confused and the line seems to get skewed.
Does strong mean chiseled with defined muscles? Is it the ability to run 26.2 miles or bench press twice your body weight? Or is it the desire to go all out and do your best and not settle for anything else no matter what your body type is? So you tell me, WTF does strong mean to you? (And who are these guys out there that find it sexy because I need to meet you ASAP.)
I have read many articles lately on the subject of strong women loving their bodies for what they can do for them and not how they look. I just have to call bullshit on this a tad. Yes, these women are strong, but the ones always featured also have incredibly awesome athletic bodies. They are not the ideal model bodies in the Vogue sense, but they have fitness physiques. Not body builder bodies, but feminine muscled, lean bodies. (Think Britney Spears in her "I'm a Slave for You" days.") To me, these bodies are perfect and are what I strive to have. These are the bodies that are sexy. But what about the ones that don't look like that and are still strong as hell? Are those still sexy? This is the part I have hard time buying into to. (But I am working on it!)
Some examples of the articles (with my favorite lines quoted for you as per my usual way) I read are below. Def peep them if you get a chance because they are pretty powerful and have helped changed my mindset a tiny bit. They've definitely got me thinking that although I feel I am strong, they make me think if I can buy into the "Strong is Sexy" frame of mind, I will be even more of a force to be reckoned with. This is a start at least.
1) The Movement: Strong Replacing Skinny. "Love yourself but don’t settle for your sedentary self. Pay attention to your food but don’t avoid it. Most will never have a shot at being a supermodel, but we all have a shot at being the best of ourselves."
2) I Came to be Awesome, Not Skinny. "I’ll tell you, there’s no high like the one that you get when you do something you’ve never done before."
3) Let's Keep it Real About our Bodies. "What the hell is wrong with us? We have this one body we are born with, live inside of, and move through the world in. Why aren’t we walking around naked, like “Booyah! Look what this body can do, bitches!”
You see, I am strong. However, I am not ripped or buff, but I know that I am strong. My body does things for me that sometimes I can't even imagine it is capable of and for that I am always grateful. I have shared my struggles with my body image issues on this blog a few times, and although I may be physically strong, and appreciate what my body does for me, I do not find it the least bit sexy. (And clearly guys don't either.) On the plus side though, I am a motivated, hard worker that never backs down to a challenge. When it comes to working out, my mind is strong in the sense it doesn't accept less than my best and I am able to some physical things because my body follows this mindset. I see a goal and I want it. And work at it. It's just my nature. However, as strong as I am (even though my body may not show it like the women always praised), the guys still aren't-a-callin'? So is strong really that sexy? Or is it a chiseled, strong-looking body that is sexy? Yup, I think this is what they are saying and this is my issue with it all.
Basically, even though I like the fact that strong women are now being praised, I just don't like the fact that it's still seems to come down to being all about looks. I want to buy into this so badly because I know it will lead to me being happier overall. If I keep working hard and keeping trying to stay positive, then hopefully someday I can love my body for all it can do and not how it looks. Basically, what it comes down to is ME finding MY strength sexy and until I can fully do that, I don't know if others will as well. Perhaps this is what they are preaching? I work hard in so many aspects of my life, but this body acceptance is a great weakness of mine. If I can find the strength here, I see many other good things to follow. So yeah, although I like the fact that "Strong is the new Sexy" is "in" right now, it's still a work in progress in my head.
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