A Call to Arms (and abs, and quads, and....)

Anyone ever notice that all the women's fitness magazine are always plastered with headlines that basically say fitness is all about losing weight. Lose 12 pounds in 5 days with these three exercises! Hungry? Eat seven almonds! Get bikini ready in 7 days!

Fuck. That.

I am so tired of this attitude when it comes to women's bodies, and what they should look like. The purpose of fitness is so your body can do amazing things! Not just to look good naked (although I'll admit, it's a side effect I will happily take). Your body was made for more than being deprived of food, looking good for the enjoyment of others. It is so much more than that. My personal goal, is not to ascribe to that insanity permeating our society right now. It will take a lot, because it is so deeply ingrained in females even from an early age. I am done. This is my personal pledge to try and change the way I look at my body. It has been through a lot and has carried me through a lot of rough times. I have the scars to show for it. I will start being grateful for the physical things I can do, instead of lamenting that my thighs are not perfectly shaped and firm or that my abs don't look like they used to. We're told the only reason we'd possibly want to exercise is to have a sexy body or to be smaller or more in line with what society has determined is an acceptable size. Physical fitness doesn't have to be about anyone else but you or about anything else but becoming stronger. It's time we stopped associating exercise with a form of conformity and surrender.

Women are bombarded everyday with images from society that reinforce the idea that our bodies were made for enjoyment for others. We're prudes if we don't let enough people access our bodies; sluts if we allow too many people to access our bodies. Billboards display women in various states of undress, wearing products, endorsing products, as products. Movies and TV we watch invite us to look at women from the perspective of the male gaze. Our bodies can be tools, and more importantly, instruments of power. I'm not doing this to get all Oprah-tastic in anyone's face, but I feel quite strongly about this.

Women of all ages are still judged by how they look, and the rise of eating disorders reflects this. Even though females are more aware now then ever before about the dangers of eating disorders, they are still starving themselves thin. Fashion magazines today will carry articles about the dangers of anorexia all the while bombarding their readers with images of emaciated young bodies who are supposed to be the pinnacle of beauty and desirability. It is perverse. We need to learn how to love our bodies as ourselves.

End rant. For now.