the sexualization of women weight lifters bothers me. It also kind of bothers me that I can't quite articulate why it bothers me.
So here I am trying to articulate for you, but mostly for myself, why it bothers me.
To start, I think there are some endearing things about man friends on my Facebook posting sexualized photos of weightlifting women. It might sound strange but I'm not being disingenuous. I think it's a way of saying I think women who are strong and powerful are sexy. And I think there is something really nice about that sentiment. It's a way of going against masculine norms (while unfortunately still following them) and saying these women don't intimidate me, they arouse me. <--strange, but that's what it's saying.
So why does this bother me then.
What bothers me is the types of videos they choose to post.
It bothers me when women have huge fake breasts in these videos.
It bothers me when they are wearing booty shorts or tight laced leggings.
It bothers me when they're skinnier than they are strong
It bothers me when these women aren't actually lifting much at all.
I think what bothers me most about these is that when men post them, it is not about the women's sport, but about the women's body. I've never seen these same men post women who are actually some of the strongest women on earth (and there are some cute one's too, like this cutie patootie Samantha wright). If I had to sum up in a sentence why it bothers me it is this, and it is a little harsh:
It's almost a sort of sexual fetishism. Women with huge legs that could kick someone's ass. It's a weird sexual arousal over something being able to over power you. I'm not sure, but I don't like it.
It's not that I think men can't find weightlifting women attractive, I love that men find them attractive. But for me I think it's the difference in audience between going to a burlesque show and going to a strip club. The former being cutely awe struck at talent and attractiveness, and the other being carnal, impulsive, and sometimes rude, arousal.
I hope that came out coherently.
So here I am trying to articulate for you, but mostly for myself, why it bothers me.
To start, I think there are some endearing things about man friends on my Facebook posting sexualized photos of weightlifting women. It might sound strange but I'm not being disingenuous. I think it's a way of saying I think women who are strong and powerful are sexy. And I think there is something really nice about that sentiment. It's a way of going against masculine norms (while unfortunately still following them) and saying these women don't intimidate me, they arouse me. <--strange, but that's what it's saying.
So why does this bother me then.
What bothers me is the types of videos they choose to post.
It bothers me when women have huge fake breasts in these videos.
It bothers me when they are wearing booty shorts or tight laced leggings.
It bothers me when they're skinnier than they are strong
It bothers me when these women aren't actually lifting much at all.
I think what bothers me most about these is that when men post them, it is not about the women's sport, but about the women's body. I've never seen these same men post women who are actually some of the strongest women on earth (and there are some cute one's too, like this cutie patootie Samantha wright). If I had to sum up in a sentence why it bothers me it is this, and it is a little harsh:
It's not about their sport. It's about wanting to fuck them.
It's almost a sort of sexual fetishism. Women with huge legs that could kick someone's ass. It's a weird sexual arousal over something being able to over power you. I'm not sure, but I don't like it.
It's not that I think men can't find weightlifting women attractive, I love that men find them attractive. But for me I think it's the difference in audience between going to a burlesque show and going to a strip club. The former being cutely awe struck at talent and attractiveness, and the other being carnal, impulsive, and sometimes rude, arousal.
I hope that came out coherently.
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