Woman Athlete or Freak?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

What do you consider athletic?  What do you consider muscular? And freak like? And then, why?

I work very hard at attaining and maintaining the physique I want, actually, the one I am striving for, you see, I haven’t gotten there yet!

Lately I have been thinking about people’s perceptions of me, of my look, and that of other women who train and why people perceive us the way they do.  I honestly don’t care what people think of me, whether they approve or not, but it is a curiosity to me as their actions impact me.

I don’t think I look super muscular, and am trying to gain even more muscle, but to many I look like a "freaky bodybuilder".  People stare and comment and when I ask my husband why, he tells me that my arms and back are huge, and when I look at them I just don’t see that (well the back maybe...).  He and I have different perceptions of what exactly is muscular, like everything else in life, there are many shades of gray.

I have had an increase in the number of people contacting me with questions about my body, my training, my lifestyle. By email, Facebook, my blog, and several other sites my blog is published on. Mostly men, but many women too.  Some are complimentary and tell me I am inspirational;  some want to know how to get bigger or leaner;  some want to know how I “do it all”, work full time, have a family and train and compete; some are "followers" of muscular women;  some are individuals with muscle women fetishes;  and some, some are what you might call stalkers.

I don't encounter much of this at the gym, I have a good time interacting with people who enjoy the same pursuits, although I must admit, they are almost all men. I guess that's where "we" congregate...birds of a feather flock together right?

Is it athletic attractiveness, freak show or fetish?

I was driving into work thinking about this, and what makes me, or anyone like me such a curiosity to others? I think I am just a regular mom and wife who happens to have a passion for weight training.  This passion has changed my body to what it looks like today. I thrive at the gym, I cannot recall a time when I didn’t want to go, ever.  I love waking up and knowing that’s what I get to do. I feel alive, accomplished and healthy.

Instead of sitting around watching TV or shopping or drinking in a bar, I lift weights. Real freaky right?

Lock the kids up! The freak has arrived and she might teach them how to squat!

People always want to know when I started; why did I start; how do I do it every day?  How to I stick to a clean diet most of the time? I love to chat with these people and hear their stories and how I inspire them.

Oh believe me, I get many other interesting questions too, many I don't really want to repeat. Some of it gets downright creepy at times. I realize that I have lots of pictures out there with little clothing, but I walk around the gym like this, so why would it be a big deal on the Internet? You can easily find many other sites that are designed to be provocative and are not related to training at all. 

I started my blog to answer all the questions about training and diet and competing, about how I learned to be successful. It seems to have morphed over the years, just as I have.

But why am I such a curiosity?  Why do so many people find muscular women so odd, like they are freaks of nature? If you think about it, a freak is the woman who does not exercise, who eats packaged garbage and remains weak and frail. Why is that not the freak?

I exercise, I eat right and have taken the time to learn which foods and nutrients create an aesthetically pleasing body, one that shuns body fat and thrives on muscle growth; one that functions at its optimum everyday; this to me, seems normal.

I don't do this for anyone but myself. I don't think I am going to get my "pro-card", I am not a trainer, so why would that matter? I have no illusions about becoming a model or landing a supplement endorsement contract.

I am 51 years old for goodness sake...

I do it for me and me alone. I love to lift, I love to feel good, I love to look good.

But I still wonder all the time:

What's all the fuss about?

Carissa Moore

I have a special place in my heart for female athletes. No matter what anyone will say, regardless of Title IX, it is still not a welcoming world for athletic women. They just don't get the same fair shake as men, they are not encouraged to compete and it is all around more difficult for them trying to grow up and include athletics in their life.

Many people (but not all) seem to think that women just shouldn't be doing the stuff that men and boys do, but why? What's the problem? Luckily, there are people out in the world who do encourage women to get out and have fun, be active, thrill seek.

Carissa Moore is a role model for all young women in the world.  And when I say young, I mean it, at 18 she became the youngest women's world champion surfer!


And, to top it off, at the age of 19, starting next month, she will be the only woman competing against more than 200 men in two events of the Triple Crown of Surfing in Oahu.


She earned wild-card entries into the Reef Hawaiian Pro on November 12-23 and the Vans World Cup of Surfing on November 24 to December 6.


Check out her website and make sure you encourage all young women to get involved in a sport!

What is Beauty?

To me, beauty is an athletic body. Beauty is not defined by nice hair and nails, or a designer handbag with matching shoes. It is not gobs of make-up and hair sprayed hair. And on my goodness it is not all that plastic surgery to make a 40 year old attempt to look 18!


It is sweat and tears. It is hard work and triumph. Beauty is in the struggle to succeed where no one else has.

Beauty is a female athlete.

It's not just the physical aspect, but the strength, life and passion they bring to the world as they compete in their respective sports.


Strength is beauty. Desire is beauty. Determination is beauty. Individuality is beauty. Endless pursuit of a dream is beauty.


I want to show you some women I feel are beautiful. For each of these women, their beauty comes out in their sport. They are athletes.

Athletes are beauty to me.

Florence Griffith-Joyner (deceased) - "Fastest woman of all time"

Cory Everson - Bodybuilder

Serena Williams - tennis player

Dana Linn Bailey - IFBB Pro Womens Physique Competitor

Darra Torres - swimmer

Brandi Chastain - Soccer player

There are many, many more.  Each of these women are an inspiration to me and remind me of the beauty that surrounds me every day.

Female Athletes

Female athletes, I honestly cannot imagine anything more beautiful. Oh I love the males too, but I wouldn't call them beautiful. Their bodies I would describe differently. To me there is nothing finer than a physically fit and developed human body, a true work of living art.

The first video was posted on a site called Hardbody. It is a site for female sports, health, fitness and competitive athlete information. It has been flying all over Facebook already because it really pissed off a lot of women. 

I know you all know what I have to say about this video! Good thing you couldn't hear me as I watched it for the first time!

For anyone to consider that a woman could be "too ripped" or "too toned" is not only barbaric and insulting, it just shows how ignorant and uneducated they are.

Why should it be alright for a male to be "ripped" but not a female? 

In the video above, I wouldn't even say that the subject, Cameron Diaz looked too toned (as if there is such a thing anyway), she looked kind of skinny to me, just extremely low bodyfat and I would like to see her lift some weights and add some mass, then she would look really ripped! 


But has anyone thought that she likes her body just the way she has worked so hard to get it? Shouldn't that be the only thing that matters?


I don't hear about the overweight, unhealthy, painful looking masses who are bound for heart disease and other illnesses. These people are everywhere, the norm unfortunately. Why on earth would the media trash someone who is actually taking care of themselves?


Take another look at these athletes. Too toned for you? Or do they scare you because they are powerful athletes who also look beautiful?