How super does superwoman have to be?

Sierra Blair-Coyle is causing a little controversy in climbing forums at the moment. http://eveningsends.com/climbing/athlete-models-sierra-blair-coyle/

http://www.rockandice.com/lates-news/tnb-a-short-talk-with-sierra-blair-coyle?fb_action_ids=10152748602508931&fb_action_types=og.comments.  On the one hand, I’m not going to object to any women putting out there that they are fit and strong. On the other hand, it’s problematic that to get this sort of publicity, they also have to be gorgeous, smiling and putting themselves out to the male gaze at the same time. Far from making climbing seem more accessible by climbing lesser grades than the top of the field, it presents an even more unattainable image. For the non climber, it all still looks impossible. V0 looks pretty bloody impossible to most people. Even for the rest of us, how many of us are sending V7? I’m not. Then on top of still unrealistic achievements for your average dogsbody, we also have to look gorgeous whilst doing it.  I seem to have missed the bit where going climbing needed a face full of make up. What a pain it must be though, having to make yourself look like that each morning just to go for a climb. Looking like that doesn’t come effortlessly, and I’ll bet she works hard at achieving that look. Make up, hair, depilation, clothing, not to mention diet and exercise … I don’t know how women find the time or energy for it all. I struggle to throw my dreads in piggy tail and stagger out the door.

I’m not dissing what she does per se, she climbs perfectly respectable grades, she’s found a way to market herself that’s obviously found a niche, she’s also at uni full time, it’s all a truckload of work and I wouldn’t bloody do it. But I do have a problem with a culture that asks for this stuff. It doesn’t reward women for getting dirty and sweaty, for looking like they just spent the day (or week or month) on the cliff, for battling and grimacing. You can’t just be an ordinary woman. Or even an ordinary woman doing extraordinary things. Or a gorgeous woman in your own way. You have to be a gorgeous woman willing to present yourself in a certain way doing extraordinary things. How super does superwoman have to be in this world?

And then I want to know, where are the male “athlete-models”? Sure, I admit I think Alex Honnold has gorgeous eyes. Most good climbers have a body worth admiring as well. I do my fair share of gawping. But where are the men marketing themselves to the female gaze in this way? Where are the sponsors paying them to sell their appearance over their achievements? Where are the men putting appearance maintenance into their training schedule? Having to dress themselves up even to run to the corner store? There is a substantial difference here. Then there’s also a long discussion to be had about women participating in their own objectification and what is free choice in all of that, but really, I haven’t eaten enough chocolate for that right now.

I also read an article about “bikini class” bodybuilders and the rigmarole around their appearance on top of all their training was ridiculous. http://www.buzzfeed.com/ashapiro009/training-tanning-and-branding-with-the-bikini-bodybuilding-s?utm_term=.pheJb4nMY#.dsQ4OldGJY. They too are marketed as the “accessable” end of their sport, which is just laughable and the end of body building where women are still “feminine” and “attractive”, because of course, it’s not ok to be a woman who is not easy on the male eye. One glance will suggest how much work goes into looking like that, let alone reading the actual story. Then because they also rely on social media for their following, they can’t leave the house without being all hotted up because someone might take a photo, bung it on Instagram and ruin their image. It all sounds like a recipe for misery to me.

Honestly, how come women all have to be beautiful? Even as people try and extend the range of what is acceptable for women, we just move on to other ways in which women can be beautiful. Women can be fat and beautiful. Intelligent and beautiful. Strong and beautiful. Talented and beautiful. Women of colour are beautiful. Really, what is wrong with just being happy, healthy, smart, capable, generous, funny, caring, fit, interesting or whatever … that we all have to be visually approved of as well? Are we really moving at all from the idea that women are most valued and most happy with themselves when their appearance meets cultural standards?

Am I the oppressed short? Some thoughts on sizism and fat discrimination.

It's not very popular in feminist circles to be down on the fat activism movement, but I'm a bit dubious about it. After reading some extensive articles on thin privilege and how sizism is seperate to sexism , http://everydayfeminism.com/2013/10/lets-talk-about-thin-privilege/, http://everydayfeminism.com/2012/11/20-examples-of-thin-privilege/, I feel some crucial points have been left out.

All women are judged on their size. It's not just fat, overweight or underweight women; healthily sized women are judged on their size, size is a form of abuse thrown at all women. Commentary and judgement on their size is offered to all women. I am smack in the middle of my healthy weight range, and I have been call a fat cow, told I looked pregnant, told my bum is big ... Similarly, people feel free to comment on how when they think my weight is looking good as well. This constant scrutiny of size is not offered to men. Men are allowed a significantly greater leeway before people will comment on or disapprove of their size. Nor do i hear them randomly told how slim they look in that outfit. As a result, far fewer men spend a vast amount of their time worrying about their size regardless of whether it is something they should worry about than women.

And there does come a point where people should worry about their size. It is a health issue.A well documented and researched health issue. Is your size a health issue? No? Well, go out and wear and do whatever you damn well want. It is a health issue? Then address your health issue, but go out and wear and do whatever you damn well want at the same time.

Of course it is wrong to judge and discriminate against people based on their size. It is wrong to put people down because of their size. It is wrong to make jokes about size. This is all genuinely problematic. But some of this claiming fat discrimination is getting a bit silly. Can't get clothes in your size? Look, I can't get shoes small enough for me a lot of the time. Do I scream "average size foot privilege"? I have to hem almost every pair of pants I buy. Do I scream "average height privilege"? People just don't stock them because they don't sell many of them. And as the proportion of larger people has grown, large clothes seem to have become more available with the increase in demand.

Your health insurance costs more? My health insurance has never asked me about my weight, but it seems perfectly reasonable to charge more for a higher risk group. See earlier comments about well documented evidence for health concern attached to obesity. Note, not attached to simply being a woman whose body, like most women's bodies, doesn't exactly resemble the promoted ideal. Insurance companies always charge according to risk factors. Have a history of car accidents and speeding fines or not been driving long? Your car insurance costs more. Live in a high crime area without house security? Your house insurance costs more. Charged more by an airline? Well, if you overflow your seat, you need 2 seats. Airlines sell flight by the seat. Really, I'd quite like to have my baggage allowance increased because I weigh less than most people, but do I claim "small person discrimination" that me plus my baggage are less than an average sized healthy male yet they still want to charge me for every kilo  over the baggage allowance? I have to climb to get food from the top shelf in the supermarket. I stand on the seats to put my hand luggage in the plane's overhead lockers. Should I really be wondering if the world out to oppress short people?

When your doctor investigates weight related conditions first, they are making a reasonable choice to eliminate the most likely options first. They could test for ebola if you have just vomited as well, but they don't because it's very low down on the list of probable causes. Being obese is strongly correlated with developing myriad rather awful conditions. Visit a dialysis unit or care for someone with chronic heart failure if you want to see how bad these things will get. Or just think about getting older. We will all get weaker, develop some degree of arthritis and moving gets to be hard, hard work. If you are obese, you just aren't going to be able to move yourself around that much sooner. I'm not talking about just not conforming to society's generally harsh assessment of female appearance here, I'm talking about medically concerning weight.

My point in all of this is to focus on the actual discrimination here - pull people up for fat jokes and abuse. Stand up to real discrimination, not evidenced based assessments. Think about how your respond next time you find yourself caught up in the constant discourse about women's size. And get on with doing and being who you are whilst looking after your own health.