I fail to understand where these people are
coming from. While going through Yahoo news the other day I came across
this article: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/shawn-johnson-lost-25-pounds-hurtful-fat-talk-211635709.html
It contains both a before and after picture of
Shawn Johnson, apparently in the first picture she had gained weight since the
last Olympics. She has subsequently lost it but it is amazing to me that
of all people someone who has won gold medals in gymnastics could have been
questioning her body as she was. I
think the important point to make here is even in her “heavy” picture she looks
amazing, she does not look overweight at all from what I can tell. It
does not seem possible that a girl who has the guts to perform in front of so
many people could possibly still be questioning if she is pretty or good
enough. According to the article she was saddened by the fact that she
was questioning herself.
Although I am glad that she seems to be starting
to realize just how crazy it was to question her looks, she does still have a little
way to go. She has to realize that her body is one of an athlete and
being too skinny is not good for her muscle strength. On top of that as
an Olympic Gold Medalist she has many young girls who are looking up
to her. If she is too fat imagine how the girls who do not have her body
hearing her say that she is too big. How are those girls to ever feel
that they are pretty enough especially, when hearing skinny girls talking about
being fat? I will add here that body image should not be based on just what we
see and hear from the media. I was lucky enough to be one of the few
girls who felt good about their body at impressionable ages and while knowingly
not having a perfect body. I know that this is not the case for so many
young people and this article brings home just how important it is for girls to
start having better impressions of themselves.
I think an interesting angle on this story too is that women in athletics are often subjected and sexualized in the media, and the fact that the media was scrutinizing Shawn Johnson's weight post Olympics is absurd. As a young female athlete, women are not taken as seriously in the athletic world as they deserve to be, as evidenced by many magazine covers of female athletes in sexual positions or scantily clothed. To be a woman and a successful athlete is a difficult position, especially for someone like Shawn Johnson who was so young when she won her gold medal. It just goes to show that media and social pressures unfortunately have an affect on women of all ages, sizes, and professions. The impressions made on young athletic girls are often harsh due to bigger muscles and stronger bodies, in comparison to stick-skinny model "ideal" weight. It's important for female athletes to stand up to the societal pressures and encourage young female athletes to love their beautiful, strong bodies!
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