Media Watch

Back in the early days of FMS, the result of a survey for wownews.co.uk claiming that 57% of voters agreed that female bodybuilders were sexy – even adding "the bigger the better", left us "truly gobsmacked" (see Minority No Longer!).

Now, the results of another survey reported in the ever more female muscle friendly Daily Mail are suggesting, if not the very same thing, then something very similar.





The headline reads, THE WOMEN WHO'D RATHER HAVE JESSICA'S FIGURE THAN CHRISTINA'S. "Jessica", of course, is Olympic gold medal-winning heptathlete Jessica Ennis (Ennis-Hill these days), while "Christina" is Christina Hendricks of Madmen fame. And then there's the even more interesting subtitle tells us Both Sexes Prefer Athletic Bodies over Curves.

I should point out that the main focus of the article is the reduction in the size, if not the amount, of breast augmentation women are choosing these days. The survey, of 2,000 Britons, was carried out by an implant manufacturer called GC Aesthetics. Fewer patients now think that big is best, the Mail tells us. Once upon a time when plastic surgery was the preserve of the rich and famous, large breast implants were a status symbol. But now, according to one Cheshire-based surgeon, Aesthetic surgery is no longer done by just a minority. It is done by a lot of people and they don’t necessarily want the world to know what they have done.

However, amid all that there is the very very welcome news that most (it doesn't specify beyond that) women AND most (ditto) men prefer the athletic lines of the likes of Olympian Jessica Ennis-Hill over the cartoon curves of glamour models.




Picture this. You are faced with a row of boxes. The closest to your ideal is the box marked "Athletic". There is also an "Other (please specify)" box. What are you going to do? Tick "Other" and specify hardcore female bodybuilder (densely-muscled vascular physique, steroid-induced clitoral enlargement a plus)? Or are you going to tick the "Athletic" box and leave the specifying to your female muscle lovin' imagination?




Point is, if "most" men say they prefer Jessica's figure over a more traditionally "curvy" one (we'll leave the muscular women have the most curves of all argument for now) then there are bound to be more than a few of the "MOST" (56% according to the 2011 article, remember) for whom "athletic" isn't quite the full story.

Back in 2011, I said that the idea that I was no longer a member of a female muscle lovin' minority would require some adjustment. Now, two years later, I'm quite enjoying getting used to the idea that the freaks are the ones who don't think muscular, or at least "athletic", women are sexier. Bloody freaks.


Mila Kunis, FHM Sexiest Woman Alive 2013 v Alina Popa, FMS Hottest Hard Woman in the World 2013

Maybe us Brits should just start ticking those "Other" boxes and specifying the shit out of it. All signs indicate there might be more of us than even we suspect there are!

Dedicated to Aiden, with thanks

I'm Confused

She’s loved and admired for her athletic achievements, and her athletic body is envied by women and desired by men. But does Jessica Ennis like what she sees when she looks in the mirror?



Back in January, FMS reported how the pre-Olympic Jessica had issues with her own appearance (see Jessica, You’re Gorgeous). Did our assurances help her overcome these issues? It seems not. And neither has the fact that post-Olympic polls revealed that a majority of women would like a body like hers. And the fact that she has recently been voted 'Best Celebrity Body' in another poll made no difference to her own body image either.

I don’t think I look good and it amazes me when girls write to me and say, ‘Ooh, I wish I had a six-pack like yours’, or ‘You’ve got an amazing figure’. Really? Do they think that?

She says I’ve got way more muscles than I’d ideally like to have, adding that she makes a point of covering up her arms when she goes out because they look ‘butch’.



But on the other hand, Jessica has also said recently that There's a kind of perfect figure that's put out in magazines but it's not realistic. If sportswomen are put out there a bit more, it creates a real healthy body image for young girls to aspire to. Agreed, Jessica, agreed. What’s wrong with your body being that image then?

Clearly athletic women are positive role models, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that these women will feel their own bodies are beautiful.

Now, I’d always thought (or perhaps hoped is a better word) that athletic or muscular women were immune from this kind of issue. This assumption that they were happy with their bodies was a major part of their appeal to me because confidence is sexy. To now discover I was wrong is, quite frankly, a bit of a blow.



And not just to me. The Ennis Effect, which we recently flagged up on this blog, is not going to be helped by the role model herself telling everyone that a body like hers is not something she would aspire to if she’d had the choice. If that isn't a confusing message for women, I don't know what is.

However, help is at hand from another Olympic champion, currently in the news for her appearances on Strictly Come Dancing (the UK equivalent to Dancing with the Stars, as I believe it is called Stateside).

Victoria Pendleton has revealed she hates the fact that she’s lost weight on the show. Despite weight loss being seen by most as a benefit of taking part, the Olympian has admitted she’s gutted that her body is changing.



It’s not just that she’s losing weight, either. It’s what she’s losing as a result of that weight loss that is really bothering Victoria:

The 32-year-old said that she doesn’t like her new thin thighs and disappearing six-pack. I’ve lost a lot of muscle mass. I’ve been going to the gym three times a week for 15 years and lifting heavy weights and now I haven’t got time to do that.



When I look down at my legs now I feel very sad about it. I put in all those hours to get them bigger and now they’re shrinking in front of my eyes. It honestly makes me feel very depressed.



Who would have thought it? All along it was Victoria, not Jessica, who we should have been backing. Both women may be unhappy with their bodies now, but for very different reasons, and for the female muscle head, Victoria’s is most definitely the right reason.



So, what should I do now? Should I vote to keep Victoria on the show so that she continues to get media coverage and the chance to wax lyrical about how much better it was when she had some muscle, or should I not vote for her so she can get back into the gym and get the muscle back?

I'm confused!

The Ennis Effect Needs You

FMS don’t like to blow their own trumpets, but we did, after all, coin the phrase The Marsh Effect to describe the increase in women lifting weights as a result of Jodie Marsh’s foray into bodybuilding and its subsequent press. However, credit where credit is due, The Sun has beaten us to it this time, today reporting on how Jessica Ennis’ showing at the Olympics has given rise to what they are calling ‘The Ennis Effect’: a surge in women craving six-packs just like Team GB’s golden girl Jess.



So far, so good. And the article goes on to say that personal trainers are reporting a huge rise in women seeking washboard stomachs.



But before you start dreaming of a nation of women working out and toning up those abs in sweaty gym sessions, the next sentence betrays the true nature of the article: And one Harley Street clinic, LoveLite, has had a 200 per cent increase in women booking in for tummy-fat removal since Jess’s triumph.

Oh dear. So this isn’t going to be about the sweat after all?

Well, yes and no. The article focuses on three women inspired by Jessica’s bod, her abs in particular, and the lengths they have gone to to achieve the Ennis look. But two of the three have gone to clinics rather than gyms, one to have ‘non-surgical lypo’, the other a ‘tummy tuck’.

Nevertheless, Natalia Ryumina, an actress from Croydon, deserves our congratulations for taking the hard way. I could never get rid of that last layer of fat around my tummy, she says. Consequently, a top personal trainer was hired, new movements targeting specific abdominal areas were introduced, Natalia started travelling with an abdominal exercise gadget so she’d never miss a workout, and now, she says, I look at my tummy in the mirror and I can see the definition I’ve always wanted.

However, Natalia had a pretty good exercise regimen going even before she was allegedly struck by the Ennis bolt during the Olympics, so if we’re going to take the article at face value, we can only conclude that ‘The Ennis Effect’ is going to be good news for Harley Street clinics, and not such good news for fans of female muscle.



But if Claudette Santana hasn’t managed to bring a smile back to your face, don’t despair, for there is a ray of hope in the article. Apparently, 72% of women would rather have an athletic figure than a skinny one. Now, even if that means two out of three of them go to the clinic, that still leaves one out of three hitting the gym.

So, at this dark time of the year, let’s focus on the positive. One in three of 72% of women who want washboard abs might go to the gym as a result of Jessica Ennis’ Olympic exploits. It’s something to cling to, isn’t it? Certainly better than nowt.

And it gives us an excuse to post some sexy abs, so it can’t be all bad…




81% of men, according to The Sun, would prefer a woman with an athletic build to a skinny one, so let’s all do our bit to help the Marsh and Ennis Effects and refuse to settle any longer. Let’s start insisting on it, shall we?



It might involve us getting off our arses and getting ourselves into the best shape of our lives. I mean. You can’t expect her to do all the work while you sit on the sofa and scratch your plums, can you? Too much effort? Well, what about if you ended up cuddling a woman with abs like these every night?



FMS can only conclude that if we are to avoid becoming a nation whose female stomachs are all the result of cosmetic intervention rather than exercise and sensible diet then we all have to do our bit. New Year is approaching. Resolution time.

So, in a final bid to make you resolve to make your resolution increase the amount of female muscle lovin’ happiness in the world today, I leave you with…




Enjoy!

The Olympic Legacy?

The thing that I’ve really noticed about these Olympics is the women. Amazonian, powerful, muscular women. Incredible. And they’re all over my TV screen night after night…



So said a (male) business associate of mine, let’s call him Alphonse, during a meeting towards the end of the London 2012 games. Now, this is something that guys (and girls) like us have known for a long time. Athletics is a sport you can happily watch with friends and family guilt-free. Turn on a female bodybuilding show and they will all call you a freak. Watch the Diamond League and you can sit and gaze at the women’s pole vault to your heart’s content.



Alphonse is a man who, by his own admission, has never been a great watcher of athletics or female sport in general, yet here he was expressing the same view as I’ve always had about female athletes and the pleasures of the Olympic Games.



A week or so later, a national newspaper asked female readers who at the Games had the physique they admired most.

Overall, they wanted the legs and arms of the Russian tennis players, and the bums of the volleyball players, but the all-round winner was gold medallist Jessica Ennis. The reasons given for admiring Jessica’s bod were her low body-fat and visible abs, her toned arms, defined legs and her tight bum.



And then, the article went on to explain, without pulling any punches, exactly what getting Jessica’s body involved, and what it doesn’t involve:

Jessica doesn't go to the gym and then decide what she will do. She doesn't do her cardio training sitting on a bike reading a magazine and she doesn't have a slice a cake with a coffee to reward herself afterwards.

It went on to pooh-pooh the myth that lifting heavy weights means getting big and bulky, and also took a big dump on the celebrity fitness myth: Do not follow the advice of 'gurus' like Jillian Michael who want you to lift weights below 2.5kg, or reality TV trainers who get you to lift water bottles. Lifting heavy weights is what will help you get a lean and toned body.

Is everyone finally getting it? Do you feel that you were a little ahead of the game on this one? Years and years of admiring strong women as a minority and all it takes is one Olympic Games and suddenly they’re all at it. It’s rather a strange feeling to suddenly be ‘mainstream’.



Then, after the Games had finished, another national newspaper ran a piece entitled: Bye bye, Kardashians: Olympic athletes give women new, strong role models, which claimed that Skinny models, actresses and reality TV stars are no match for our powerful female athletes.



In the article, the writer mentioned that a 22-year-old acquaintance admits that, although she's usually worried about her ‘stocky’ legs, she has noticed a change: ‘I caught sight of myself in a shop window and I thought, “No, you know what? My legs are strong, they can do things” and for once I'm proud of that.’ Apparently, this was an example of how the Games had nurtured a sense, among ordinary women, that we have a new generation of role models to aspire to, whose bodies are revered for their physical abilities and not just their aesthetic qualities.

All very very good, although I will have to take exception with the implication that the physiques that go with athletic excellence are somehow lacking in aesthetic quality.



Elsewhere, countless articles have been appearing, the vast majority of them written by women, that echo the ones mentioned above and point out things that readers of this blog have known for a long time.

The fundamental – and incorrect – assumption is that muscular women are not attractive, therefore for women to be attractive they cannot look strong.

Or from another article:

[Since] the Olympics has been broadcasting, I've noticed my appreciation for my own muscles growing. I feel more attractive and proud of my own physical strength.



We are suddenly constantly being told that strong is the new sexy. So is this it? Are we admirers of female muscle about to be congratulated for our foresight by one and all and patted on the back for our pioneering work?

Anecdotal evidence suggests that more and more women are getting off the stationary bike and into the weights room. Media reports suggest that membership of athletics clubs and other sporting organisations has risen.



But perhaps, like the fact that your local tennis courts are always packed during Wimbledon, this is just a temporary blip. Let’s not get too carried away. Change is happening, but like most changes in society as a whole, it’s not going to be an overnight one. And that’s not all bad. As I said before, I don’t feel that comfortable being in the mainstream, and we’ve been on the margins for so long that staying there a little longer won’t be too hard!



So, an Olympic legacy then? The catchphrase of the Games was Inspire A Generation. So it’s appropriate to give the last word to that generation, a 14-year-old girl from London: I don't think there'll be a lasting legacy – there's still too much negative media about women's bodies. But I think it will be in people's heads, they will be looking at what people are doing with healthy bodies and perhaps there will be a certain changeover in the way we think of ourselves.



Sources include articles from The Irish Independent, The Guardian, mnn.com, and sosogay.co.uk