strong is the new skinny...or is it?

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  • digitalplasma
    digitalplasma Posts: 4
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    I'd like to be strong. I used to be skinny as a teenager, now I'm fat and want to shead this fat and get strong. Harder, better, faster, stronger! ;)
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
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    Great article and something that I'd never really thought about before

    Although I was having a think about gaining back weight (fat) last week and it actually occurred to me that even if I do gain back some of the weight (fat) I've lost it isn't in any way going to be able to diminish the strength I've gained. Thinking about it that way made me feel better about it
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
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    Harder, better, faster, stronger! ;)

    My tag line on here :)
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
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    That was a good article. I just wish that women and men too would focus on healthy. If you want to be thin or muscular or still a little heavy just focus on being healthy. It is true that you can't really pack on muscle and stay "skinny" without doing a lot of drastic things to really drop body fat and I feel sorry for the women who are obsessing and trying to do things that aren't possible.

    Although, she has failed to mention that quite a few groups do show women doing pull ups, women holding heavy weights, and actually showing that they are strong and aren't just muscular with low body fat.

    Yeah but the whole point is that you don't have to be sub 20% body fat to be strong and these images tend to only promote that body type as being strong. Lift enough heavy weights and you can be strong at any bf% even an obese person can be strong. The biased representation of only incredibly lean women as strong just gives us another unrealistic (for the majority) ideal to try and strive for
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    My summary: Women don't need another impossible ideal to live up to. Strong is good but the images used in the media are not necessarily promoting strong, but really are just promoting having visible muscle. To the author strength means actually DOING something that requires strength, not simply standing near a barbell, flexing muscles and showing as much skin as possible. Women don't need a "new skinny."

    Thanks for the cliffs.

    I have always disliked that phrase for a number of reasons. I can appreciate the sentiment of the article, especially considering I am working hard to be stronger and not necessarily to have more visible muscle.
  • SteelySunshine
    SteelySunshine Posts: 1,092 Member
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    It looks like skinny is the new skinny only now with muscle.
  • Minerva624
    Minerva624 Posts: 577 Member
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    It looks like skinny is the new skinny only now with muscle.

    tumblr_mdta80tK9r1rol1w1.gif
  • BeccaBollons
    BeccaBollons Posts: 652 Member
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    Intersesting read, definitely food for thought. We all seem so determined about body "types" that we lose sight of what we want our bodies to DO. Strong is not the new skinny. People who want to get skinny will get skinny no matter the cost (unless they discover weight training on the way, then being "skinny" becomes less important).
    Idk, body image is a tough subject, and most of us will always wish we were a little bit less or more something or other!
  • MizPassion
    MizPassion Posts: 245 Member
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    Great article! I'd rather be strong physically. I also find I build more confidence when I become stronger than merely appearing slimmer.
    This was my favourite part of the article:
    "We need to expand our standards of beauty to recognize that beauty shows up in all kinds of bodies. And we need to get over this idea that the most important purpose we serve on is to be beautiful for other people. We have a right to have healthy bodies, to take up space, to have appetites, to cultivate our strengths in whatever form that may take. Our time on this planet is precious and we will never, ever get it back, so let’s stop squandering it in pursuit of meaningless ideals we will most likely never attain anyway. We deserve so much better than that."
  • Sawjer
    Sawjer Posts: 229 Member
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    Strong is the new sexy.
  • tjradd73
    tjradd73 Posts: 3,495 Member
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    i CONSIDER MYSELF FAIRLY STRONG FOR HOW SMALL i AM...do i want bigger thighs...not really, but if I set a PG and that entails gaining an inch on each thigh (ie to increase LBM)...then so shall it be!! Am I trying to lose more weight....not really...but if I happen to lose a few lbs while reaching for a diff PG (ie my half marathon training I just completed) than so be it!...Am I ok with lookin petite, and then flexing my bicep for people...YOU BETCHA!!! :wink:
  • 17forbes
    17forbes Posts: 33 Member
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    ” What we need to do is change the paradigm so that we value our bodies for all of the amazing things they let us do.”

    Love this blog!!
  • missym357
    missym357 Posts: 210 Member
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    Thanks for pointing this piece out. I agree with the basic point of it. Tbh, the fitness industry enrages me at times because in order to look 'fit', many woman have to do things that are anything but healthy, but nobody seems willing to admit this. What is the difference between a woman netting 900 calories through reduced calorie intake and exercise to lower bodyfat and look 'strong' and a woman that is 5'10" eating 900 calories in order to look thin and willowy for a runway?? Neither one is healthy even if they are both reaching for very different looks.
  • Nikki_XC
    Nikki_XC Posts: 69
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    Great read, thank you for sharing. I needed to see this.
  • meagalayne
    meagalayne Posts: 3,382 Member
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    Thanks for the blog recommendation :) I look forward to reading some of her other posts too. Cheers!
  • RoseTears143
    RoseTears143 Posts: 1,121 Member
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    "We don’t need a new “skinny.” We don’t need a new beauty standard, nor do we need yet another physical ideal hanging over our every thought and move like a little black cloud of doom."

    ^^ My favorite part. Great article. thanks for sharing :flowerforyou:
  • ST99000722
    ST99000722 Posts: 204 Member
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    Great read , thanks !
  • Crankstr
    Crankstr Posts: 3,958 Member
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    Strong is the new sexy.

    :flowerforyou:
  • bumblebums
    bumblebums Posts: 2,181 Member
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    http://fitandfeminist.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/what-happens-when-the-pursuits-of-skinny-and-strong-collide/

    interesting article :smile:

    Anyone mind posting cliffnotes please?

    Cliffnotes: "fitspo is bad."
  • NovemberJune
    NovemberJune Posts: 2,525 Member
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    Thanks for posting! I dislike that phrase too, partly because I think it's shaming "skinny" people. Some people are skinny! so what! And partly because of what the article expresses very well. And I wouldn't want my kids to feel like they need to look like skinny_model_a or muscley_model_b. (they are boys btw)

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