Take a second, open up a new browser tab and type in “Fit Women” in to your search engine.

Have a look, what do you see?

The media is a powerful gender socialiser. From TV, movies, magazines and especially social media, women in particular are inundated with thousands of subtle and no so subtle messages every day on how they ‘should’ look and how they ‘should’ be as a woman.

How society has decided to define women is largely based on outdated dominant ideologies of gender roles and beauty.

So what did you see?

I would bet big money you saw predominantly white women with European features with a very particular body shape and size.

A large portion of the photos will likely show women who are:

White
Slim/petite build
Flat abs
Good muscle definition
Lightly Tanned
Long blonde or brown hair
Wearing crop tops and shorts
No visible disabilities
Look ‘Feminine”
Someone is bound to be holding a tape measure around her waist.

How many of these features accurately describe you?

Some of you will fit this image, but likely the majority of you will not.

These images are making assumptions about who “fit” women are. To be fit you clearly need to be young, attractive, have good musculature and low body fat, no tattoos, no piercings and let’s be honest….white…… and sometimes fake boobs (please detect my sarcastic undertone).

When you search for these images, when you follow certain people and pages on social media you see what mainstream media and websites have deemed to be the ideal fit body. This is in no way the fault of the women in the pictures, they are just living their lives, being badass ladies, and being (often but not always) great, strong role models. We could delve into the subject of self-objectification, but that’s a whole other topic.

However the subtexts of race, gender identity and socioeconomic status can have the effect of further alienating people in the fitness industry who don’t fit the ideal standard.

And as I’m sure we can all admit that the fitness space can be very daunting and intimidating if you don’t feel like you belong. Even I get intimidated in the gym and it’s my job.

In simple terms, what the media is often saying is “fit women” are generally not:

People of colour
Tall
Short
Curvy or Thick
Red Heads or dyed hair
Short haired or any cut other than straight and long
Tattooed, pierced or alternative
LGBTQ+
Physically Strong
Very Muscular
Carrying a little extra weight
Para athletes…… the list goes on.

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Now let’s change things a little.

Open another tab and this time search for “Healthy Women”.

What’s different?

Likely not much except:

They’ve moved from the gym to a beach or field full of flowers.
Bicep poses are swapped for spread arms and cheesy smiles.
Swapped dumbbells for yoga and running.
Swapped protein shakes for salads.

But they are still mostly:

White
Slim/petite build
Flat abs, perky bums
Some muscle but definitely less than “fit women”
Lightly Tanned
Long blonde or brown hair
Wearing crop tops and leggings
No visible disabilities
Look ‘Feminine”

So the same assumptions are still there, except now it’s telling you that you have to practice yoga on a beach and eat salads to be happy and healthy.

You can’t win.

I can see why so many women have issues with their body, looks, identity, sexuality and why they flock to follow social influencers and people who look they way they wish they did #inspo.

But you’re never good enough are you?

If you said no, then stop that shit and listen up.

What is fit anyway? What is healthy?

For a start, Health and Fitness are not the same thing.

Fitness encompasses a persons strength, speed, balance, power, agility, endurance, flexibility, cardiovascular capacity and coordination.

Health encompasses a persons physical abilities, nutrition and the management of stress, rest and energy.

I’ll tell you now, NO ONE has all of these abilities, but that doesn’t make them any lesser.

Is a woman being so lean she has a six pack healthy?

Can be, but not always, it’s possible she dieted for months, did tons of long boring cardio, gave up her social life, ate boring food, was dehydrated and in extreme cases may even have lost her period just to look “fit” for a photoshoot or holiday.

Is a muscular, strong woman who competes in Crossfit not “fit” because she doesn’t have a tiny waist or slim legs and lifts “manly” weights?

No! She’s likely one of the fittest, healthiest 1% on the planet.

“But I have to eat salads to be healthy right”?

No, I mean you should eat your vegetables (except kale, Fuck kale) but, thinking that eating a salad for lunch every day is the secret sauce to success is just a waste of life.

And then there’s steroids, yes women take steroids too (more than you know).

These women are often touted as fit, many are athletes, personal trainers and brand spokeswomen. Is it healthy to be pumping your body full of exogenous hormones and medications or is it a gross perversion of what true health is? I opt for the latter, but that’s my opinion.

My point is, anyone can be fit and healthy no matter who you are or what you look like and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Didn’t see any of these women in a Google Search

This blog is not just about highlighting the inherent biases towards women in fitness, it’s about opening your eyes to how you live your life online and how you can cultivate what you see and read on social media.

If you look at someones Instagram account there is often a strong trend towards following similar accounts, so we see the same types of images, types of women over and over and over.

As individuals we are not helping shift the biases, we are helping to enforce them further.

Can I offer a suggestion?

Cleanse your social media of fitness bias (it’s the only detox that’s good for you).

Get rid of any account that doesn’t truly inspire you to be healthy, any account that makes you feel less about your body in any way.

Get rid of toxic people, friends, family and politics.

And make an effort to follow more diverse women, strong women, and all kinds of athletes and sports instead of women whose only contribution to your feed is their looks; not that we are judging or criticising these women; but this is about you not them.

They will be fine, without you. You will be better without them.

The more you expand your horizons the more you’ll feel like you fit in to the fitness space

If you want to start your journey and learn exactly how I get all my clients amazing results and make them both fit and healthy then download a copy of the Strong Girl Guide, it’s free

Thanks for reading.

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