I glanced at the Freshly Pressed section this morning, and felt that I needed to add this post to my blog, because it’s pertinent and made me laugh in that kind of mirthless way:
Actresses admit to always being hungry
Honestly I am not surprised, and truly believe there needs to be a change in the mindset and perspective of the human body, for both men AND women. We hear mainly about women and their eating disorders, because let’s face it, we are the most vocal about it and we are the ones most struck by the disorder. But as a woman who grew up with an older brother, and someone that seems to hang out more with the boys than the girls, it’s amazing to hear what men will say about their own bodies. I believe their one saving grace is that instead of the waifish look that women are supposed to attain, men are expected to put be muscular, and that requires eating to feed the muscle they are expected to show off. But, I have known men to go on crazy diets, to push themselves to the extreme, and talk down on themselves and the way they look. Ladies, men are just as insecure about their bodies as we are, don’t let any of them fool you.
I am not really referring to jiu jitsu here because yes, without a doubt there is some serious weight cutting going on, especially women (at least in my opinion, I could be totally wrong). There is also however a realistic view (usually) of what your body can and cannot take, and what weight class you should fight in. I currently fight in medio (about 150 with gi, so like 145)-my goal is to compete in leve (about 140 with gi, so about 135), but I have no dreams or fighting in Pluma (118 with gi, so about 115) and no one has encouraged me to get to that weight, and with good reason. There is the pressure to lose weight, sure, but it is also tempered with the cold hard fact that it doesn’t mean anything if I get onto the mat and can’t do a damn thing because I’m too weak. And I think that’s the point some of these women miss-yes, you may look nice in that dress, but you’re not going to have a good time in that dress if you keep fainting from starvation.
I admit, the idea of so many women who develop eating disorders saddens me, partially because they are destroying their bodies in the process, but it is also the symptom of something deeper that is not being addressed, denying that person of a happier, more fulfilling life. No eating disorder I believe is purely cut and dry “well that’s what society tells me to do and look and they tell me this will make me happy in life.” There are some deep seated issues that need to be resolved, and the eating disorder I feel is a symptom or outward sign of the internal struggle going on within the person.
I wish there was some simple answer, but there is none, only steps that can be taken in the hopes that it will effect someone’s life.
Get these women to eat! (would be step #1, of course)
Integrate a more reasonable body image into magazines and other media-and for Pete Sakes, stop with the damn Photoshopping.
There are a number of others, but what do you think?
A Skirt on the Mat 
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Totally agree with you. I compete at leve, pre-bjj had weighed in the low 120s, and sometimes fantasize about how small my ass would be if I could fight in pluma. On the other hand, I have sometimes stressed about making weight to be in leve (or at regional tourneys, to get under 134.9 or 130 or 125 or whatever artificial number they assign) and it’s been very liberating to realize that cutting weight over say 3-5 weeks is TOTALLY doable. This was liberating to me because I finally felt like I had control over my body instead of vice versa. Don’t know if that makes any sense!!! 🙂
Good post, good blog. Happy to have heard about it from Leslie and Laura. Welcome to the ‘net bjj chick community 🙂
It’s weird… most women try to hide there weight, but BJJ girls post it all over the internet. The scale is just a number. It can be manipulated in many ways. Cutting weight is just one of them… Too many women focus on how much they weigh when they should be focusing on there overall image. Do you look anorexic? Are you really overweight or do you just have a lot of muscle?
I personally think there needs to be a law that states that if you want to advertise a food item on tv, you need to advertise it with people who represent the average body fat percent of the people who use the product. This would portray a more realistic image of people on TV.
ooh, that’s a pretty nifty solution.
I think there may be an easy solution: turn off the tv. I haven’t had a tv in five years, and I hardly think about my body image except when another woman brings up the subject and when I go bra shopping and realize that damn, I ain’t 25 anymore. And starving myself won’t fix that problem. I work in male dominated environments where most people are too busy with work, family, or extracurricular schedules to spend much time watching tv. I’ve made a lot of male friends along the way, and while they may be hot for some big female star, they definitely appreciate more realistic and healthy versions of female beauty. It was their influence that made me get over the obsession over appearance that most girls have in high school and college, when coincidentally we are prime targets of the entertainment and advertising machines, and realize that I don’t have to look like a supermodel to be considered attractive.