Body Image and Athletics — A Ramble
“It’s almost impossible to remember on a second-by-second basis that when you watch a YouTube video or when you look at people’s social media feeds that you’re seeing a curated version of those people.”
In recent months I’ve been completely unable to puzzle out how prominent the concept of curated images is in the public eye. In our various avenues of communication, sometimes curated images seem to almost be accepted as inevitable — as in, “Yes of course, those fashion models or advertisements are photoshopped.” — and other times seem completely overlooked — as in “No, your friends do not lead such incredibly exciting lives, those social media posts are just the most interesting snapshots of their day.”
Recently the topic of body image and portrayal came up in a class, prompting me to think back to something I’d read and found surprising: the topic of athletes and body image.
More surprisingly, the struggles of some Olympic athletes with body image.
Having been a competitive swimmer for the last eight years, my fleeting and admittedly incomplete thoughts on body image in swimming began and ended on the pool deck: Between endurance testing practices and competitions; various expressions of agony and poorly-suppressed utterances of misery are commonplace, all while wearing what could generously be described as next to nothing. As a team, you’ve seen each other at your best and worst, physically and emotionally, so it could stand to reason that self consciousness would be a short-lived occurrence.
More recent reading and thinking has made me wonder if the happenings outside the pool can be the most influential, particularly when athletes are confronted with the stark differences between their physique and what is “normal.”
“You’re impressed upon really, really easily. When I was 13, I had size 13 feet. I was very different, and it made me stand out. It makes you feel a little uncomfortable when you’re so different from your peers — and from what you’re seeing.” said Missy Franklin, a five time Olympic medalist.
The early age at which “normal” begins registering is a notable and concerning concept. An insufferable uncertainty can manifest when female athletes are faced with simultaneous desires to excel and to fit in with what is currently considered feminine and attractive, Laura Quilter writes.
In the past, what made me feel invincible on a Monday was the exact same thing that made me feel undesirable on a Saturday…My younger self, the one desperate for connection and pining for praise, couldn’t help but compare herself to the statuesque women with designer dresses and slender arms…My brain whipped between pride and shame. The same muscles that allowed me to contest events with the best in the nation felt masculine and unattractive when surrounded by non-athletes.
And it would seem that issues with body image are universal, as Jason Tillotson writes on the self-doubt that male athletes can experience.
The main question I ask myself after watching these incredible athletes perform at the highest level is, “How am I supposed to do that, if I don’t look like that?” It is something that has caused me to chug an extra protein shake after a weight lifting session, or grab an extra sandwich after midday practice and ultimately feel incapable of producing high-level performances. Then the worry evolves from being big enough, to being masculine enough.
It seems childish now, but it was an odd concept that the titans of my sport or men and women better than I would suffer insecurities from the same bodies that made them titans to begin with.
The images we see in day-to-day life eventually impose themselves as norms in our minds, which can set limits on what we feel is acceptable, and I feel this is a telling demonstration of that power. The minuscule research I’ve done on the subject has been enlightening, frustrating, and a rabbit hole that never ends.
Conceptions about body image is one of a litany of social issues that deserve analysis and restructuring and change. However, the caveat of change seems to be, historically, that it’s a slow boil process.
It feels difficult to promote or encourage personal development without implying that people need to “get over it,” or accept that “it’s just the way it is.” Those arguments are often as damaging as the larger issues themselves, but there may be value in personal decisions to remove some of the control we assign to the “normalities” of our society.
While moving toward change as a societal whole, limiting how much we base our individual worth on images we see — remembering and teaching ourselves and others that, ultimately, a curated image doesn’t define you or who you should be — may help quicken the process and make it less painful at the same time. Certainly easier said than done, but possibly necessary as well.
Pulling the curtain back on these and other conventions may kill some of the sway they hold on public perception. If the current publicized standards of body image cease to be effective, perhaps images will shift to a more accurate and less curated representation of the world.
