Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large
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| We can never hope to achieve this... |
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| But we can get close to this |
"Girl power" has had a sudden resurgence in usage these past two weeks. As we have witnessed women breaking records, running fast and far, jumping high and long and displaying seemingly inhuman feats of strength, agility and physical skill there has only been one way to sum it up in a Twitter hashtag and that is #girlpower. Whenever another Team GB female (or females) won a medal, "Girl Power" was sure to be trending and appearing in Facebook status updates within minutes. It feels like a breakthrough. You only have to take a glance at the dreaded DM's sidebar of shame to see that a little something has shifted. In the last fortnight those stories about Kim Kardashian's gym visits or TOWIE Lauren's latest diet have been significantly peppered with stories of women who have triumphed to win medals or just compete, whether that's Saudi Arabia's Sarah Attar running 800m as her country's first ever female track and field competitor or Gemma Gibbons winning her Judo semi-final and mouthing "I love you, Mum" towards the sky, before going on to win Silver. Where girls have been really quite unpowerful in celebrity media until now, the Olympic athletes have shown that girls can worry about more than boys and fat bottoms.
Hadley Freeman and
Elizabeth Day (both at The Guardian) have written in the past day or two about how we can embrace Olympic athletes as our new body image role models. You see, anyone can look like an Olympic athlete because these men and women come in all shapes and sizes but are united by the fact that they are the very best version of themselves. You don't have to be freakishly tall, thin and ethereal as you do to even approach supermodel standards. While Kate, Naomi, Stella et al looked awesome last night in their golden Brit designed gowns, we could never hope to emulate their figures because they have one in trillion kind of genes. But go for a run, swim some lengths, pedal a few miles, lift a few weights and elements of an Olympian body will be yours. We need to harness the girl power.
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So true <3 I've going for jogs/power walking since the Olympics started
ReplyDeleteYes! Couldn't agree more - why does the nation seem to care about reality tv stars and their dodgy tans anyway!? What's impressed me about these athletes, both male and female, is how - Usain Bolt aside - they have all been so humble in the face of triumph and defeat. Their dedication to their sport/body/dream is incredible and I've certainly been inspired to put on my running trainers more in the last two weeks.
ReplyDeleteSo true! Much much healthier role models in every sense. I've done twice if not more exercise than usual since the games started and feel 10 times more human. Stress levels are down and tolerance is up - with the added bonus of a more toned body...there is no downside. These athletes are the sort of people we should all look up to they have talent and dedication. They are the polar opposite of the so called celebrities people seem to idolise. Thank you Team GB for making us proud to be British again!
ReplyDeleteVery well said! It's been so refreshing not to have the media saturated with vacuous celebrities
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful that the media has been spotlighting female athletes who show the world what girl power is all about.
ReplyDeletePllease please let this be the beginning of the end of the reality wannabe celeb culture. Fashion media have a great opportunity here to move things on but will they grasp it?
ReplyDeleteLet's hope the buzz continues! And inspires young people, they need it.
ReplyDeleteI read Hadley Freeman's piece and she's right - it's so fantastic to see proper female role models with healthy body shapes - bums and thighs are nothing to be ashamed of! It would be good if young girls decided to play sport in order to get fit, rather than starving themselves to look like a model - I think I'd have benefited from such role models. Girl power! x
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I agree that female athletes are great role models, but I have to disagree with you saying that the average person has a greater chance of becoming an Olympic champion that a model. By saying "we can never hope to achieve this" puts them on a pedestal- they are just people who happen to be very skinny and tall.
ReplyDeleteThat sort of attitude really diminishes the life-time dedication, commitment and training that athletes do.
yeah i agree . girls always very powerful. It's a stunning evening. I really wonderful performer. Really amazing. very talented girl.
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