Be Beautiful…
WOD, 12/11/09:
“Annabel”
800 meter run
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Dead Lift – body weight
Box Jumps
Pull-ups
800 meter run
On Wednesday, CrossFit.com posted a PDF file of pictures of the women of the 2009 CrossFit Games, entitled “Beauty in Strength.” I posted the link to the file in the comments on the 12/09 blog. By me, the spread of photographs was well received. Today, I scrolled through the comments for this picture spread on the CrossFit Journal site (there is a link from the mainpage on the 12/09 post). They stirred up quite the controversy in the CrossFit Community. The controversy revolved around whether or not the spread was “objectifying” women, if these women were only being appreciated for their “beauty” and not their athletic ability, so on, and so forth. Read the comments if you have some time to kill…interesting stuff. Reading the comments lead me to this John Gilson article on beauty. I couldn’t say it better myself:
If I were feeling a little more lawless, I’d gather all the copies of Cosmo and Seventeen, douse them in kerosene, and strike a match. I’d throw in reams of print ads from Calvin Klein and watch with delight as Kate Moss’ stick-thin image was reduced to carbon. I’d add copies of Shape and Runner’s World until the flames reached toward the heavens, and then I’d crank call the editorial desk at Muscle and Fitness until they stopped publishing pictures of women on steroids.
I’d get the master tapes of America’s Next Top Model and dub over them with “Nasty Girls”, broadcasting the results on every television station in America. I’d skywrite “CrossFit.com” across the Boston skyline, and gently admonish the hoards of long distance runners trotting along the Charles River—with a bullhorn.
I’d take every woman with mass media-induced ideals of beauty, and I’d show them what it really means to be beautiful.
Beautiful women are strong and powerful. They are athletes, capable of every feat under the sun. They have muscles, borne of hard work and sweat. They gauge their self-worth through accomplishments, not by the numbers on the bathroom scale. They understand that muscle weighs more than fat, and they love the fact that designer jeans don’t fit over their well-developed quads.
They know that high repetitions using light weights is a path to mediocrity, and “toning” is a complete and utter myth. They refuse to succumb to the marketers that prey on insecurity, leaving the pre-packaged diet dinners and fat-burning pills on the shelf to pass their expiration date.
Beautiful women train with intensity. The derive self-image from the quality of their work and their ability to excel. They don’t wear makeup to the gym, and they wouldn’t be caught dead with a vinyl pink dumbbell. They move iron, they do pull-ups, they jump, sprint, punch, and kick, and they use the elliptical machine—as a place to hang their jump rope.
They spend their weekends in sport, climbing walls, winning races, and running rivers. They laugh as they sprint circles around the unschooled, turning the image-obsessed into benchwarmers. Beautiful women don’t care if they’re soaked in sweat and covered in dirt, if their nails are chipped or their hair out of place. They care only about quality of life.
Beautiful women are happy, healthy, and strong, and they’re right there beside me, tossing conventional beauty on the ever-growing flames of what used to be.
Be beautiful.
Heather Bergeron of CFNE
Carey Kepler and Crystal McReynolds, both in the top 10 females of the '09 CrossFit Games
Lindsey Smith @ the '09 games
Leave a reply
8 Responses for Be Beautiful…
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Shlee:
December 10, 2009 06:37 pmGood work as usual Laur. Couldn't have been written any better. People outside of the CrossFit community have no idea what true strength and beauty is. Everyday I hear from my family(minus my sisters that are both crossfitters) Why do you have to lift so heavy? Your going to get bulky..Do you want to loose your femininity? Yes I want to lift heavy, and I do work to get muscles! So no one should get down on themselves. Numbers on the scale don't matter, the number your lifting does! So everyone keep up the good work, and look good doin it
…and a shout out to LP for getting some pictures up on the "beauty is strength" link!
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DP:
December 11, 2009 03:43 amComing from another culture, I've been told woman are to be submissive, stay at home moms (not by choice), financially dependent upon their men, and meek….Well, I can't disagree more.
Being married to someone so independent, intelligent, hardworking, and of course HOT, has been nothing short of perfect. So she's not your average girl, but who wants average???!! I don't!
Woman, whatever your body evolves to during your CrossFit experience or through fitness embrace it. Be confident in the new you. If your friends and family are judgmental, tell them to run a 5 K, have their blood pressure taken, or walk up a flight of stairs. Or just come to 4 Sycamore Way Unit 1 and we'll accept you!
So a big shout out goes to our female trainers LP, Coach K, and Shlee. They are a perfect example that there's a balance between elite fitness and being feminine. And off course all of our SCF woman.
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Lee:
December 11, 2009 04:26 amGreat post. Running out in the cold today was brutal at 6:45am.
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mark t:
December 11, 2009 10:06 amWell i can relate to DP. I am married to beautiful smart and HOT woman also. I also have a beautiful STRONG and intelligent 16 yr old dtr who is an amazing athelete. Both of them are smart, independant and strive to be the best in everything they do. They have muscles and lots of them. They are both beautiful in every way. So to all the women of SCF keep up the good work you all are strong beautiful women!!!!!!
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Undrea:
December 11, 2009 06:16 pmIt is a shame that young women are not innundated more with messages like this, rather than barraged with the messages that are so prevalent in todays society. It is time that convention is redefined. True beauty begins where the conventional ends.Beautiful is not necessarily always a look…Beautiful is a state of mind and a state of being. Cookie cutter is not beautiful. Individuality is beautiful. Strenth and self esteem are beautiful. Not being afraid to try and fail is beautiful. Being able to athletically beat a boy is BEAUTIFUL!!!
HAVING WOMEN STAND UP TO LEAD THE CHARGE TO REDEFINE BEAUTIFUL… IS PRICELESS! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. -
LP:
December 12, 2009 02:36 pmI miss you Undrea! Where are you and my boy Scott?
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February 07, 2012 01:28 pm
I’ve been browsing online more than 3 hours nowadays, yet I never discovered any interesting article like yours. It’s beautiful value sufficient for me. Personally, if all site owners and bloggers made good content material as you did, the internet will likely be much more helpful than ever before.
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LP great blog. So much truth in it! This is how meg been raised beauty is being strong,fast and powerful! And chicks with muscles are HOT!!