Although many women in sports are told that they have to act, dress, and be a certain way their are some that stick out much more than others. For one example many women who play basketball are seen as masculine and manly. As basketball is typically a male sport. Many women who play basketball keep the court persona even outside the gym. This makes them seem manly because of their dress which leads to issues with their self esteem.
However one particular sport has it much harder than most. That is ballet. I had the rare opportunity for a class project to interview someone very close to me about the life of a ballerina.
Just to give some brief background she is now 22 years old and has danced for 18 years. She danced for the professional company Ballet Austin in Austin, Texas for 4 years until she recently quit the sport. To launch right into the interview I began by asking her some easy questions such as what are you all supposed to look like? Whats the ideal ballet body?
"Well we are basically told to look like 12 year old girls," a long lean body without any form of curves is Ideal. You need to have minimal muscle definition and between the height of 5'2 to 5'6. The ideal weight is never more that 105-110 lbs and that's if you are 5'6. Most girls weigh around 100-104 who dance.
What are some of the issues that many ballerina's have with their own body?
Many girls have issues with their muscle definition. ballet has a lot of strength components in it and that builds muscle quickly but since we cant be defined its had to find the right balance of strength and thinness. Also as everyone knows we are supposed to be very thin however we are told that is it forbidden to workout. Including running, biking , swimming, lifting, etc.. all these activities make us too strong and defined so its hard to burn fat and lose weight if we need to. This causes the big problem. Eating Disorders! almost every ballerina I know has had one type of eating problem in their life. For example my room mate has had binge eating since she was 19 she is now 23. She will go 5 even 6 days without eating anything more that an apple or two... total. then she will sit down and eat and entire box of energy bars. because they are sweet its like candy to us. another big one is Anorexia. Many girls I know started at around 14 and still struggle with it today. And the last one is the most disturbing. A lot of girls so they can still eat will be bulimic, but instead of throwing up they will use laxatives. Forcing down laxatives to make themselves have bowel movements or vomit without gagging themselves.
What about the teachers? How do they factor in?
The best way to describe that is, one of my friends who was an incredible dancer, even received money to dance in college was told by our company that she needed to lose 3.6 lbs or she would not get a role in the show. The instructors also told her that she needed to work on her legs because "we just don't like the way they look." Many of the instructors don't care what you do as long as you look good. And all of them never compliment. You are either doing something wrong or you get no response at all. Also free thinking... well what free thinking. In ballet we are told how to think, what to do , what is good, bad, pretty, wrong, we are not allowed to have an opinion. Because it just doesn't matter.
How does all this effect you life, and more so after ballet?
Many ballerinas who are dancing professionally don't notice a problem. They see and eating disorder as sacrifice. they see it as a sign of dedication. Many girls are made fun of who don't have one.. they are seen as week because they wont "do what it takes" to be the best. However after ballet we/us become very co dependant. Many girls have never had to make decisions for themselves. Their whole life they are told what to do so being out alone causes a lot of dependency issues. This leads many girls to become subservient just from years of that kind of life style. Its basically a no win once you are in as deep as I was and as professionals are.
Hopefully this interview gave you some insight to how the life of a woman in sports is. If they play basketball they are manly and if they choose a feminine sport... well you've read it yourself. That's A life I know I would not want any part of.
Everyone can help to fight these issues that women deal with is sports by supporting the women and girls that you know. and making sure they know that their body is beautiful the way it is. Find a healthy environment to learn these sports. Know your teachers and know whats healthy. No girl, woman, or man, should ever have to change the way he or she looks for a sport.
--James
Monday, December 6, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Be yourself!
- Be happy
- Be healthy
- Be beautiful
Self Esteem
For the girls out there that look at the media, magazines, movies, tv, everything, take a look at these two photos of models before and after. Everyone should feel comfortable and happy about their body image and have a good self esteem. Don't let what you see get you down about your image.
These are average looking women. When modeling is their profession, they have profession hair stylists and make up artist to work their magic. It's as simple as that!
Famous
Can you tell the difference with these two pictures? The left is the original and the right is the photo shopped one.
What's your opinion?
Magainze Models
I want to share with all of you a few pictures that I stumbled upon dealing with the photo shop they perform on models. Today, the ability to change anything you want in a picture is very easy. Take a look at this picture for example:
This is a professional model. She posed with her hair pulled back. The photographer shows you how simple it is to completely change her look. They gave her black straight hair with bangs. The brightened her eye color and added dark and more make-up. And even though you can't see it, they changed her lip color as well. It is the same woman but she didn't need to have her looks changed for the picture. They just used the base of her face and did what they wanted for the advertisement.
- How does this make you feel?
- Do you think this is fair when dealing with magazines that fall into young teens hands?
- Do we have to tell ourselves that that person does not really look like that in real life?
- Is technology and electronics taking photo shop on models too far?
Saturday, December 4, 2010
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