From Madonna to Nicole Kidman via Serena Williams, ultra-sculpted bodies are shaking up the codes of femininity. A one-of-a-kind model that breaks down stereotypes.
Prominent muscles, biceps flexed in victory, fat body, concrete thighs… Nicole Kidman looks like a bodybuilder on the cover of an American magazine. Perfect: The fashion body-builder-turned-actress has drawn backlash from netizens on social media, calling her “too muscular”, “not feminine enough” or even comparing her to a man. Observations that women who go to the gym often suffer from their bodies are as fascinating as they are disturbing.
In his book No filter (Solar Editions), fitness content creator Justin Becatini (aka “Juju Fitcats” on social media) says he’s gotten a lot of negative comments about his body. So much so that the avid competitive bodybuilder and CrossFit practitioner admits she considered deleting her photos on Instagram (where she has more than 3 million followers). “At first, I was very proud to show off my shoulders, traps, biceps… Then I started receiving many criticisms that it was not beautiful, not feminine, and I looked like a man,” the young woman recalls. 27 years. Off the screen, the influencer was afraid to wear clothes that accentuated her sculpted figure; As a result, I felt that wearing leggings and bras allowed me to legitimize my figure.
I avoided skimpy dresses or spaghetti strap tops for fear that it would expose my top and make me look too masculine.
Justin Becattini aka “Juju Fitcats” on social media
Reversing traditional patterns
It’s impossible not to think of famous athletes like Serena Williams or Amelie Mauresmo who have faced court for virilization. Are muscles sexual? Tutu for women, mutes for men. For Marie Cholly-Gomez, a doctor of social psychology and researcher at the University of the West Indies, who studied bodybuilders’ self-reported femininity; It’s a way to overturn traditional patterns for both men and women.” As if the female gender is incompatible with dumbs and push-ups.
Even Madonna suffered the consequences the day she dared to show off her muscular arms until her former gym trainer Tracy Anderson confronted her: Today, when I look at it, I find it very “square” again. If you look at all the other women with whom I have worked, you will see that they keep a harmonious body, they even do a lot of sports,” he said about the star in the Anglo-Saxon press.
“Muscle structure is a sign of strength and self-confidence, it’s a manifestation of strength, characteristics that are mostly associated with men,” says sports trainer Anne Dubndidou. “On the contrary, women have always learned to be as reserved as possible in society. As soon as they are more massive, inevitably not everyone likes that, and that’s scary. Fortunately, generations of young adults and teenagers have completely deconstructed these prejudices.
These women are shaking up years of entrenched gender binaries
Marie Cholly-Gomez, MD, Social Psychology
Crampons and high heels
In his book Being a woman in a man’s world (1), sociologist Christine Meneson examines the cases of women who took up so-called “masculine” sports (boxing, football) and shows how to fight stereotypes in order not to become less “masculine”.
Others assert both their athletic status and their “femininity.” Outside the playgrounds, they do make-up, hairstyles or fashionable clothes, like judoka Lucie Decosset, three-time world champion and Olympic champion; Would wearing makeup or wearing high heels be exclusive to those fighting on the tatami in kimono? I stayed awake (2). In her autobiography, American mixed martial arts (MMA) champion Ronda Rousey, nicknamed “The Bully,” claims that her nude photos for magazines or her sexy outfits serve to “illustrate what you can do with your body when you develop your full physical potential.” “(3).
fitness attitude
The Bodypositive movement, which advocates for the representation of all bodies in public space, also embraces this sculpted physique. “Society today has evolved in the right direction, we are getting rid of this idea that muscles and femininity are incompatible,” rejoices Anne Dubndidu. “A few years ago, I had a lot of clients tell me they wanted to get into fitness or bodybuilding, but were afraid of bulking up or ‘looking like a man.’ In this change in their constitution, there was some fear associated with masculinity. Today it is much less, it has become fashionable to have certain visible muscles, such as sculpted balls or abs. “Also, and this is the real latest change in mindset, women are no longer playing sports to please men, but for themselves, and are no longer afraid of looking too masculine,” she adds, lamenting, however, that there are still too many. The group classes in the rooms focused not on “bodybuilding” but on “toning.”
Society today has evolved in the right direction, we are getting rid of this idea that muscles and femininity are incompatible.
Anne Dubndidu, sports coach
A semantic nuance, not to scare. According to the expert, it is also thanks to the appearance of fitness influencers on social networks and professional sportswomen revealed in the media that the change is taking place. Being an athlete, you can also be a woman.”
Today, Justin Becatini is taking charge of his figure and no longer intends to hide it under sportswear. “I have this body because I decided to and I train for it. It allows me to have the strength to do competitions and many everyday things without anyone’s help. And then, you can feel like a woman and have trapezes,” she assures, regretting, however, that this model has not yet found its place in advertising or on fashion catwalks. “Maybe there’s still a taboo,” he suggests. The inclusion of these bodies, which violate gender, is missing, says researcher Marie Cholli-Gómez. Inflated bet.
(1) To be a woman in a man’s world By Christine Meneson, Editions L’Harmattan.
(2) I stayed standing by Lucie Décosse, Editions du Moment.
(3) Why am I fighting? By Ronda Rousey, Les Arènes Publications.
Source: Le Figaro
