Fit is a Feminist Issue, Link Round Up #41

This is where we share stuff we can’t share on Facebook page for fear of being kicked out! Read why here. Usually the posts are about body image, sometimes there’s nudity but we’re all adults here. Right? Why does a fitness blog even care about body image? You can read about that here.

And to be clear, we’re not only posting stuff we agree with or that makes us smile.  Instead, we’re posting material of interest to people who, like us, care about feminism and fitness.

Taking a stand for gender equality by reading topless in the park

The Outdoor Co-ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society, which boasts dozens of members, was founded five years ago to give women the chance to take advantage of the New York City law that allows women to go topless in public spaces.

Why Don’t Women Order Their Own Fries? –

If you want fries, just order your own fries, right?

Why is it apparently so common for women to not just order their own fries?

I feel pretty sure the issue is mostly related to pressure women feel to not be seen ordering too much food or the “wrong” kinds of food. That is the part that bugs me. Makes me mad actually. That we worry, that there is any cause to worry, about being judged if we did just order what we want.

What’s Not to Love? OITNB’s Lea DeLari

Stylelikeu is continuing its incredibly queer-friendly work in their What’s Underneath? project. Lea DeLaria is the latest personality to stop by and strip down by sharing both stories and skin in the video below. She talks about her early career as a construction worker in San Francisco, why coming out to her parents was such a struggle and when she feels the most beautiful.

“I would say: I read Fat Is a Feminist Issue and, halfway through, I got bored and ate it.”

Femme is defiance

Today, after changing my hair colour from green to blue, I put on a little black dress, some burgundy lipstick and an old pair of sneakers. I was feeling really good in my body, in my gender and in myself. I knew that a lot of people would think my dress was too short and that my bright blue hair was ‘asking for attention’ but I knew those people would be wrong. I knew that this femme embodiment is a hard won confidence, a willingness to face down sexual violence every single day in order to dress the way that most authentically represents who I am.

Femme is not public property. Femme does not need your comments and approval. Femme is not an invitation to talk to me. Femme is not an invitation for your sexually violent behaviour. Femme is not ‘asking for it’. Femme is not about you. Femme is about the femme being femme.

Body modification images highlight the beauty of being different

‘I always like it when people are not afraid to be who they are,’ says photographer Roger Kisby.

So, when he stumbled upon the Association of Professional Piercers Conference and Exposition in Vegas earlier this month, he couldn’t resist asking if he could photograph some of the people there.

He told Refinery 29 he was intrigued by the opportunity to show beauty can come in many different guises, from piercings and tattoos, to implants and flesh tunnels.

Kisby said: ‘The point of this project was not to point and say, “Look at these people, look at how weird they look,”‘. Instead, he explained: ‘It was to show the range of people that practice piercing or do it for a living or are enthusiasts.’

The badass bruises of roller derby

London based, Lapland born artist Riikka Hyvönen started working with the bruises – called ‘kisses’ by roller derby – through collecting photographs of roller derby girls’ butts. She then captured the athletes’ injuries in giant artworks.

“I hope people will see the beauty of bruises,” Hyvönen says.

Pop, kitsch, and perhaps even slightly camp in their glittery leather glory, the 3D objects, made by Hyvönen for her Goldsmiths graduate show, are somewhere between sculptures and paintings.

“I painted the bums to capture momentary marks that are seen in a completely different light in the mainstream than inside the subculture of roller derby girls.”

Roller derby, one of the few contact sports for women, is often looked at as merely a show. But Hyvönen highlights how it is, in fact, an aggressive sport demanding a lot of strength from a player. Therefore, muscular butts are considered a plus in the ring – and bruises are something to be proud of.

“Obviously, I am objectifying these women totally. But I am doing it exactly in the way they objectify themselves,” Hyvönen says.

The players fall, and although it hurts, they get up smiling: after the match they are immensely proud of their bruises. Posting photos online and competing in who’s got the most colourful, biggest bruise, is a phenomenon: it would be a shame if no one saw the sign of bravery after a well-played game.

Women are sharing pictures of their thighs

Over the past two months, I have been exercising like crazy in hopes of shedding some of the weight I put on when I moved to Los Angeles. Yet no matter how toned I become, my stretch marks, which I’ve had since high school, won’t go away. I have accepted this and try to remember that many of the models I see in magazine ads probably have these marks as well—they just have the luxury of Photoshop.

The viral hashtag #ThighReading reminds me of this in the best way possible. It encourages women to post photos of their thigh lines, scars, cellulite, or other physical “imperfections” to show that body marks are nothing to be ashamed of. Many feel proud of these marks, as they represent growth and life experience.

The magic wand and art history

Celebrating art and the Hitachi Magic Wand, simultaneously! Please feel free to submit paintings you would like to see here.