Women’s rights and beauty standards is never something you should apply together in one fell swoop. Our right for equal pay on the dollar and why we can look how we damn well please should not be said in one sentence. How I look should not matter when it comes to my rights. But here we are, with an opportunity to talk about both.
The CrossFit Games began today, where men, women, and teams from all over the world compete in the same workouts to see who will be crowned the Fittest on Earth. To you, my dear reader. My feminists. My pussy hat wearing women’s marchers. Even the opposers, naysayers, and whatever the hell a menimist is. You, my friends, should be watching the CrossFit Games.
CrossFit has become a sport where impossibly high body standards have been chucked out the window, with branding campaigns about “thick thighs save lives,” muscles and mascara (because yes, you can be strong and enjoy makeup), and curves of all sizes are the norm. Where the females athletes are applauded for being muscular AND beautiful; women want to be them and men want to be them too. Where women are given the same accolades as men.
CrossFit has also become a sport where women open their own gyms, successful gyms, where men and women come to train and learn from the best. Where coaches and athletes, male or female, are shown respect and give respect. Where there is no male workout and female workout, but everyone falls to the floor together at the end of a brutal workout. When people march across the world against the gender wage gap, and in America where women make 80 cents to every dollar a man makes, let CrossFit remind you that the Fittest Men and Women on Earth walk away with the same cash purse. Same prize, same glory, same bragging rights.
So grab your protein shake, some air-popped popcorn and buckle in. This ladies and gentleman is the 2017 CrossFit Games and you should all be watching.
August 4, 2017
