Up until this summer, when asked to draw on classic feminist iconography, the last image to come to my mind were the plastic limbs of Barbies. As a child, the dramas I enacted with my dolls were those of complicated romance; adultery, female fights (I only had one Ken to satisfy dozens of Barbies), and even pregnancy – yes, I had the now-discontinued Midge, whose infamous magnetized belly detached to reveal a tiny baby inside. But like most millennial women this summer, I chose to forget the complicated gender norms inspired by my childhood toys and proudly purchased a ticket to Mattel’s blockbuster hit, Barbie. It was clever. It was funny. It was sad and self-deprecating. The rage expressed by tween character Sasha encapsulates my mixed emotions perfectly; she explains to Barbie “You have been making women feel bad about themselves since you were invented… You represent everything wrong with our culture. Sexualized capitalism, unrealistic physical ideals.”
It may be unfair to point singular fingers at a blonde doll but it's not surprising that so many women raised in the eighties and nineties now struggle with their self-image, given the barrage of skinny icons we were raised by. If it weren’t Barbie, it would be the Kardashians, or perhaps Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, or maybe the hit-reality shows, Biggest Losers and America’s Next Top Model, or else countless other magazines and television series glorifying thinness. I struggled to meet these beauty standards, as a child and into my adulthood. I vividly recall crying myself to sleep over my “fat”-ness as early as my elementary years.
I experienced a shift in my aesthetic goals during college. Seemingly overnight, I became interested in becoming seriously strong. I wanted to have the biggest back squat in my university’s weight room. I consumed more cans of tuna and bags of whey isolate than my gut could handle (as is a canon event for any gym rat). I attribute this change to the rise of Crossfit. As much as people like to poo-poo on the METCONs, WODs, and other acronyms of the popular fitness regimen, it deserves credit for the rise in popularity of barbells in our country. It’s no coincidence that since Crossfit’s takeover of popular culture in the early 2000s, the United States of America Weightlifting membership has doubled. The United States of America Powerlifting (USAPL) organization cited over 22,000 members in 2022, compared to less than 4,000 in 2007. These are just two examples out of dozens of strength-sports federations, not including Strongman or the Highland Games, among others. What remains true is that many Americans -- specifically American women - are changing how they view their bodies and how they want to reach their goals.
This change of trend brings me a new set of concerns. I worry the aspiring strongwomen of today could be teetering dangerously close to a new version of body dysmorphia and disordered eating. I’m not sure if aspiring for six-pack abs is necessarily much better than seeking thigh-gaps. It’s easy to confuse a specific toned body type with being healthy but they’re not necessarily synonymous. When I first pursued lifting weights, I ran myself into the ground by training every day with no days off. I’ve since learned better.
I don’t know if the Barbie movie undid any societal damage or if it was just a good PR stunt. I don’t know if the insecurities and compulsions we learn as girls ever go away or if we simply redirect them. What I do know is that I’ve run the full gamut (from skinny to jacked and everything in between) and never found that achieving a specific goal weight or physique ever left me satisfied or happy. But seeking strength has provided me with both solace and purpose.
If you’ve made it this far, I imagine some of my story resonates with you. I encourage you to consider exploring the rest of M.I.N.E’s website to learn more about how they are leveraging strength training to empower women.
Savannah Schepp
Savannah Schepp is an elite powerlifter and strongwoman. She currently works in the software industry, but in a previous life specialized in training women over 50. She is currently training for the 2024 Arnold Amateur Strong(wo)man.
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