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Thursday, 27 Mar 08
Jumper Libby Ludlow has a bigger mission than being the best ski racer ever. She is trying to help girls see/accept their beautiful bodies. This in an excerpt from her blog at www.libbyludlow.com. (Photo by Zach Ornitz)
In February 2006 I achieved my dream of becoming an Olympian. All it took was a small taste of the Olympic buzz, and I knew I wanted to stick around to compete in the 2010 Games in Vancouver. While I was optimistically looking toward the future, I still found myself asking the weighty post-Olympic question. “Now what?”
I decided that if I was going to keep ski racing for another four years, I needed to discover a new motivation to help carry me through the tough daily grind. So taking a closer look, my question in fact wasn’t a question of what at all. There was no question what I wanted to do. It was more a question of how?
I always thought, especially in Olympic athletics, that you were supposed to do it “for yourself.” That motivation should come exclusively from within the self, and that it was dangerous to be motivated by external factors. For years leading into the Games I worked tirelessly and almost obsessively toward my Olympic goal. After I became an Olympian, I concluded that if really I wanted to make it another four years, my simple and selfish drive would no longer be enough. I already “did it” for myself. I needed something else.
...The portrayal of female body image in the media is a topic I have always felt very strongly about. Today standards of ideal beauty barrage young girls from every possible direction. Girls grow up from a very young age programmed to value a standard of beauty that is thin and perfect… Unrealistic. This is the brutal standard to which girls proceed to compare themselves on a daily basis.
I remember when I was in high school I was self-conscious of my muscles. My friends commented about them and I often felt like I looked like a boy. I didn’t let the insecurity interfere with my dedication to sports or training, but as I continued to hone my body for athletics, I couldn’t help but feel like it was at the detriment of my femininity.
As I look back, it sounds crazy to be insecure over looking exceptionally fit. After all, I was strong and confident and talented! But I was also young, and my body didn’t look at all like what society had taught me was beautiful. To me today, this is tragic. And yet, it’s happening all over the place on different levels. There may not be many teenage girls who are self-conscious about their muscles, but there definitely are a slew of girls and women who feel grossly inadequate in comparison to their unrealistic standard of beauty.
And so, as young girls grow up under the fire of unyielding media, I now strive to provide a counter example.
To READ MORE, check out www.libbyludlow.com and/or www.campaignforrealbeauty.com.
Campaign for real beauty
Comment on this PostJumper Libby Ludlow has a bigger mission than being the best ski racer ever. She is trying to help girls see/accept their beautiful bodies. This in an excerpt from her blog at www.libbyludlow.com. (Photo by Zach Ornitz)
In February 2006 I achieved my dream of becoming an Olympian. All it took was a small taste of the Olympic buzz, and I knew I wanted to stick around to compete in the 2010 Games in Vancouver. While I was optimistically looking toward the future, I still found myself asking the weighty post-Olympic question. “Now what?”
I decided that if I was going to keep ski racing for another four years, I needed to discover a new motivation to help carry me through the tough daily grind. So taking a closer look, my question in fact wasn’t a question of what at all. There was no question what I wanted to do. It was more a question of how?
I always thought, especially in Olympic athletics, that you were supposed to do it “for yourself.” That motivation should come exclusively from within the self, and that it was dangerous to be motivated by external factors. For years leading into the Games I worked tirelessly and almost obsessively toward my Olympic goal. After I became an Olympian, I concluded that if really I wanted to make it another four years, my simple and selfish drive would no longer be enough. I already “did it” for myself. I needed something else.
...The portrayal of female body image in the media is a topic I have always felt very strongly about. Today standards of ideal beauty barrage young girls from every possible direction. Girls grow up from a very young age programmed to value a standard of beauty that is thin and perfect… Unrealistic. This is the brutal standard to which girls proceed to compare themselves on a daily basis.
I remember when I was in high school I was self-conscious of my muscles. My friends commented about them and I often felt like I looked like a boy. I didn’t let the insecurity interfere with my dedication to sports or training, but as I continued to hone my body for athletics, I couldn’t help but feel like it was at the detriment of my femininity.
As I look back, it sounds crazy to be insecure over looking exceptionally fit. After all, I was strong and confident and talented! But I was also young, and my body didn’t look at all like what society had taught me was beautiful. To me today, this is tragic. And yet, it’s happening all over the place on different levels. There may not be many teenage girls who are self-conscious about their muscles, but there definitely are a slew of girls and women who feel grossly inadequate in comparison to their unrealistic standard of beauty.
And so, as young girls grow up under the fire of unyielding media, I now strive to provide a counter example.
To READ MORE, check out www.libbyludlow.com and/or www.campaignforrealbeauty.com.
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