Are Fit Women Feminine
ARE FIT BODIES IN WOMEN MORE FEMININE?
The purpose of this essay is to discover whether fit bodies in women are more feminine. In order to properly address this question it is imperative to define what ‘fit' and ‘feminine' represent in this context. If the definitions of ‘fit' and ‘feminine' are similar then it is quite possible that a ‘fit' body is more ‘feminine'. In Helen Lenskyj's Women, Sport, and Sexuality, she uses words such as slim, trim, and fashionable to describe what it is to be ‘feminine'. My definition of ‘feminine' is a little more all-encompassing, it includes a fashionable appearance (hair, clothes, accessories), flirtatious, sexy, ectomorph body type (slender build), ...
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well-developed muscles, and strong bones. All of these features lead to a more shapely body and an upright posture. Keeping in mind the definitions of ‘fit' and ‘feminine' I will now explore Lenskyj's ‘commercialized fit' and my distinction between ‘being fit' and ‘looking fit'.
Helen Lenskyj's article Women, Sport, and Sexuality explores the commercialization of the ‘fit' body. She traces the image of the physically fit woman as it transforms from the 1960's to the 1990's. The 1960's ideal of the sedentary and decorative woman was replaced in the 1980's by an active and physically fit woman. However, Lenskyj notes that although the image has changed there have been other factors which have worked to reinforce the 1960's stereotype of the fragile and petite woman. Commercialization has bought into the new ideal and packaged it into many products which capitalize on the image of the new physically fit woman. By 1984, the industry promoted the physically fit woman through ...
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of ‘fit' body has a slim, trim, and sexy appeal which identifies with a model's body. The muscular body is rectangular with well-defined muscles, it is the ideal shape of the body builder and results from intense weight lifting and physical training. The fitness body is not slim and not rectangular, it has curves but it is not soft. The physically fit body requires regular activity but not intense training. The three categories of ‘fit' are easier to relate to the feminine ideal once broken down. Looking back on the criteria of a feminine woman, some of the key factors were a slender build, a fashionable appearance, elegant strides, flirtatious, and sexy. Comparing these factors to the ...
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Are Fit Women Feminine. (2007, November 19). Retrieved November 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Are-Fit-Women-Feminine/74553
"Are Fit Women Feminine." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 19 Nov. 2007. Web. 23 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Are-Fit-Women-Feminine/74553>
"Are Fit Women Feminine." Essayworld.com. November 19, 2007. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Are-Fit-Women-Feminine/74553.
"Are Fit Women Feminine." Essayworld.com. November 19, 2007. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Are-Fit-Women-Feminine/74553.
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