This Girl Can

January 14, 2015 1:01 PM

"It's a celebration of active women up and down the country who are doing their thing no matter how well they do it, how they look or even how red their face gets." Aiming to inspire more women to be active without fear of judgment, the This Girl Can campaign features British women of different ages and sizes working out, getting sweaty, and enjoying it.
posted by Metroid Baby (33 comments total)

That kind of reminds me of this Nike ad, which used non-professional women athletes doing their thang. (And also featured the DELIGHTFUL image of a woman wearing her full hockey goalie kit, first telling the camera "I like pink!" and then showing a clip of her skating through a huge pile of pink balloons which had been piled on the ice.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:26 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

Love it! Thanks for sharing.
posted by drlith at 1:31 PM on January 14, 2015

Be great if they showed some women doing stuff like weightlifting or rowing, instead of stuff like spinning and Zumba; but it's a quibble.
posted by leotrotsky at 1:39 PM on January 14, 2015

This is timely for me.
posted by bleep at 1:40 PM on January 14, 2015

I really like this. I just started doing ballet again after a relatively long hiatus. I don't look like I did in high school. I don't move like I did in high school. But I love it, so I ignore the fact that I am about the opposite of What A Ballet Dancer Looks Like. I haven't yet been able to get over not looking the part to go to a real gym or try learning to climb, but I hope I'll get there soon.

(Also, I think they had both a rower and a boxer).
posted by ChuraChura at 1:41 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

What's wrong with spinning and Zumba?
posted by sparklemotion at 1:45 PM on January 14, 2015

Nothing is wrong with spinning and Zumba. I think the poster was just saying that the inclusion of some sports that are not practiced by women in as large numbers as others would be nice.
posted by harrietthespy at 1:59 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

What's wrong with spinning and Zumba?

They're generally coded as "feminine." Obviously feminine things are bad, so really it would be better to show these women doing manlier things, as then they would be stronger and better. /hamburger

But no seriously I've the fuck had it with the knee-jerk hate on cardio exercise. Next person who calls me a "cardio bunny" gets my treadmill-hitting foot in their ass.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 2:00 PM on January 14, 2015 [14 favorites]

I thought this was really cool! Thanks for sharing!
posted by jillithd at 2:07 PM on January 14, 2015

Nothing is wrong with spinning and Zumba. I think the poster was just saying that the inclusion of some sports that are not practiced by women in as large numbers as others would be nice.

The video features a boxer (very prominently) and a rower (a little less obvious that that's what she's up to). The splash image on the site is of a rock climber*.

So it seems like "the inclusion of some sports that are not practiced by women in as large numbers" was actually done, but for whatever reason also including spinning and Zumba was pointed out as being problematic and I'm curious as to why.

*when I dabbled in rock climbing the general theory was that women might be particularly suited for it as a sport but most of what I see about rock climbing feats features men so I'm counting it as not "female-coded"
posted by sparklemotion at 2:10 PM on January 14, 2015 [3 favorites]

This is pretty great, thanks! I like that it's not fitspo, it's just women working hard at what they like. (They don't look that freakish to me, though. Try working out with rosacea - it looks like you're on the verge of a cardiovascular event.)
posted by cotton dress sock at 2:26 PM on January 14, 2015 [4 favorites]

"What's wrong" with spinning, Zumba, etc. is not that they're coded as feminine specifically. It's that cardio is the only exercise that's considered "appropriate" for women. Exercise that builds strength, rather than promoting weight loss, is considered "unfeminine."

Telling women they can exercise isn't a bad message, but that message is already out there. Exercising isn't considered "not ladylike." Weightlifting is, and it shouldn't be.
posted by explosion at 2:27 PM on January 14, 2015 [9 favorites]

Plus Zumba and spinning are popular classes women join to lose weight. Nothing inherently wrong with that, just that women's fitness is often framed as "thinspo," and there are lots of other reasons for women to exercise, and lots of other rewards women get out of it. It is fine to love cardio and yoga, but it should be more acceptable for women to do "masculine" exercise (because it's fun too). That said yeah this project includes boxing and rowing. Unfortunately there are a lot of men who want a girl who "takes care of herself" but emphatically don't want one who does anything masculine, like boxing and rowing. Normalizing women's participation in all sports is cool. (And this video seems to do so at least a bit.)

I say this as a "cardio bunny" myself (lol, I have never heard that term before) who loves and adores running and spinning class.
posted by stoneandstar at 2:42 PM on January 14, 2015

"Cardio bunny" is never applied in a complimentary way btw. It's usually thrown around in the sense of "oh, don't join that gym, it's just a bunch of dumb cardio bunnies there to catch a man."
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 2:47 PM on January 14, 2015

"Cardio bunny" is never applied in a complimentary way btw.

That's weird. I've never heard the term before but I think of the Energizer bunny when I think of "cardio bunny". And, in my head, being compared to the Energizer Bunny is a very good thing.
posted by I-baLL at 2:49 PM on January 14, 2015

Yeah, I guess it would have been neat to have had a powerlifter in there. Lifting is often promoted using the aesthetic argument, in memes anyway (squat moar = moar azzzz, hey look at this Crossfitter's azzzz, she does squats, you should do some squats, heavy lifting heavy-heavy squats, also if you don't do heavy squats you're a big sissy-woman and a traitor to feminism). That stuff sort of makes me feel not great, because I'm limited in the amount and kind of resistance activities I can do, and I will likely never have a Crossfitter's azz. Seeing more images of people just having fun with it would be nice.

I don't see anything wrong at all with this campaign, it's a bunch of people who are women having a blast.
posted by cotton dress sock at 2:49 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

That's weird. I've never heard the term before but I think of the Energizer bunny when I think of "cardio bunny". And, in my head, being compared to the Energizer Bunny is a very good thing.

Cool! You have learned a new phrase and its actual connotations!
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 2:55 PM on January 14, 2015 [6 favorites]

rather than the connotations which make sense to you but which don't harmonize with actual usage
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 3:11 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

Re: the message being out there already.... From the article: The brief was to address the fact that in the UK, two million more men than women do regular exercise, a gender gap Sport England, a non-departmental public body briefed to build and support grassroots sport, is eager to bridge.

posted by NikitaNikita at 3:38 PM on January 14, 2015

Apropos Zumba, I learned a whole lot of new Portuguese swear words from my dancer friend raving about her Brazilian culture being debased by its appropriation of samba, so there's that.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 3:44 PM on January 14, 2015

I had not even seen the video when I posted. I was just trying to explain what I thought the commenters intent was in her post.
posted by harrietthespy at 3:50 PM on January 14, 2015

when I dabbled in rock climbing the general theory was that women might be particularly suited for it as a sport but most of what I see about rock climbing feats features men so I'm counting it as not "female-coded"

Yeah, although I think that's not so much true within the climbing community; among climbers, people know that the best young climber in the world is a teenaged girl from New York City, and the gender differential in my climbing gym is rapidly approaching parity. Women are good at climbing, and there are lots of young women involved in the sport. But the general population still seems to think of climbers as Men.
posted by suelac at 3:54 PM on January 14, 2015 [3 favorites]

Man, it kind of sucks that this campaign about encouraging women to go and exercise and enjoy themselves and using their bodies in powerful ways has been turned into an argument about whether these are The Right exercises for women to be participating in. It's totally fair to say "More women should pick up weightlifting because it makes you feel awesome and strong!" but it seems counterproductive to complain that they're doing something that's too feminine, or not feminine enough. I think there was value in showing a bunch of women of a bunch of shapes and sizes exercising, even if it was "only" zumba or running up hills or playing soccer or spinning or what have you.
posted by ChuraChura at 3:59 PM on January 14, 2015 [14 favorites]

I like this. I've put on quite a bit of weight this year, and am trying to get back into exercise. It took me a lot of will power to get on my bicycle this morning, partly because I haven't ridden for awhile, and I thought I'd be a bit wibbly, but mainly because I would be riding next to a busy road, and didn't want to be judged for being a large girl on a tiny bike.

Society's revulsion of 'fat and sweaty' is a serious deterent to many beginner exercisers.
posted by kjs4 at 4:31 PM on January 14, 2015 [5 favorites]

"What's wrong" with spinning, Zumba, etc. is not that they're coded as feminine specifically. It's that cardio is the only exercise that's considered "appropriate" for women. Exercise that builds strength, rather than promoting weight loss, is considered "unfeminine."

Telling women they can exercise isn't a bad message, but that message is already out there. Exercising isn't considered "not ladylike." Weightlifting is, and it shouldn't be.

If anyone still cares, this was my concern. At least on mobile I didn't see the boxing or rowing, which seems like a more inclusive message. As I said initially, it's a quibble on what's obviously a positive message.
posted by leotrotsky at 4:56 PM on January 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

"The [Sport England] campaign's website says that it's "here to inspire women to wiggle, jiggle, move and prove that judgement is a barrier that can be overcome."


The hell?

That wiggle and jiggle bit hits a horribly condescending note for me on so many levels.

At best, they sound like dance steps for a bunch of nursery class kiddies.

I feel I have the right to be picky here. I assume someone was paid to write the copy for the Sport England website and actually decided wiggle and jiggle were effective and encouraging adult female-friendly terms.

(Great post though. As beep said above, this is very timely for me too.)
posted by Jody Tresidder at 7:01 AM on January 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

Jody Tresidder: "That wiggle and jiggle bit hits a horribly condescending note for me on so many levels."

Out of curiosity, are you British, American or something else?
posted by brokkr at 4:37 AM on January 16, 2015

brokkr - I'm curious what you think that jody's nationality may have to do with disliking the word "jiggle". That's something that gets thrown at women who aren't 100% trim and toned - hell, I remember some girls in my freshman year gym class singing the Jello song to taunt other girls while they were running. So "jiggle" is kind of a universal taunt.

It's the kind of thing that some women may have decided "Okay, yeah, I jiggle now but fuck it" and may not be bothered by it, but others may still be conflicted hearing.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:47 AM on January 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

EmpressCallipygos: "brokkr - I'm curious what you think that jody's nationality may have to do with disliking the word "jiggle"."

My experience with British and American English lead me to believe that sometimes words don't mean the same in the two languages.
posted by brokkr at 6:45 AM on January 16, 2015

Ahhhh, fair enough.

Nah, the context is the same in both countries in this case - it refers to the "jiggling" that happens to parts of your body when a supposedly-too-fat person tries intense activity. A lot of people have heard it delivered as a taunt, so it's a bit of a loaded word in this context.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:57 AM on January 16, 2015

I think they used the term "jiggle" expressly for that purpose - to take it out of the "insult" realm and show how it isn't anything to be ashamed of.
posted by jillithd at 8:07 AM on January 16, 2015 [4 favorites]

One of the voiceovers from the behind-the-scenes video: "It's just a lovely way of becoming you… and not a wife, not a mother, not a friend — it's just you and the water."

Thanks for the post.
posted by Lexica at 7:42 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]

I think they used the term "jiggle" expressly for that purpose - to take it out of the "insult" realm and show how it isn't anything to be ashamed of.

Yes, I understood that, I was speaking to brokkr's theory about whether someone could be upset by the word because it possibly had a different meaning in England and I was saying no it didn't.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:27 PM on January 17, 2015