Policing Our Bodies: Unattainable Beauty Standards in Society and Sport

Written by Bronwen Owen 21/09/2021

As women, we know the feeling of being told how we should look all too well. In pretty much any given situation, there is a constant pressure to look our best. People will pass judgement on what we’re wearing, how much make-up we have on, or what shape we’re in. You only have to look online, or on the front page of a magazine, to see a headline like ‘let herself go’, or ‘struggling to lose that pregnancy weight’. This policing of women’s bodies has been happening for so long that we consider it as the norm - or ‘just how it is’.

Keeping up with beauty standards is a full-time job. Currently, women are advised to be skinny, but also curvy. In short, you have to carry fat, but only on your boobs and bum - otherwise it's unattractive. On top of that, these standards are constantly changing. It wasn't long ago that we were to have no fat at all, and before that, it was all about the curves.

How are these constantly fluctuating beauty standards ever meant to be attainable?!

Firstly, everyone has a different body type. If you're naturally curvy, then becoming stick thin probably requires something drastic, and if you're naturally thinner, then it looks like you're going to have to go and get plastic surgery for your Kim K style bum. Plus, by the time you've paid for that, big bums will be out of fashion (keep up, hun).

We can't win.

Ultimately, beauty standards change because capitalism preys on our insecurities.

A world in which women are content with how they look (and have equality in other areas, making our looks less important) would be far less profitable for the beauty, diet and plastic surgery industries.

For me, this revelation completely changed the way I thought about myself and other people. Previously, amongst other things, I’ve felt stuck between not being skinny enough to be considered an endurance athlete, but not curvy enough for society in general. And I still do feel like that, occasionally.

Why? Because it’s pretty difficult to completely ignore the way society constantly drills to women about what we should look like.

However, being aware that it’s all a money-making scheme designed to make women feel insecure, compare ourselves to one another (don’t do it!), and never feel quite good enough, has made it a lot easier to not care. Why should we feel insecure, bring each other down, and place disproportionate levels of importance on how we look, just because someone out there profits from it? 

Now, combine the pressure to fit society’s beauty standards with the ‘ideal *insert sport here* figure’. They don’t match.

Firstly, the 'optimum' figure varies massively within the world of sport, as each sport comes with its own stereotypes. For example, as an endurance athlete, my experience has been, from a young age, that to succeed, you should be lean. You should be muscular, but not too muscular, carry as little fat as possible (don't worry about health effects, they’re a problem for future you), skinny limbs, small boobs and a six pack to boot. Someone might naturally look like this and be perfectly healthy, but the issue is that the standard leaves no room for variation. Just because someone doesn’t tick the boxes of what a female endurance athlete ‘should’ look like, it definitely doesn’t make them any less capable.

We’re people, not robots. Of course we don’t all look the same.

Classifying someone as able or unable to achieve in a sport based on how they look is not only misleading, but also damaging. Eating disorders are significantly higher across a whole range of sports than in the general population. It’s a narrative that needs to be changed, as it continues to have such a negative impact on athletes’ mental and physical health, and the impact is often long term. Some women suffer infertility while others develop osteoporosis as a result of overtraining and under-fuelling, which partly stem from being surrounded by outdated views.

Too many of us have had comments like “missing your periods is a sign of peak fitness” (strangely always said by people who’ve never thought to research the menstrual cycle); “eating is cheating”; or “they look more like a sprinter than an endurance athlete“. It’s not necessarily intentional but these views encourage vulnerable athletes, who are desperate to succeed, to engage in behaviours that result in short term success, rather than good health and longevity. 

Furthermore, keeping the focus on looks is an insult to women’s sport - there are way too many examples of appearances being commented on and achievements being disregarded. It comes across as though we’re not taken very seriously.

Serena Williams is a prime example of this. She’s achieved 23 grand slams but most articles are about how muscular she is, or what outfit she decided to play in.

Another frustration is that many sponsors seem to only be interested if we present ourselves in a certain way and so they’re just feeding into a narrative that we should all be trying to get out of. Really, it’s not anyone else’s business how we choose to present ourselves. Wear make-up and post bikini pics if that makes you happy, and if it’s not for you then don’t. It’s not a sponsor’s place to tell us how to look.

Both society and the sporting world clearly have a long way to go with regards to providing solutions to poor body image. Maybe I’ll write some suggestions in a future post before this ‘short’ blog post turns into an essay.

Ultimately, whether it’s in relation to sporting performance or life in general, being happy, healthy and not feeling that we have to conform to a standard, puts us in the best possible position to get the most out of ourselves. Which is far more important than fitting a stereotype, often at the detriment to our physical and mental health. 

If you suspect you, a family member or friend has an eating disorder, contact Beat on 0808 801 0677 or at help@beateatingdisorders.org.uk, for information and advice on the best way to get appropriate treatment