Author Archives: feministfiguregirl

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About feministfiguregirl

I am a 51-year-old professor named Lianne McTavish who receives as much satisfaction from working out at the gym as from publishing my academic research. About eight years ago, I decided to combine my two primary identities (scholar/gym rat) to create "Feminist Figure Girl," a fictional character who both analyzes and participates in bodybuilding. I competed in my first figure show in June of 2011, and then wrote a book inspired by the process, published by SUNY Press in February 2015. In this blog I will write about and consider my ongoing research on the body, while regularly making fun of myself. I recommend that you start reading my first post from August 2010 (available on the home page), instead of backwards from the most recent one, in order to get the full FFG effect.

Your Daughter is Listening: Guest Post Written by My Sister Lorrie

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Lorrie's blog, strong armsby Lorrie

I have always wondered whether or not I would go through a mid life crisis. As I approached and then passed age 40, I thought “what could possibly happen?” Then whamo! I was hit square in the stomach with a major personal crisis in November. When I was explaining this experience to a friend at Starbucks one day, she likened it to being clanged on both sides of the head with large cymbals. She said it was a wake up call and she was right.

Since then I have done a lot of thinking about who I am and how I see myself. Continue reading →

Metabolic Conditioning: An Actual Fitness Post

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Introducing Dr. Lenny Kravitz.

Introducing Dr. Lenny Kravitz, Program Coordinator of Exercise Science, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

A few weeks ago, I heard Lenny Kravitz present his research at the the annual Can-Fit-Pro conference in Edmonton. I was quite excited by the chance to learn how the sultry retro singer maintains six-pack abs despite being in his late 40s. Imagine my surprise, then, when a white man wearing a bolo tie entered the room to grab the microphone. This Bizarro Lenny was actually quite a hoot, joking and laughing while discussing his recent findings on nutrient timing, the relationship between stress, cortisol and obesity, and metabolic conditioning. The last topic particularly caught my attention and, with Dr. Kravitz’s permission, I present some of his key points here. [Aside: my LSP has a great story about literally bumping into the “real” Lenny Kravitz in a Marais bagel shop in 1994, when we were living in Paris. At the time I was unfortunately in the library, reading about seventeenth-century French vaginas]. Continue reading →

Monkey Balls: Things to Do During Your Midlife Crisis

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Will this teal pair bring out my eyes?

Will this teal pair bring out my eyes?

A silver-haired man with thick jowls receives a birthday present from his wife. Ripping the card open he sees its contents and shouts “Gray Power!” He and his wife chuckle as they contemplate the exciting and energized future that lays before them. To celebrate his fifty years, she has given him a gift certificate for monkey balls. Literally. His aging orbs will soon be surgically removed and replaced with a simian sack, guaranteeing beastial virility for years to come. Continue reading →

Why I Will Go to the 118th Boston Marathon: Guest Post by a Long Distance Runner

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Sasha Mullally describes her love of running, responding to the recent attack on the Boston Marathon.

Sasha Mullally describes her love of running, responding to the recent attack on the Boston Marathon.

I am in my early 40s and had never run before two years ago, but now I have taken to running like a duck takes to water.  I feel I have always been a distance runner; I just didn’t know it. I feel designed for it physically and psychologically. Up until now, I was simply not aware of this part of my “design.” It feels like a mid-life gift of epigenetic proportions. Continue reading →

Perfectly Embodied: Guest Post by WhiteFeather Hunter

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This work by WhiteFeather (made of animal bones, a beak, feathers, and human hair) hangs above my desk, protecting me from evil.

This work by WhiteFeather (made of animal bones, a beak, feathers, and human hair) hangs above my desk, protecting me from evil.

Introduction by FFG: I met WhiteFeather in Fredericton many years ago, admiring both her innovative art work and fearless personality. We had a lot in common, including a fierce commitment to feminist politics, borne out as we volunteered together to walk women and their families into the Morgentaler Clinic. Most importantly, we were and remain similarly enthralled by all things corporeal, things that others often find disgusting. WhiteFeather is now pursuing an MFA degree and she recently wrote me to describe a crit—when students present work for an audience of teachers and peers—during which she was condemned for using her naked, decorated body in a performance piece. Some viewers argued that her body was too attractive and could only be sexualized when placed on display.  Continue reading →