The Beauty Myth, Revisited

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Gleefully Italian. Please keep your ranking to yourself.

Gleefully Italian. Please keep your ranking to yourself.

So this post is a few days late. Once you watch this video clip, which you have likely seen before, you will understand why I have been distracted:   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiAwpYIkRmU&feature=related

‘Quick,’ cries my LSP, ‘it’s the dance scene!’ I rush out of my home office to join him as he rests on the couch, taking a few days off to recuperate from a sudden, explosive illness. Ah Napoleon Dynamite. Is there anything he can’t do? Continue reading →

Interview with a Figure Champion

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Naomi Sach's presentation pose, June 2012.

Naomi’s presentation pose, June 2012.

I have a special treat for you this week: a written exchange between me and an impressive woman I have not yet met in person, but will be cheering for when she competes in the Canadian Bodybuilding Federation’s National Figure Competition in New Westminster, British Columbia on August 11, 2012. Amazingly, Naomi qualified for Nationals during her first year on stage, after placing first in her height categories at both the local and provincial levels! In spite of her rigourous work and training schedules, she took the time to respond to my sometimes probing questions.  Continue reading →

Working Out Euro Style, April-June 2012

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This photograph shows me emptying gravel from my homemade ‘dumbbell’ after completing a final bootcamp in Cortona’s public park on May 29. Inventiveness and dedication are often necessary in order to pursue fitness while traveling, especially during extended periods away from home, far from a proper gym. I was recently in this situation for 52 days, teaching and doing research in Cortona, Florence, Siena, Rome, Arezzo, and Paris, but still managed to work out over 45 times. I post here a few pictures of my training during this period, Continue reading →

The Sexualization of Female Athletes

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You are correct to think that this poster shows a male rather than female body, and not a very sexy one at that. Created by the Parisian advertising agency Leg, it encourages French attendance at the upcoming summer Olympic Games in London by poking fun at the stereotypical British physique; this softly beer-gutted man is more likely to throw darts than a javelin. Her Continue reading →

Bad Bathroom Stories

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Pick your favourite colour at the pee store in the Carrousel du Louvre shopping mall. Rue de Rivoli bitches!

When in Paris, a girl’s thoughts naturally turn to urination. ‘Do I smell pee?’ asked the guiless PDDs, sitting beside me on the metro as it pulled away from Charles de Gaulle airport. ‘Of course,’ I pompously asserted. ‘Just wait until we get into the city. There will be rivers of urine flowing by, as French men wearing berets and holding fresh baguettes under their arms shamelessly pee in the street.’ Continue reading →