Time to Go Off on One

Those of you who follow my humble ramblings (and I take it on good authority there are at least one or two) will be used to race reports, grinning run-snaps, plenty of performance reflection, the occasional book review and the odd stumble into a bit of generic advice. This post, to buck the trend, is in equal parts inspired by other running bloggers (Autumn Howard and David Hindley in particular) discussions on related issues which makes their blogs a lot more varied and interesting, and an issue that has been silently getting my goat.
My instinct for this blog has always been to avoid too much opinion. I believe running is a fantastic method for achieving better community cohesion (an issue close to my heart as exemplified in my arts career) and the last thing I want to do is put people off and cause divisions. It’s not that I'm not confident of my own opinion, quite the opposite; I'm confident enough to not need to splurt it about. I don't need your approval to be happy in my views whilst leaving plenty of space for yours. And hers.  And his. As a teenager, I was pretty militant about broadcasting various political opinions (thank goodness there was no social media in those days!). If only everyone knew X, Y or Z they'd have to share my opinion, which was, after all, FACT DAMMIT! Read this leaflet, look at these terrible images, listen to this completely unbiased speaker! Then you will See the Light and think like me! Yeah right. Age brings experience, tolerance, respect and confidence, and I no longer seek to evangelise or persuade, finding quiet exemplar living is probably more effective & at least less annoying. But. ..I’m gonna give it a go. This is what I think about the as yet unrevealed issue. Feel free to comment, criticise and question. Who knows, you may even change my thinking.

I have seen a lot of re-tweeted articles in the runnersphere lately about female body type. (Uh oh. Yep, that’s the sound of thin ice creaking over well-trodden ground.) There’s even been criticism of TopShop in the news this week for their use of what they now describe as ‘stylised’ mannequins that, according to those who initiated the outcry, had legs so thin it was  ‘appalling’ ‘shocking’ and ‘irresponsible’. I guess the lady who tweeted the picture looked at the mannequin and felt it was an unrealistic expectation of what she was supposed to look like. ‘My legs look nothing like that, something must be wrong.’ The thing is, I look at this picture and I think ‘Hmm. That’s kind of what my legs do look like.’ So… am I ‘appalling’ ‘shocking’ and ‘irresponsible’? Possibly; but not because of my thigh measurements. I have a pretty thick skin but these comments can still sting as much as the ‘compliments’ such as ‘it’s OK, a girl is supposed to have some meat on her’ or ‘I wish I had the confidence to be as curvy as you’ I was once ‘fortunate’ enough to evoke in days when I was bigger. I couldn’t help a wry smile either, when later in the same news programme I heard a discussion on whether or not to bring in calorie advice on alcoholic drinks due to the ‘obesity epidemic’. It’s no wonder we’re so confused and apparently unaccepting of anything that’s not dead centre.
My point is: cut the sensationalist knee jerk reactions. We all know people come in different shapes and sizes for a range of reasons. Maybe that’s just their genetic disposition. May be they eat too much or not enough. Maybe they have a medical condition, or a mental illness or, I dunno, worms or something. I don’t look at a headless mannequin and decide to spark a media frenzy because it’s supporting Islamic State’s recent violent actions. I don’t look at it and think my head is unfashionable. I never looked at a coat hanger and decided I wasn’t quite triangular and metallic enough either. So what gives?

Disputed TopShop Mannequin Legs

My Legs. 'She got leeeeegs.... She knows how to uuuse them!'

I know there’s a genuine concern behind critical use of ‘unhealthy’ models but whatever the cause do you really think such inflammatory statements and public scrutiny is helping? We need to be educating people not to feel like they have to look anyway at all. We should be equipping people with the confidence and knowledge to make and be happy with their own decisions based on informed opinions. We need to develop transferable life skills that can be applied to multiple situations, not to focus rhetorical criticisms on very specific events. Is this looking at the bigger picture? Thinking outside the box? Common sense?! Whatever you call it there doesn't seem to be a lot of it about! Let’s encourage and support each other to be healthy please, and let’s accept that health looks different in different bodies and feels different in different minds.

Back when I still had boobs. Thank God I still have pie.

Now... Less boobs, more tattoos...

And do you know what, I’ve decided against even talking about why I’m this shape and size (though I initially planned to) as I realised that would be some kind of justification or defence. If you want to, you can speculate. You can even decide what you think I look like. Healthy? Unhealthy? Happy? Sad? Feel free to draw your own conclusion and even express it. Compliments and supportive comments are just as welcome as concerned advice but please engage your brain before lazily defaulting to shock phrases and accusatory adjectives.
And while I’m ranting, a point on gender; I think I’ve said before, I don't call myself a feminist because I’ve never met anyone who did and was genuinely interested in gender equality as opposed to veiled female supremacy. Having said this, by some people’s standards, I probably am one though I prefer to think of myself as an ‘equalist’.  This goes beyond being galled by the 'for a girl' insinuated apology in the 'first lady' title, which I can accept probably has good reasons. I think men get an equally hard time at the moment, just in different ways. Maybe they’re paid more on average but I bet it’s easier for a woman to get support if her partner abuses her.  I have to say though, I don’t notice guys have the same tendency to hurl public criticisms about to justify their own shapes despite the fact it's becoming increasingly accepted that (of course) they have as much capacity to share all the same deep seated physical insecurities as even the blondest Play Boy bunny.
So cummon ladies (and gents if it applies). Let’s stop using criticism of others to make us feel better about our own insecurities. Yes it really is that obvious. Trust individuals to aware of their own health and if, as a friend or relative you have genuine concerns that I might have a problem, support me, talk to me openly but in private and after a little bit of thought. Don’t try and make me feel like a freak in public. It won’t win me over to your point of view.

Well that was tiring. Now I’m going to eat a biscuit, after which I shall go for a run. And eat another biscuit. Oooohhhh. Controversy! Incidentally, if you’re missing the run-report in this post, fear not. I’m racing on Sunday so you can expect more bipedal verbosity shortly thereafter!