I’ve admitted it before and I’ll admit it again.  I am complete Olympics junkie.  I LOVE watching the Olympics and cheering for people who have devoted a serious percentage of their lives to be incredibly good at something.  But I have to admit how sad and disappointed I’ve been with the NBC coverage which seems intent on objectifying women and shows a ridiculous fetish-y need to show off the rear ends of incredibly talented women athletes.

First, there was the concern over the London weather being too cold for the beach volleyball players to wear their bikinis.  Then there was the uproar over Gabby Douglas’ hair.  And if that wasn’t enough, NBC felt the need to post a totally inappropriate video called “Bodies in Motion” that along with it’s 70’s soft porn style soundtrack featured a whole lot of women’s bodies, often without faces, in loving slow motion that featured, a lot of women’s butts.  Not that Olympic booty isn’t wonderful.  But seriously, these women train hard every day of their lives to be excellent at their sport.  So why oh why do we need frame-filling close-ups of beach volley-butts?

Probably most distressing to me about this video is who ISN’T in the video.  Weight lifters?  Nope.  Boxers?  Uh-uh.  Fencers, Judo Competitors, rowers, horseback riders, in short anything where women sport bodies considered slightly less movie-star-ready or wearing slightly more clothing?  No, no, no, no and no.

And what really frosts my fridge is the effect that this desire for conventionally attractive bodies has on sponsorship dollars for women athletes.  Sure if you’re gorgeous, blond, bouncy, ponytailed and razor thin, money can often be found.  Meanwhile serious athletes like Sarah Robles often have to get by on a few hundred dollars per month and help from neighborhood food banks.

Let’s face it, not all athletes look like porn stars.  Not all of them were considered worthy to star NBC’s soft porn video (which has since been pulled due to public outcry).  Nope, lots of athletes look just like you and me.  And nearly 1,000 of them participate in the fit fatties forum that I host with the ever-awesome Ragen Chastain.

So my little chicklettes, even if your rear-end is not bikini-clad or featured in barely safe for work fetish videos, don’t despair.  Remember that fitness comes in all shapes and sizes.

Love,

The Fat Chick