The muscles of ladies | La Presse

My obsessions come and go.

I’ve already told you about my laborious beginnings in skating, cross-country skiing and skateboarding… Well, know that I’m still not good at anything and that, in addition, I’m adding a new activity to my compulsive series of sports: bodybuilding.

For the past year and a half, I’ve been wanting to be strong. I don’t want to be skinny, I want to lift super heavy stuff. I have very little control over the rest of my life, so I plan on doing my best with the tiny things I can. I’m trying to build muscle in the hopes of becoming a retiree who can lug around a bunch of suitcases when she goes on a getaway (or flees a wildfire, depending on how the climate crisis plays out).

I’m slowly becoming the embodiment of a cliché I’ve long judged. I want to lift heavier and heavier, I eat lots of protein, and I often tense my muscles in front of the mirror to assess the (sad) progress of my biceps.

I even started hiking with weights in my backpack, a workout popular with the military and adopted by more and more people who like to have sore calves…

Is this what you’re having a midlife crisis?

Social media algorithms have of course understood that I am quietly changing my personality. So they are now feeding me targeted ads that offer me various methods to make my butt bigger without making my waist thicker or to have toned arms, but not wide.

Every day I’m reminded that a woman shouldn’t be muscular. Well, not too muscular.

In his essay Reinventing loveMona Chollet cites the case of Australian bodybuilding champion Bev Francis. The woman who was compared to Schwarzenegger was so muscular that during a competition in Las Vegas in 1984, the judges debated at length not her abilities, but her femininity… Of course, the competitors had to be powerful, but not to the detriment of their femininity (whatever that means).

Bev Francis finished eighth.

You will tell me that this is a bygone era. Today, we do what we want with our bodies! You are not entirely wrong, but you also know what was said about the American rugby player Ilona Maher, during the last Olympic Games… Her femininity was attacked because of her strength (not to mention the despicable comments about the Algerian boxer Imane Khelif).

Well aware that her physique provokes malicious comments from a frustrated section of the population, Illona Maher likes to remind her six million online subscribers that one can be strong, beautiful and intelligent at the same time.

This month, we can even discover her on the cover of the famous “swimsuit” edition of the magazine. Sports IllustratedThe portrait dedicated to the athlete is signed by feminist journalist Liz Plank… Do you feel it, the gentle wind of change?

In her article, Plank points out that it’s odd to objectify a woman with so many accomplishments. True: why ask a female rugby player to pose in a bikini? The journalist adds that perhaps the initiative should be applauded, considering the twisted perception that a small but vocal minority of men encourage about Maher and strong women.

A woman doesn’t have to be desirable, but if she wants to embrace the gendered codes of seduction with her super-powerful body, she can do it. And the result can be striking.

I will never have the build of an athlete, but I appreciate that such public figures keep us away from the pressure to develop an hourglass figure and instead encourage us to love our outer shell, no matter how it exists.

Well-being before beauty dictates.

And why not a little pride?

Now, whether I become muscular or not, training will have taught me to love movement. I don’t force myself by starting my day with little grunts and a wet toupee… I’m giving myself a gift. So, for a few months now, I’ve come to running.

(Another person talking about racing in The Pressyou say to yourself? Yes, but only briefly, I promise.)

If the Olympians serve as my idols when I feel like I should take up less space, I have found a completely different mentor for running…

Celine Dion.

As you know, in the documentary I Am: Celine Dion (Prime Video), we discover how much the singer suffers and all she is ready to do to regain her former power. She tells us that if she can no longer run, she will walk. And if she can no longer walk, she will crawl.

Her determination made me fall in love with the icon. I didn’t hate Celine, but now I worship her.

I’m out of breath? I’m thinking of Celine Dion. She’d love to have a pumping potato because she runs! I’m tired of running? Celine would sing while jogging if she could! My knee hurts a little? Celine does ballet while living with stiff person syndrome… Come on, Morin!

All this to say that since this summer, I have embraced each of my body’s capacities by recognizing that they are ephemeral. I am learning to live for the Rose-Aimée of today and tomorrow.

Then for Celine.

I wish you find mentors who push your limits in such beautiful and healthy (I think) ways.