The Problem with Body Image in Figure Skating

[Sylvia]

Timely essay by a former competitive skater: https://grandstandcentral.com/2018/featured/body-image-problem-figure-skating/

 

[B.Cooper]

Timely essay by a former competitive skater: https://grandstandcentral.com/2018/featured/body-image-problem-figure-skating/

Sylvia..who is the author? could not find anything about her resumé in skating...other than what is posted on "The Grandstand" ....."Yelena is a writer for GrandStand Central, using her experience in competitive figure skating, women’s rights advocacy, and law to inform her writing."

 

[Sylvia]

Sylvia..who is the author?

This is her Twitter account (current location is listed as Ottawa): https://twitter.com/yelenailyesha/status/1080223393948020736

I just want to make two little disclaimers on my piece published yesterday. Not all figure skaters have eating disorders. Many skaters are able to maintain a healthy relationship with food, & not struggle with ED’s. It’s important not to label an entire group with one problem.
My perspective comes from being a former competitive figure skater, speaking with elite skaters I’ve trained with over the years, and the training / experience I have as a coach.

 

[Tinami Amori]

She said "Maybe then, we can appreciate that you can be a champion, while having a different body type."

With "any body type" if one becomes a champion, one is a champion, and has a medal to prove it. However, different sports sometimes require certain body types, and certain body types often have better results.

Sasha Cohen can't lift like her...
https://nbcolympictalk.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/498987860.jpg?w=610&h=343&crop=1
And that woman can't do like Sasha Cohen..
https://media.gettyimages.com/photo...-preparation-for-picture-id95898368?s=612x612

 

[Diane Mars]

She said "Maybe then, we can appreciate that you can be a champion, while having a different body type."

With "any body type" if one becomes a champion, one is a champion, and has a medal to prove it. However, different sports sometimes require certain body types, and certain body types often have better results.

Sasha Cohen can't lift like her...
https://nbcolympictalk.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/498987860.jpg?w=610&h=343&crop=1
And that woman can't do like Sasha Cohen..
https://media.gettyimages.com/photo...-preparation-for-picture-id95898368?s=612x612

Misty Copenland is laughing, right now

 

[Tinami Amori]

Misty Copenland is laughing, right now

Misty Copeland looks fine and like a ballerina to me. Not a weight lifter, though..
https://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/misty.jpeg

Plus, to be honest, she is heavily promoted and pushed, for reasons other than pure dancing..

 

[Sylvia]

Hannah Miller, figure skating and the war on negative body images by Jeff Seidel:
https://www.freep.com/story/sports/...r-us-figure-skating-championships/2594958002/

Excerpt:

Miller says she is now in a different place.
“I’m such a believer that any body is beautiful,” Miller said. “Every body is beautiful. But people in this sport come and try to tell us differently. I think that’s toxic. Most skaters are such Type-A personalities. They are hard enough on themselves that they don’t need other people coming in and telling them they aren’t perfect. Because everyone is in their own way.”
It took a long time for her to come to that belief.
To dig into the issues and learn from them.
“You know, it’s unfortunate that any athlete goes through that,” said Kirsten Miller-Zisholz, Hannah’s aunt and longtime coach. “I think a lot of it is just pure desire to be the best in your sport. I want to say, as a coach, I have never put that pressure on her. But it doesn’t even have to be somebody doing it. They do it to themselves. It’s a struggle for her every day and she’s a great role model for these girls out here. She is not a petite girl. She is a muscularly strong skater and she’s owning that. She’s not trying to be what she’s not.”

ETA that the online article headline was changed later to "Hannah Miller on figure skating and the struggle to be thin enough"

 

[lala]

Hannah Miller's body is really beautiful. I no wonder she can accept it.

 

[Frau Muller]

Hannah Miller, figure skating and the war on negative body images by Jeff Seidel:
https://www.freep.com/story/sports/...r-us-figure-skating-championships/2594958002/

Excerpt:

Excellent article. Hannah Miller has long been a fave of mine since I saw her live, competing in Milan JGP in 2011...(Hannah took bronze ahead of Satoko; Lipnitskaya gold; Courtney Hicks had an awful fall & withdrew). It breaks my heart to read that she’s suffered from body issues/disorders. Glad that she’s healing!

 

[AxelAnnie]

She has always been a favorite of mine too!

I wonder.....I know there are sports/physics related issues to body weight in Figure Skating.....But does anyone really like their body?

 

[mag]

I question whether the statement that “every body is beautiful” is really very helpful. Beauty is a standard set by society and by individuals (those standards can be quite different and both can and do change over time.) It seems to me that it might be better to ask why being beautiful is important? Why do we seem to value beauty, especially in women, over so many other things. People, for the most part, are born beautiful. You either lucked out and were born with the look that is currently considered beautiful or you didn’t. Why do we give so much credit to something people got by dumb luck?

When it comes to figure skating, I was watching some of the intermediate women from US Nationals. I wonder if requiring plain black leggings and leotard / shirt for all competitions up to and including the Intermediate /Pre Novice / Intermediate Novice level wouldn’t be a good idea. Take the focus of how the skater looks and more on how they skate.

 

[lala]

When it comes to figure skating, I was watching some of the intermediate women from US Nationals. I wonder if requiring plain black leggings and leotard / shirt for all competitions up to and including the Intermediate /Pre Novice / Intermediate Novice level wouldn’t be a good idea. Take the focus of how the skater looks and more on how they skate.

Oh, no! I don't want to lose more figure skating fans. It would happen.

 

[gkelly]

I wonder if requiring plain black leggings and leotard / shirt for all competitions up to and including the Intermediate /Pre Novice / Intermediate Novice level wouldn’t be a good idea. Take the focus of how the skater looks and more on how they skate.

Well, it would certainly save money for skaters at those levels. But not that much compared to actual training costs.

Oh, no! I don't want to lose more figure skating fans. It would happen.

Fans don't decide to be fans based on what intermediate-level skaters are wearing. Many fans aren't even aware that an "intermediate" competition level exists.

Now, would not being allowed to wear fancy dresses in competition result in young skaters not being interested enough to take up the sport in the first place, or getting bored sooner and dropping out sooner?

Maybe those who are most interested in wearing pretty/interesting costumes would drift more toward the artistic competitions instead of or in addition to the standard athletic track.

 

[lala]

Well, it would certainly save money for skaters at those levels. But not that much compared to actual training costs.



Fans don't decide to be fans based on what intermediate-level skaters are wearing. Many fans aren't even aware that an "intermediate" competition level exists.

Now, would not being allowed to wear fancy dresses in competition result in young skaters not being interested enough to take up the sport in the first place, or getting bored sooner and dropping out sooner?

Maybe those who are most interested in wearing pretty/interesting costumes would drift more toward the artistic competitions instead of or in addition to the standard athletic track.

I din't talk about the hard core figure skating fans and experts, judges,who understand the skating. I talked about the average viewers, fans who buy the tickets for the competitions. I don't think they want to see 24 black persons for hours. I believe the costume is important part of the program. The Fs is firts of all a sport but that is theater, ballet and many more not just sport. And this is what we love in it!

 

[gkelly]

The average viewers don't buy tickets to intermediate events.

 

[DreamSkates]

I question whether the statement that “every body is beautiful” is really very helpful. Beauty is a standard set by society and by individuals ...

Standards are also set by the fashion industry and promoted in advertisements that somtimes idealize an overly thin body.

 

[mag]

Standards are also set by the fashion industry and promoted in advertisements that somtimes idealize an overly thin body.

Which is why the “everyone is beautiful” is such a hard sell, especially to young girls. Young girls are very well aware of how beautiful they are compared to societal standards. I realize that changing the relative values of beauty, intellengence, hard work, and kindness is not going to happen overnight. It will probably take a couple of generations. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Standards are also set by the fashion industry and promoted in advertisements that somtimes idealize an overly thin body.

I've been looking at art of various kinds, from the times of cave paintings until today, and histories that come with it. I also lived and resided in countries and societies with different beauty/attractiveness standards for men and women (in advertising, fashion industry, and society). No matter what they will show me, how frequently and with what social narrative and concepts of political correctness, they will not influence what i consider aesthetically pleasing, beautiful and which types i am attracted to.

Even if there are laws passed on "attractiveness quotas" in various aspects of life, this type of "social engineering" will not work on me... That said, any person has a right to and should consider her/him-self beautiful, but at the same time can not expect, let alone insist or legislate, to others to see them the way they want to be seen.

 

[DreamSkates]

I've been looking at art of various kinds, from the times of cave paintings until today, and histories that come with it. I also lived and resided in countries and societies with different beauty/attractiveness standards for men and women (in advertising, fashion industry, and society). No matter what they will show me, how frequently and with what social narrative and concepts of political correctness, they will not influence what i consider aesthetically pleasing, beautiful and which types i am attracted to.

Even if there are laws passed on "attractiveness quotas" in various aspects of life, this type of "social engineering" will not work on me... That said, any person has a right to and should consider her/him-self beautiful, but at the same time can not expect, let alone insist or legislate, to others to see them the way they want to be seen.

They make not influence you, but there is a significant influence, shown in research studies, on girls as young as 6 years old. Just one example https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/advertisings-toxic-effect-on-eating-and-body-image/

 

[pat c]

The weighing in, anorexia, bulimia has been talked about for quite a while. I know that nutrition talks have probably been held at training camps, nats etc. But it's not getting through to the skaters or to the coaches. We can talk all we want about body image, but it is ingrained in the sport. A certain look - a style. The US prefers ice princesses, etc etc. So how to break the cycle? A lot of skaters can barely afford the coaching, let alone paying for nutrition advice. Coaches aren't going to do it as a lot of them don't make mega bucks either. I can't really see a solution.....

 

[Lanie]

I don't know, @pat c. I don't think USFSA puts enough effort into dismantling these toxic, cyclical messages athletes get. We have been talking about it so much for years here but it's not going to change anything until the powers that be really put in the effort to change the whole culture of our sport.

 

[Tinami Amori]

They make not influence you, but there is a significant influence, shown in research studies, on girls as young as 6 years old. Just one example https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/advertisings-toxic-effect-on-eating-and-body-image/

I've seen similar studies and similar conclusions.

My circle of friends (females/males) we grew up in USSR till age of 14-18, before coming to North Am. In USSR there was NO advertising of ANY kind, and no foreign magazines to look at (except few from iron curtain countries). Plus, in USSR majority of women over 30, and even younger, were overweight by western standards (of the time). And the typical image of a soviet woman, on all banners and posters, was this:
https://bearmarketbrief.files.wordp...4bf98cb85726dd2ee-soviet-art-soviet-union.jpg

And yet.. We also went to museums, on school trips and looked at many classic paintings and sculptures.. and in art books as well.
From Rubens and Boucher
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe..._and_Lucretia_-_Rubens_-_1610_-_Hermitage.jpg
https://www.hermitagemuseum.org/wps...=AJPERES&122a3476-9447-4c03-bf31-ca611a873822

to Brullov and Canova
https://www.allpainter.com/gallery/...ov-portrait-of-s-a-bobrinsky-194386_thumb.jpg
https://a.1stdibscdn.com/archivesE/upload/a_518/1482519800361/_A115344_l.JPG

at 7-8-9-10 etc years old, it was clear to all of us, without any advertising or conversations: thin is elegant and attractive; "extra meat" is no... And won't even go into "social classes" discussions in regards to "thin" and "full bodied" that we, back then, in the "classless soviet society", associated with certain body types.. Well, let me give you a clue "aristocrats restrain themselves and don't pig out, they are thin and slender", "peasants work all day, and then stuff themselves with food"...

 

[pat c]

I don't know, @pat c. I don't think USFSA puts enough effort into dismantling these toxic, cyclical messages athletes get. We have been talking about it so much for years here but it's not going to change anything until the powers that be really put in the effort to change the whole culture of our sport.

That's where I"m stuck @Lanie - the delivery of the msg. Training time can be alot of alone time in skating, or not with a lot of people at any one time. My only solution is to educate the skater, their parents, coaches. As I said.......I can't see a solution and I'll amend it by saying a workable, successful solution. But talking about it on forums like this help, anything that inspires conversation.

 

[mag]

The weighing in, anorexia, bulimia has been talked about for quite a while. I know that nutrition talks have probably been held at training camps, nats etc.

I am not an expert so someone can correct me if I am wrong, but I don’t think anorexia and bulimia really have anything to do with nutrition. They are more about control. Specifically about controlling one’s body because everything else is out of one’s control. Of course there is also the forced version where it is the only way a skater can stay thin enough to pass muster with a coach. I suspect psychologically there is a difference, but again I am not an expert and I suppose the result is much the same.

 

[Bonita]

In 2000, I restricted to 400 calories a day and lost 50 pounds (15 too many/I was emaciated) as a freaking adult lower level skater. It's a very addictive disease that I still deal with/temptation to fall backwards. I saw fat shaming and criticism of even pre-prelim children at my club. It's everywhere.

I remember when Sarah Hughes was being called "enormous" on the net, and this petite beauty walked into the locker room (she was skating in a club show), and she actually helped me with my body image issues. I saw muscle, not fat. Gracie, Gabby, Hannah, normal women with muscles. And Surya and Tonya were my faves at the beginning of my skating fandom, so what was I thinking?!

 

[Japanfan]

I question whether the statement that “every body is beautiful” is really very helpful. Beauty is a standard set by society and by individuals (those standards can be quite different and both can and do change over time.)

I prefer to think that 'every (or most) person is beautiful'. So many things about a person can be beautiful - a smile, a gesture, a way of moving, expressive eyes, the person's personality, traits like kindness or a good sense of humor.
I liked what Tessa Virtue said when asked about beauty: "I think authenticity is beautiful".

In contrast, the standards set by society for physical beautiful are both superficial and subjective.

It seems to me that it might be better to ask why being beautiful is important? Why do we seem to value beauty, especially in women, over so many other things. People, for the most part, are born beautiful. You either lucked out and were born with the look that is currently considered beautiful or you didn’t. Why do we give so much credit to something people got by dumb luck?

In terms of beauty as a general quality not restricted to physical appearance, I think it is important because it is important to see the beauty in life.

In terms of beauty as a quality of physical appearance, we (women especially) think it is important because we are taught and shown that is important. We think it gives us an advantage (i.e. help us to find a certain kind of man) and to a certain extent that is true, unfortunately. That's why so many women get cosmetic surgery.

Also, the emphasis on beauty for women reflects our sexual objectification. The image that immediately comes to mind is that of a woman in a skirt getting in a car in a film, strategically flashing her leg as she places it in the car. This was a pretty common image in older films.

However, for many women it does become less important with age - part of surrendering the things of youth with grace.

The weighing in, anorexia, bulimia has been talked about for quite a while. I know that nutrition talks have probably been held at training camps, nats etc. But it's not getting through to the skaters or to the coaches. We can talk all we want about body image, but it is ingrained in the sport. A certain look - a style. The US prefers ice princesses, etc etc. So how to break the cycle? A lot of skaters can barely afford the coaching, let alone paying for nutrition advice. Coaches aren't going to do it as a lot of them don't make mega bucks either. I can't really see a solution.....

Eating disorders on the sport are now being talked about. I would hope that the awareness that comes with that will support skaters to get help for ED. I would think that Gracie Gold has motivated other skaters with mental health problems or EDs to talk about them and get help.

But dealing with the general 'disordered eating' that a lot of skaters (and young woman) engage in, such as food/dietary restrictions, and with a preoccupation about weight, is more difficult. Thin is seen as the ideal for skaters, and more so for female skaters. Also, maintaining a certain weight is very important for for an athlete.

But I think there is a growing acceptance of female skaters with more muscular builds, like Gabbie Daleman or Mae Berenice Mette (sp?).

 

[mag]

But I think there is a growing acceptance of female skaters with more muscular builds, like Gabbie Daleman or Mae Berenice Mette (sp?).

Can we please not refer to female skaters as having “muscular builds?” I know you are not thinking of this as a negative, but for many it is a code for being fat. I think it is best if we refrain from making specific comments like this.

 

[pat c]

I am not an expert so someone can correct me if I am wrong, but I don’t think anorexia and bulimia really have anything to do with nutrition. They are more about control. Specifically about controlling one’s body because everything else is out of one’s control. Of course there is also the forced version where it is the only way a skater can stay thin enough to pass muster with a coach. I suspect psychologically there is a difference, but again I am not an expert and I suppose the result is much the same.

No they don't and you're right it is about control. Education - learning about good nutrition is key. But how to get the message across........no clue.

 

[Tinami Amori]

The discussion about "weight and body" today, thanks to PC-trends and trying to make everyone equal and "empower the weak, destroy the powerful", is pretty much reflected by a sculpture in Sweden..... ... those "lucky to be born thin or aka starving skinny ones, that so few people can be naturally" vs. "real women have curves, so no matter how huge you are, you're beauuuuuuutiful, because to be thin one must have a fortune and/or right genetics"..
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/LA2-vx06-konsthallen-skulptur.jpg

Those who are not born to look like models, can become mathematicians, NASA scientists, doctors, professors.....
Those who are not born with body types (even with hard work and maintenance) to be Sasha Cohens, Trusovas, Alysia Lius, and can't do quads and 3A, should either find another sport or activity, or a accept their 2nd tier results.

Each area of activity has "types" which are more likely to succeed. Either you challenge them, if you don't have the merrits, or find another activity.

Brainwashing people into equality for all, when the criteria for success is based on "merit", or any form of social engineering that fights one's natural trends, will lead to hindrance in evolutionary process, in life or in various venues.

Lighter people, or those with a certain proportion of muscles and physical characteristics, can do better jumps in skating. One is either thin and light (given other abilities) or one coordinates "physics" to do quads and 3A.

Either you have it or work on it, or you don't... and no need to curb the ones who have it all by nature or by work, like limiting quads, and starting a campaign against youngsters who are learning quads and 3A.... Evolution.

Those creatures who made tools such Acheulean handaxes became humans, those who did not remained monkeys.. and i don't want a lecture on Orangutans and Chimpanzees and the 1.5% and 3.7% elements of neanderthal's DNA in "certain" breeds of humans or refs to evil Darwin or Nietzsche..

 

[Bonita]

Can we please not refer to female skaters as having “muscular builds?” I know you are not thinking of this as a negative, but for many it is a code for being fat. I think it is best if we refrain from making specific comments like this.

I agree it's a fat code but I also think it's a positive code. I've been on both sides of that coin of thinking and right now I'm a ripped yoga school of body image. Muscles are power and beauty. So is naturally waifish which I was in my teens. And some people are bigger, too.