What Being a "Fat" Figure Skater Taught Me About Being Confident in My Own Skin

[bardtoob]

What Being a "Fat" Figure Skater Taught Me About Being Confident in My Own Skin

I started taking figure skating lessons when I was only in kindergarten. Like every other parent with a skater that age, my mom's biggest concerns revolved around making sure that I wore a helmet in case I fell, that my rental skates were tied tight enough that I wouldn't get blisters, and that...

www.yahoo.com

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

It seems to be the same story played out again and again.

I'm reminded of Joan Ryan's book where one girl skated better at a certain weight, but her coach thought she looked better if she lost ten pounds.

I'm not surprised skating sends a lot of athletes over the edge. The constant judging, as well as dealing with a negative inner monologue, must kill any love for the sport pretty quickly.

 

[Sylvia]

More about the author (who captained Mount Holyoke’s club ice hockey team) and her writing:

The Gates Blog | Mount Holyoke College | Kalea Martín ’19

Kalea Martín, class of 2019, is an Asian American who has spent most of her life in Arizona. She double majors in <a href="https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/romance">Romance languages and cultures</a> and <a href="https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/artstudio">art studio</a>. Martin works under the...

blog.mtholyoke.edu

From November 2017:

Body Image in Asian American Culture

Content Warning: Discussion of weight gain and body image. Disclaimer: This is based on a personal experience about dealing with body image from a Filipino American standpoint. It does not reflect the experiences of all Asian Americans.

www.hercampus.com

 

[kwanfan1818]

Like when supermodels describe how when they are discovered, they are told they have "it" to be a model, but they have to lose 20 lbs.

 

[Wyliefan]

Thank God she had a great mom. Because she had an absolutely rotten coach.

 

[dramagrrl]

Just waiting for someone to come into this thread and post something about how the writer clearly didn't make it as a skater because figure skating "requires a certain body type" and skaters have to be willing to do whatever it takes to get to and stay in the elite ranks.

 

[Aceon6]

I’m starting to think that being labeled “too” anything is more of a reflection on the coach’s lack of skill than it is on the athlete. I remember Laurent Tobel being told, several times, to stop because he was too tall. More likely the coach had little experience with tall skaters and didn't want to bother learning any new teaching techniques.