[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
KBCThird wrote:
It’s a little embarassing that the show managed to present the McCaslins in a great light - togetherness, doing everythign as a family, being considerate of Donna and throwing a tea party for HER - and this thread is going in the “theyre too fat, she was feminine enough” direction
I don’t think this thread is going in that direction. As a female powerlifter, my goal is to teach other women that the sport is broad and you don’t have to be a beast to be competitive. I just want more women to lift! When the biggest media exposure we get is a woman who clearly has no intention of balancing strength with femininity, it feels like we are getting the short end of the stick. It’s just like everyone thinks you have to juice to be a bodybuilder - people in the sport know it isn’t true, but the media takes the extremes and presents them as the norm.[/quote]
I understand that there is a certain degree of selectivity in what the producers chose to show - ie, yeah, they could’ve found Kara, or some random 123 lber or something, but its not as if they went out of their way to find Sandy. She has a high profile in northeast powerlifting, and granted, more because of the iron asylum meets than her lifting, but nevertheless, it’s not like they went and found the ONE female powerlifter that doesnt quite fit into the feminine mold. I could throw a few examples out there, but that might be taken as a bit insulting, and I think you get my point.
Furthermore, if they HAD chosen someone who was super-ultra-girly, I get the feeling that you’d have people (whether other people or the same ones, I dont know) complaining that the producers chose her for her looks, not her powerlifting accomplishments, etc etc. Look at what’s happening in mma right now with Gina Carano - she’s an excellent fighter, but because she also happens to be very attractive, she’s excoriated on the forums as a puppet, as a whore, as vapid, etc etc etc Or heck, look at powerliftings reaction to Barbie Barbell.
Granted there are extenuating circumstances because she’s a minor and because of the fact that she has a quintillion records largely because she’s the only one (or one of the few) in her class in her fed, but nevertheless, the venom spewed on her and her father is really really striking. i dont want to say its the most hate that I’ve ever seen, either in powerlifting or on the web, but it’s up there.