I'm tickled that you included a link to Twiggy photos. I clearly remember the body shape since that was my idol and what I wanted for myself. And I love looking at the clothes again. But I had totally forgotten the makeup. What a trip!
After four years of going to the gym every week, I'm in better shape, have more stamina and am much stronger than I've ever been. Am I jacked? Nope. I will be the little old lady who unexpectedly punches the bad guy in the nose so the sweet young wraith of a girl can get away. If I'm so lucky.
Jaysus. There is no healthy practice that can't be perverted and extreme-ified to drive home to women that whatever they are, they're not good enough. I will keep up my fitness practice forever, one way or another, as long as I'm alive. But as you point out, extremes kill people. If only we had longer cultural memories.
Bravo! I am fit and strong and lift things to keep my bones strong. But this? Unfortunately it is not just women doing this. My grandsons have bought into it and though they look jacked i have more stamina doing farm work then they do.
that is the difference between looking strong and functional fitness. I know a hella lotta people who look fat and they can move mountains. Visual standards often tell us nothing about actual strength. The boys have bought in across the board, Barb, and it's a sad sales pitch.
🔥YES. Your voice slices through the noise with the clarity of someone who has lived it, not just posted about it. Thank you for naming how trends—no matter how “empowered” they appear—so often end up being repackaged demands on women’s bodies.
We’ve gone from heroin chic to body positivity to “strong is the new skinny”—but the pressure is the same: shrink, sculpt, control. The form changes, but the fixation remains. Your take is a necessary reality check in a culture that keeps policing women’s bodies under the guise of “health.”
This line hit me hard: “You cannot win.” That’s the ache so many of us carry, and you’ve named it with power and care.
You’ve earned every word of this perspective. The longevity of your relationship to your body, the gym, and your own strength radiates through the page. I’ll be coming back for those links—this one deserves a slow read and a long sit.
Grateful for your fire and wisdom. "Extremes kill..." Sad to see so many that take it too far—the push grind. "Once famous, all bets are off."
Excellent article, thank you! I’ve gone back to weight training at 70 to strengthen my bones and I’m enjoying the flexibility that I’m gaining too. Swole, ha! I’m happy just to see the batwings tightening up!
Rachel McLish was my role model in mid 80s gym work. She's age 70 now. I learned gow to lift out of books with the occasional nice guy at the gym who corrected my form.
I think that’s semantics, but I would certainly agree. If we have pretty bodies and they can only pose, honestly what’s the point? One time I was doing the steps at Red Rocks in Denver. I was going down behind this behemoth body builder whose calves were so big that they caused him to stumble every time he tried to take a step. It was ridiculous, and very sad. Great on stage. But the guy could barely walk. Not a life.
That *is* sad. I started weight training (with a private trainer) after spinal stenosis surgery three years ago. I had lost all ‘normal’ muscle tone and felt like a sack, albeit a sack that could walk again. My body has changed more than I thought it could; I get a lot of compliments, but I just like being strong. I turn 60 in a couple months and my training regime is here to stay: not for my figure, but so I can stay in motion and have a life.
All true. As a chubby girl, heading into my fat early teenage years, Twiggy was my ideal. I could not see the ill-health, so obvious now.
By the end of highschool, I lost 50 pounds, then ran into back problems at 20. I was lucky enough to have free access to a good pool and began swimming. I could barely make it to one end of the pool. I doubt I would have kept it up, but it was the one place I got relief from the constant pain.
Eventually I began running, and 25 years ago I joined a gym. Exercise has always soothed my brain, thereby soothing the pain. I shortly will turn 71, work as a deckhand on ferry boats, and am in the best shape of my life. Exercise and strength are the key!
I've been training with weights since I was 12, competed at 48, and now, at 78 at the end of this month, I'm still holding my own. It breaks my heart to see what these kids are doing to themselves, how they drank the Kool-Aid and will pay dearly for it in the next few years. Early death, sterility, mental and emotional issues - the list goes on. I remember one guy at a competition I was in who had to be carried off the stage because he'd overdone a potassium overload and his body literally froze. He later had a heart attack. They really have no idea ....
I'm tickled that you included a link to Twiggy photos. I clearly remember the body shape since that was my idol and what I wanted for myself. And I love looking at the clothes again. But I had totally forgotten the makeup. What a trip!
After four years of going to the gym every week, I'm in better shape, have more stamina and am much stronger than I've ever been. Am I jacked? Nope. I will be the little old lady who unexpectedly punches the bad guy in the nose so the sweet young wraith of a girl can get away. If I'm so lucky.
I forgot the makeup too.
there's a story I left out of this article about that very thing.....
Jaysus. There is no healthy practice that can't be perverted and extreme-ified to drive home to women that whatever they are, they're not good enough. I will keep up my fitness practice forever, one way or another, as long as I'm alive. But as you point out, extremes kill people. If only we had longer cultural memories.
Bravo! I am fit and strong and lift things to keep my bones strong. But this? Unfortunately it is not just women doing this. My grandsons have bought into it and though they look jacked i have more stamina doing farm work then they do.
that is the difference between looking strong and functional fitness. I know a hella lotta people who look fat and they can move mountains. Visual standards often tell us nothing about actual strength. The boys have bought in across the board, Barb, and it's a sad sales pitch.
Hi Julia,
🔥YES. Your voice slices through the noise with the clarity of someone who has lived it, not just posted about it. Thank you for naming how trends—no matter how “empowered” they appear—so often end up being repackaged demands on women’s bodies.
We’ve gone from heroin chic to body positivity to “strong is the new skinny”—but the pressure is the same: shrink, sculpt, control. The form changes, but the fixation remains. Your take is a necessary reality check in a culture that keeps policing women’s bodies under the guise of “health.”
This line hit me hard: “You cannot win.” That’s the ache so many of us carry, and you’ve named it with power and care.
You’ve earned every word of this perspective. The longevity of your relationship to your body, the gym, and your own strength radiates through the page. I’ll be coming back for those links—this one deserves a slow read and a long sit.
Grateful for your fire and wisdom. "Extremes kill..." Sad to see so many that take it too far—the push grind. "Once famous, all bets are off."
I'm a fan of yours.
🖤💪
Prajna
Spot on Prajna. We are always being policed, now more than ever.
Excellent article, thank you! I’ve gone back to weight training at 70 to strengthen my bones and I’m enjoying the flexibility that I’m gaining too. Swole, ha! I’m happy just to see the batwings tightening up!
Honestly, if we knew how much more clothing we would wear for just that reason alone...Thank you!
Rachel McLish was my role model in mid 80s gym work. She's age 70 now. I learned gow to lift out of books with the occasional nice guy at the gym who corrected my form.
Functional fitness is not a lifestyle, it‘s a life.
I think that’s semantics, but I would certainly agree. If we have pretty bodies and they can only pose, honestly what’s the point? One time I was doing the steps at Red Rocks in Denver. I was going down behind this behemoth body builder whose calves were so big that they caused him to stumble every time he tried to take a step. It was ridiculous, and very sad. Great on stage. But the guy could barely walk. Not a life.
That *is* sad. I started weight training (with a private trainer) after spinal stenosis surgery three years ago. I had lost all ‘normal’ muscle tone and felt like a sack, albeit a sack that could walk again. My body has changed more than I thought it could; I get a lot of compliments, but I just like being strong. I turn 60 in a couple months and my training regime is here to stay: not for my figure, but so I can stay in motion and have a life.
All true. As a chubby girl, heading into my fat early teenage years, Twiggy was my ideal. I could not see the ill-health, so obvious now.
By the end of highschool, I lost 50 pounds, then ran into back problems at 20. I was lucky enough to have free access to a good pool and began swimming. I could barely make it to one end of the pool. I doubt I would have kept it up, but it was the one place I got relief from the constant pain.
Eventually I began running, and 25 years ago I joined a gym. Exercise has always soothed my brain, thereby soothing the pain. I shortly will turn 71, work as a deckhand on ferry boats, and am in the best shape of my life. Exercise and strength are the key!
Agree completely! Thank you!
Awesome!
I've been training with weights since I was 12, competed at 48, and now, at 78 at the end of this month, I'm still holding my own. It breaks my heart to see what these kids are doing to themselves, how they drank the Kool-Aid and will pay dearly for it in the next few years. Early death, sterility, mental and emotional issues - the list goes on. I remember one guy at a competition I was in who had to be carried off the stage because he'd overdone a potassium overload and his body literally froze. He later had a heart attack. They really have no idea ....
Julia, I think you and your readers would be interested in this article, ICYMI.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/26/well/move/jan-todd-strength-training.html?unlocked_article_code=1.TE8.-WHz.56f3sr6zRp0k&smid=url-share