Bodybuilder Rene Campbell wants to change the view of what women should look like
In this article, Rene Campbell, a female bodybuilder, talks about her desire to have a muscular body and how she found herself against society because of her choice. Campbell was unhappy striving for the ideal hourglass figure and decided to cultivate a more muscular body that gave her confidence. Though Campbell is happy with her body, society finds it hard to accept. Campbell’s muscular body does not fit society’s mold of a female body. Campbell says in the article “I was up against — and still am — a lot of criticism from people who don’t understand why women would want to be muscular” and “The troublesome and disturbing body of the hyper-muscular woman is deemed so outrageously deviant by society that it provokes harsh comments.” The type of criticism Campbell face implies that many find her desire to be muscular unnatural for a woman. They find the notion of muscular women uncomfortable and her body unsettling.
Western society’s disapproval of Campbell’s body is rooted in the widespread belief that women are fundamentally physically inferior to men. Females have traditionally been depicted as the weaker sex who needed a strong male for protection. The bodyguard hypothesis tells us that this is presumed to have been the case since prehistoric times. In this hypothesis, prehistoric women were assumed to have sought protection from the strong male because they weren’t strong enough to fend off male thieves. Because a hypothesis like this perpetuates the idea that women had always been the weaker ones, it’s assumed that being physically inferior is an inherent part of being a woman.
However, Campbell’s story shows us that a physically inferior body is not inherent to being a woman. Women could be muscular and strong just like men. Campbell’s body helps us see that what society labels as “natural” for one gender or the other, doesn’t always capture the entire picture.
Bibliography
Zeinab, Noura Abou. “Bodybuilder Rene Campbell Wants to Change the View of What Women Should Look Like.” CNN, Cable News Network, 2 Dec. 2020, edition.cnn.com/2020/12/02/sport/rene-campbell-bodybuilding-cmd-spt-intl/index.html.
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