The first thing I looked at before
listening to the video were the pictures of Roxanne. My first reaction was that
I was shocked. I have seen woman body builders before but none like her. Her
muscles were comparable to a male body builder it was truly extraordinary. My
view of her and her photos certainly changed though while listening to the
interview and I truly began to admire her.
Roxanne, I felt was very educated about being fit and healthy. In the interview she stated that “she had less than 4% body fat” which shocked/impressed me because that is usually unheard of for a woman! When she talked about the vitamins and supplements she took, she seemed very educated because she knew what types worked for her and which ones didn't. If I had to say one criticism about her it would be when she was talking about the steroids. She discussed how they weren't a bad thing unless you look them a lot. But in reality they are harmful no matter what. I believe you shouldn't use them just to gain muscle. Overall though, I believe she had a healthy body image.
When I turned on the interview the
first thing I heard was Just Fine by Mary J. Blige. Not only do I love this
song but I thought that it had a special connection to her and her interview.
In the song Just Fine the lyrics say, “Cause I won’t change my mind cause I’m just
fine” which is a theme to Roxanne’s attitude.
In the interview, I was surprised to hear that she began body building
at the age of thirty. Roxanne says, “What made me start working out is I wanted
to look good naked”. That is relatable for any woman. You want to look great
not only for yourself but for others and there is nothing wrong with that. When
looking again at her photos, you began to disregard how big her muscles were,
but how much she loved her body. She was not going to change the way she looked
because society thought she didn't look good or when she could have gotten
breast implants to look better in the body building world but she chose not to.
I loved how she talked about her
idea of femininity. One quote she said was, “I know some very unique looking
women, all across the spectrum, and when I say unique looking women I mean unique
women period. Drag queens, transvestites, body builders, you name it, the whole
gamut and they are quite elegant and just amazingly feminine without having to
have not one breast amongst them.” This quote shows that society’s standards of
femininity are wrong and that they should be based on the person. One of the
other main ideas of her point is to be fearless and be who you want to be. I
think this is such a strong message especially to girls and woman.
Although some woman may not want to be like Roxanne,
she is truly what every woman wants to be, which is happy and herself. She
doesn't care what anyone thinks of her and I honestly love that! I think if
more girls had a mindset like hers, a lot of woman wouldn't have the
insecurities that most have.
