Rant: The 'hilarious' concept of Female Weightlifters

I have been neglecting my blog recently, but I realised the importance of keeping on track as I need to express myself more often than I thought. I have tons of ideas I want to write about on my website, but more research has to be done before I can correctly write about such detailed subjects. Hence why this blog post is basically just me complaining about a topic I'd love to change. So if you've stumbled upon this post, don't take my words to heart as I'm simply stating what's on my mind. Please continue reading if you either a: aren't easily offended or b: are intrigued by the controversial title of this post and my overall experiences.

My personal experiences

Many times when I was younger I was put down by other people because of my Weightlifting hobby. I came close to giving up completely and never lifting again, I even took many breaks because I didn't enjoy the negative attention provided by people who thought my passion was something they could make a joke out of. When I first began Weightlifting I was keen to tell people my poundages as with most children they're excited to tell people about their achievements. Sadly, I soon quietened down about it due to people not believing me or continuing to go on and on about it with the intention to make me look like a fool. I still find now that I hate telling people how much I can lift since this happened. I usually try to keep conversations about my poundages sweet and short as I fear that people will think I'm something that I'm not.

Recently, someone from a sports apprenticeship company asked me about my poundages and I replied for once with the totals. I received a much different response from one I'd recieved many times from when I was a lot younger, however it wasn't a response I easily knew how to handle. This is coming from a girl who once had an anxiety disorder, but I felt as if I was being treated like a young child. The response I received was trying to perceive me to be stronger than the fully grown male adults who queried me (which is obviously not true). I know that the response may have been like this as they were trying to make conversation and was said with no intention to try and make me rethink my hobby, but I felt rather uncomfortable thinking that this may have had something to do with them trying to encourage me to join their company due to me seeming as if I had little knowledge on the sport. I don't think this was in any relation to my gender, but I wouldn't of been surprised if it was. I left things on a friendly note and left my fitness instagram and blog reference, meaning that the company may read this. If they do, please note that I overthink things but I'm probably smarter than you perceived me to be. I just didn't appreciate the blatant lie I was told in order to try and boost my confidence.

In relation to this, I don't like when I'm lifting how people will try to make a joke out of saying how 'huge and butch' I look, when obviously although I am muscular, I'm no where near as big in height and fat as the majority of Weightlifters. I'm not trying to be miserable as I can take a joke, but not when one focuses on the size and body shape of someone who works as hard as I do. Not only does Weightlifting make you tough because you're lifting weights, but the amount of sexism I've dealt with is too much to put into words. I've experienced issues with people ignoring me and my correct point of view, only then to listen to some big, strong man repeating the same words I just used. I've had weights that have belonged to my club snatched out of my hands because I've not been trusted and I've 'not known any better than to grab anything'. I've let people walk all over me when I've been interrupted during my workout just to load and unload the bar for someone (a parent of a child) who shouldn't of been lifting weights (no insurance) and couldn't (no training), all because they wanted to try a personal best.

Why this shouldn't happen

I believe that this is something that shouldn't happen as it sets a bad example for younger children of the same gender. I have proof of this already and it hurts me to think that sexism in the sports industry is very much still a thing. In fact, Women only began competing in the Olympic games when Weightlifting in the year 2000. Not too long ago, a girl who I coach in my Weightlifting squad was telling me about how she told her class she was a Weightlifter. She then went on to tell me about how they all laughed at her and said she was a liar and didn't lift weights at all. I asked her why and her response was 'Well... because I'm a girl and girls aren't supposed to lift weights'. Even just typing this gives me so much anger, that such a young child feels ashamed and different just because their gender is enjoying a sport.  After she told me this I gave her the advice I wished I'd received when this happened to me. I said ' So what if they laughed at you, you're an excellent Weightlifter and I'm sure none of them  would be as good as you are. Just as long as you keep going and remember why you do it, you're bound to shine'.

Today, when I went training this same lifter was upset because the boys made her the centre of attention and were teasing her whilst I wasn't in the room. This wouldn't of happened if I'd been the main coach in this situation, but thats not a matter to discuss on here. Anyways, she suddenly lost all her confidence lifting in front of people but I decided that I'd train her myself to keep her happy again. When I'm encouraging her to lift, I say things like 'You wanna be the best girl Weightlifter at the competition don't you!' or 'You wanna beat the boys don't you?'. But really, I shouldn't have to say things like that in order to stop someone feeling disheartened because they weren't born a certain way. None of the young male lifters who I coach have ever had issues with their classmates laughing at them due to them being a Weightlifter. People don't teach their children that any gender can do specific sports, jobs or tasks but then expect young children to be happy and a healthy weight for their age. It really isn't fair on those people who really want to try something new but feel restricted only because of a stupid stigma set by people who probably barely even know the hobby. Since girls aren't supposed to do Weightlifting according to many very incorrect people, this can provide boys with more confidence to do better than the girls, hence why I gave my young female lifter the motivation which is lacked in the sport industry for her gender.

What I'd love to change about this

If you know me well, you'd know that I cannot stand injustice and that I'm very compassionate and empathetic. I'd absolutely love to change sexism in the sports industry and boost the confidence of other young children who want to do certain sports and have been told they can't or shouldn't because of their gender. Its not just girls and Weightlifting, but Boys with other sports like dancing or gymnastics. This is one of the reasons I made my blog, as I felt I wanted a platform to deliver my ways of motivating others (just what I wish I had when I was younger). Somehow, I'd love to ​have a career encouraging children to enjoy sports. Whether this is PE teaching, continuing to volunteer as a Weightlifting coach or something completely different. I have much respect for companies like Thisgirlcan who promote sporting hobbies for girls. It is sad that I can write a blog post complaining about such a serious topic that even a child as young as 8 can notice but not understand that it's wrong. However, I continue to be determined and encourage the young female lifters to keep trying no matter how hard situations are. Many many times I've seen girls attempt Weightlifting at the local youth club where my coach and I volunteer, they've soon backed down and not wanted to continue with the sport. Since this year, I'd been the only female Weightlifter at my club since 2013. I hope that this won't be an issue in future when I begin coaching more.

Thank you for reading this blog post. I felt the need to rant in this and simply have no care in the world for any opposing opinions against this post. Whoever you are, whatever your hobby is; keep trying and you can only bring out the best in yourself.