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The myth of feminine fragility

 •  • by Paul Ingraham
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A bold, black symbol of the Roman goddess Venus, used to represent the female sex in biology.

Nothing in life is perfectly safe, but lifting heavy things is safer than most people assume. Even the heaviest things, as in bodybuilding and powerlifting. And even for women.

Sports science is full of the idea that women are more structurally and/or physiologically vulnerable and get hurt more. (White women, that is. Black women are perceived veeery differently. Spoiler alert: it’s not an improvement.) This sexism is more plausible in some cases than others, but mostly it’s just an obnoxious vestige of the more overt chauvinism of the past. A dramatic re-enactment of the evolution of the myth of feminine fragility:

Olden times: “Ladies in athletics? Ho ho, don’t be absurd old chap! Ladies are not designed for the manly arts. If God wanted the fairer sex to be sporting, He would have made them as tough as old boots. But then who’d want to marry them? Har har!”

Today: “Women can be fine athletes, but obviously they have some more injury risk factors because of their biomechanical idiosyncracies. Tsk tsk!”

There are some aspects of female anatomy and biology that are legitimately risk factors for certain injuries. For instance, women are going to sustain more “frictional breast injuries.” Pelvic organ prolapse is a problem that's unique to female anatomy (see my follow-up post about that, Q&A: Beyond kegels for pelvic organ prolapse prevention).

But of course men also have unique vulnerabilities! Google “twisted testicular appendix,” if you dare. (I have personal experience with that one!)

Bottom line: There is no major difference between the athletic vulnerabilities of men and women.

Photo of a woman, Chrystal Ladouceur, in a gym with many spin bikes and medicine balls in the background. She’s lifting an extremely heavy barbell with five huge plates on each end. She’s standing up straight and holding the barbell in front of her at waist level. She’s a blonde with a pony tail, wearing a white tank top, a black weight belt, and black tights, and she has a large, elaborate tattoo of vines and flowers (perhaps) on her right upper arm and shoulder. Her expression is close to a grimace and looks very intense.

Chrystal Ladouceur is a Registered Massage Therapist who lifts and coaches. She started lifting in her mid-30s. “Before that, I drank a lot, smoked a lot, and spent most of my time sitting around. I’ve come a long way, even with such a late start. It’s never, ever too late to begin. My only regret is not starting when I was younger.”

A pitch perfect example: “women do not heal”

I posted recently about women doing deadlifts, and a medical doctor replied:

"Please, no! The discs in women do not heal."

Really?! Citation needed … badly. Intervertebral discs can heal poorly, but equally so in men and women as far as I know. I replied:

“If you are going to try to make the case that women specifically are too fragile for heavy lifting, you are going to have to bring your science A game … and good luck with it.”

His only answer wasn’t even relevant.

More photos (and inspiring examples) of women who lift heavy things

I only wanted one photo of an un-fragile woman lifting a hefty barbell for this post, but I didn’t want a stock photo of a model (often the best I can do, especially on short notice). So I asked if any of my readers were “women who lift heavy things” and would be happy let me use a photo.

As the photos flooded in, I realized there was no way I could use just one. I’ve picked fourteen.

These are not all high quality photos, which is deliberate: these are real women lifters, not models, and mostly not pros or elite competitors (although a few are).

All the photos are used with the permission and collaboration of the women shown. I’m sharing about half of them here, and I’ll include the rest in another related post soon. They are also now all featured in my main article about strength training, which has been updated a bunch recently. Weightlifting deserves more attention, especially for women, because its health benefits are truly impressive.

Photo of a woman, Cara Bereck Levy, lifting a heavy barbell — specifically a back squat with a loaded barbell in a gym. She is standing in a squat rack, holding the barbell across her upper back while wearing a lifting belt for support. She is dressed in a black top, black leggings with patterned side panels, and black shoes. A coach or spotter in a blue shirt and jean shorts is standing nearby, monitoring her form. The squat rack is bright yellow, and the gym has a rugged, industrial feel with gymnastic rings and weight plates visible in the background.

Cara Bereck Levy is sixty-two and a grandmother, and she tells me that she started lifting “when I realized I might have to grab a grandchild and run to the bomb shelter.” So that’s one hell of a reason to want to be stronger! Here’s her (public) Facebook post with more information.

Photo of a woman, Elaine Robertson, lifting a heavy barbell in her home gym, a small white room with a small window in the background looking out onto a cold blue sky and bare trees. She’s standing on a wooden platform, with a bright orange metal lifting rack behind her, holding a barbell that looks like it probably weighs about 60kg. She’s a fit-looking middle-aged women with bright red long hair in a ponytail wearing matching hot pink sports bra and tights.

Elaine Robertson in her garage gym in Beith, Scotland, where she’s been lifting for about a decade. Her husband runs a strength and fitness coaching business (Instagram @strengthforhealth), and he got her into the sport after she finally overcame the objections many women have, like the “wildly-overstated risk of becoming bulky.” But now she can “blithely carry fully-laden suitcases up flights of stairs” and, much more importantly, “lift my 82 year-old, frail, osteoporotic mum after a fall from which she was unable to get up. A key driver for my strength training is avoiding following her into frailty.”

Photo of a woman, Giusi Protopapa, performing a back squat in a gym. She is facing away from the camera, squatting deeply with a loaded barbell with 60kg of plates positioned at her upper chest, gripping the bar with her hands. She is wearing a black shirt, olive-green leggings, and bright orange athletic shoes. The squat rack and gym equipment, including gymnastics rings and pull-up bars, are visible in the background. The lifter appears focused and is wearing a lifting belt for support.

Giusi Protopapa (Instagram @protopy____) started CrossFit in 2019 “almost by accident” while looking to improve her fitness. Now she’s working out at least four days per week. “That time dedicated solely to myself is sacred; by the end of each workout, I come home more tired, but undeniably happier.” Worried that lifting will make you less feminine? “The essence of being a strong, feminine woman is self-assurance!”

Photo looking up at a woman, Jennifer Adams, in a squat rack in a gym performing a barbell back squat. She appears focused as she braces herself for a squat. She is standing upright with a barbell (loaded with about 20kg of plates) resting across her upper back and holding it securely with her hands. She is wearing a navy blue shirt with an American flag design, a lifting belt, and a black skirt, along with black athletic shoes. The squat rack and other gym equipment are visible in the background.

Jennifer Adams (Instagram @best_life_bits) is a massage therapist who had been lifting casually for years before she kicked it into high gear in 2021. She dove into the deep end at a gym most women would have been wary of: all men, all serious. But she forged ahead, guided by YouTube. What kept her going? “I feel less tired at work. More confidence in moving heavy things. I look better.” She actually tried hard to get bulky, and failed: “My muscles look more ‘toned’ after a few years lifting heavy than all those years of lifting high reps and making cardio a priority.” Interestingly, the male-dominated gum was “freeing” because “there’s no judging if you grunt or strain or fail.” She has many clients that she believes could “improve or cure their aches if they worked out.” And there’s the bone density benefits regardless!

Closeup photo of a woman, Jesse Robson, lifting a barbell with fifty pounds of plates. The photo is cropped mostly to her upper body; she is leaning forward and pulling the barbell up toward her body. She has short curly blonde hair, and she is wearing glasses, a sleeveless black top, and dark athletic pants. Her expression shows focus and determination as she engages her upper back and arms for the exercise. Gym equipment in the background.

Jesse Robson started lifting when she began training to be physiotherapist (clinic in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Instagram @live.well.physio). “I never wanted tell someone else they ‘should’ be doing something (e.g. regular resistance exercise) if I wasn’t willing to put the time and effort into doing it myself.” She’d had chronic pain for about five years before that, and thinks lifting played a significant role in her recovery. “After deadlifting 200 lbs, it seemed far fetched that my body might be damaged, broken, or unstable.” If you’re wary, she’d love you to just try it out. “I have the impression that many women are proud to have overcome sexist stereotypes related to heavy lifting (“let me get that for you honey”) and enjoy showing that they can lift heavy things!” But it also might “dramatically improve the last 10 years of your life. And best of all, you look cool doing it.”

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