Everyone has a body part(s) that they’ve had to work hard to find peace with. For me it’s my arms (well, the one that’s at the top of my list anyway). When I was a little kid I ran around like a wild man with all the rest of my cousins, who were also in turn running around like equitably wild men. We wrestled and fought and climbed trees, you get the idea. My Grandfather had nicknames for all of us and one of mine was Popeye (my other one was Rosana Rosana Dana when my aunt, who was a cosmetology school student, gave me an at home perm). He called me Popeye because of my large muscular arms. I would love comparing biceps with my stringy wimpy little cousins. At that time the bigger the bicep the more kid cred you had! And at ANY moment that kid cred could be tested and lost with an impromptu arm wrestling contest. You can imagine how we totally LOST it when Over the Top came out.

Unfortunately as I started to hit puberty and became WAY more self conscious I hated my arms. HATED them! All those skinny arms on broad shouldered models made me so jealous. I had broad shoulders too, why couldn’t my arms just be skinny! Alas, it was never to be. I would never have those thin little noodle arms which at one point having been viewed as a liability I now viewed as an enviable asset. These were the days of Cindy Crawford and MTVs House of Style, heroin chic and Kate Moss and Linda Hamilton arms. The thinnest arms to ever arm! And don’t even get me started on the Spiegel catalogs and Vicki’s Secret. Needless to say all the female arms that were plastered all over did not match my solid upper arms. That didn’t stop me from using and strengthening them though. It also didn’t stop me from trying on clothes that were too small for my arms. This led to some sweat inducing moments of terror where I contemplated just living in the changing room half way in a garment, as opposed to the humiliation of asking for help. Don’t worry, I always found my way out. Of course this continued for many, many years. I perfected the “thin arm pose” where you place your elbows akimbo in order to prevent them from lying flat and thus looking big in pictures.

Then in my 20s, perhaps WELL into them, I saw a picture of Laila Ali with her arm flat against her side and it looked STRONG! You could see the defined muscle in it and that’s when I realized it was ok to have not super thin-skinny arms. Will I always get my arms away from my torso in pictures? Probably. But I’d like to think I could also be ok with just standing like a normal person and not a super hero. I had a friend with thin arms I envied and she told me that she had NO muscle and I completely did not believe her. She then proceeded to make me place my fingers on opposite sides of her upper arm and they sunk through until they touched each other. That was another moment when I realized my arms were not that bad.

I definitely have a more positive outlook on modern marketing, targeting and featuring, women. There are still PLENTY of tall thin arms plastered about, however it is starting to be tempered with arms of all sizes. And of course these arms are attached to people who are not just tall and thin. In fact I was beyond thrilled to see a lady of normal size as a strong female character in a show based in the Star Wars universe. Her arms were big and muscular and she used said arms VERY effectively to throw people around.

I also have a positive outlook on family tradition being passed on to successive generations by introducing, moderating and participating in our very own family arm wrestling competitions! I had made sure to initially instate said tradition while my children were small and weak so I still had an edge. But unfortunately my days as arm wrestling champion are coming to a close, as I grudgingly pass the torch to the next generation. All the while being sure that they understand the beauty of their large, strong, capable arms.

Hopefully I’ll get it together and blog again sooner rather than later! I’m currently working on; a blog about the band Pavement, one on How Pilates can help with meditation, Pilates for Breath Support and one about Wonder Woman. If you have any preferences on which you’d like to see first feel free to let me know in the comments ~