Dual expectations: pretty or strong

“She does/doesn’t look like a runner.”

“I can tell she’s been training because she looks like a runner now.” 

“I wouldn’t guess you’re a runner. You look like a soccer player.”

Comments about runners’ appearances make me cringe.

I’ve heard the first phrase said about more female runners than I can count. The idea that there is an ideal running body is one of the oldest and most harmful running myths that exists in running culture.

The second phrase was said to me about a teammate who was kicking ass during track season. I remember feeling confused as to why her appearance mattered.

The third comment was said directly to me, about me. More on that later. The point is that female runners are subject to comments about their bodies far too often that make it seem like appearance is an important part of being a runner.

It isn’t. 

A new study investigated how social expectations around appearance affected athletic performance of women from various sports.¹ 

The authors found that “appearance-related pressures centered around the dual expectations of looking strong, fit and healthy, as well as pretty and feminine.“

Female athletes really do live with dual expectations placed on them, where femininity is often more precious than athletic achievement. This is burdensome to women’s mental and physical health. It’s also heteronormative, limiting, and trivializing to athletic ability. 

Furthermore, the study found that seventy-three percent of athletes surveyed felt pressured by their sport to alter their physical appearance to conform to gender ideals with 15% engaging in disordered eating practices, the authors wrote. 

Girls and women are getting the message that appearance is, indeed, important in sport. This is startling since unnecessary attention to appearance shifts motivation away from health and toward superficial variables that don’t matter in terms of being a healthy and fast runner.

Concerning the aforementioned comment about my body, I’ll explain: my friend and I were grocery shopping in college while wearing team-issued shirts. An adult man, who we did not know, stopped us to ask if we were on the team. We said yes and he proceeded to tell me that I, in fact, didn’t look like a runner as much as a soccer player. 

If you’re confused after reading that, imagine how I felt at the time. Who stops a teenager in the middle of Meijer to comment on her body? Here’s the worst part: instead of writing him off as someone who should be embarrassed about his boorish actions, I actually felt embarrassed. I felt like an imposter who weaseled her way onto a Division I cross country team and was easily spotted because I didn’t “look like a runner.” I took his judgement as an absolute. He must be stating a fact if he felt so free to comment on my body, right?

Female runners need the knowledge that their bodies are not up for consideration or comment from anyone. Strong, muscular, fit, masculine, feminine: however a female runner looks is exactly how they should look.

No matter what some random guy in Meijer thinks. 

1. Heather A, Thorpe H, Ogilvie M et al. Biological and Socio-Cultural Factors Have the Potential to Influence the Health and Performance of Elite Female Athletes: A Cross Sectional Survey of 219 Elite Female Athletes in Aotearoa New Zealand. Front Sports Act Living. 2021;3. doi:10.3389/fspor.2021.601420

Katie Noble is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, a journalist, and a runner. She enjoys empowering and supporting female runners with evidenced-based education.