FOHER Co believe that all women should be able to celebrate their real selves by finding and embracing confidence within to reach their full potential.
However, we have observed over the years that many women suffer from anxiety, low self-esteem and lack of confidence over their appearance. As a result their friendships, jobs, mental health, relationships, and aspirations to achieve may all suffer.
Sadly, in an industry where ‘lean is better’ is celebrated and magazines promoting women empowerment are full of articles on must-have beauty routines that include brow perming, botox, fillers and unrealistic made-up diets, we simply find it all too big of a pill to swallow (pun intended). We at FOHER Co call 'bullshit' and are screaming from the top of the mountain that it is time to change the conversations we have about our bodies as women and as athletes.
How many times have you overheard a fellow female athlete say, “If I can just get my skinfolds to this goal percentage everything will be great”, or “I’ve put on a few kilos lately so I won’t be very fast”, to ‘I’m ONLY doing the enticer or sprint’, the list goes on. Women, apologising for themselves. We have actually heard the mother of a junior athlete saying ‘Oh no, she is too large to do a triathlon’. Come again?! Yet in a glimmer of defiance, despite these negativities that exist and barriers that we put in front of ourselves, there are women signing up for months of hard work, early mornings, sweat and tears, then lining up to complete a challenge they may never have ever dreamed they could achieve. A race, a triathlon, and guess what? These women are smashing it! Skin folds WHAT THE?!! Their very real, A cup, EE cup, size 6, size 16, stretch marks and all, amazing body just got them over the line, resulting in an immense feeling of satisfaction and achievement which has them signing up for more.
So ladies….we believe it’s time to have positive conversations about our bodies and therefore changing the way we feel about them.
When you look at a true representation of athletes participating today, yes we are looking at YOU! - What we notice is that participants are incredibly diverse in looks, height, body shape, weight, hair colour, eye colour, foot size and more. There is no 'right' shape to be an athlete. Athletes are every-day humble people and we want to highlight that it takes all shapes and sizes to make this sport great. With that in mind we are starting the conversation:
I love ............. about my body because ………..!
We’ve started you off with what a few of our amazing Fohettes love about their own bodies. And we will be honest, it wasn't easy for them to write it down! But these women are leading the way, and facing their own body fears for the FOHER Co Body Conversation Project Campaign.
And now it’s your turn.
Head over to our Instagram and facebook page @foherco and complete this sentence, tell us how YOU feel about your body, and help us to start this very important conversation.
The FOHER Co Body Conversation Project idea came to us after gathering our Fohettes for a photoshoot down on the beach at the Sunshine Coast 70.3 Event this year. We had a few of the girls running along the beach, and we thought to ourselves, how gorgeous they all looked rocking their FOHER kit, and despite their diversity they each had a common goal. We are truly lucky to have such an amazing representation of women within our community, from para-triathletes to grass roots 'particirace' athletes to professional athletes.
Let's get this conversation happening, and think twice before we speak negatively about our bodies. Why don't we celebrate all of the amazing things our bodies CAN do instead. Starting now.
