Shake It Up Baby: Protein Powder in America

The Evolution of the Fitness Industry

     

In the fitness industry, there is and always has been a huge gender difference. When it comes to competing in events for bodybuilding and sculpting, there's a clear bias on "how we think" people should look versus how people want themselves to look. Although there is an undeniable difference in the physical capabilities associated with gender, internally people are virtually identical. The way an athlete should fuel their body is the same, the limits to which we can push our body is genetics. It’s like the man said in the video "I don't mind being the freak show for money." The genetic difference is obvious, as women are simply not six feet four inches tall and weigh 400 pounds. Yet there are gender bias's within the fitness the discriminate against women due to physical appearance.

Eddie hall is doing what he loves in the sport and isn’t letting negative energy about his physical appearance affect him. On the flip side of that women have been discouraged from competition and historically speaking it wasn't until the early 20th century that women even started competing in the Olympics. Without a doubt there is and always has been a "beauty Standard" that has existed for women, much less so for men. Even when protein powder was first coming into the market, a gender bias could be seen in the way ads were marketed.

The amount of food Eddie Hall buys and consumes is staggering. Athletes haven't started eating like this until Strongman competitions started becoming popular in the 1970s with the title of World's Strongest Man started being competed for. However, if Eddie Hall was a woman, his lifestyle would be shunned. Recent events have transpired in the world of competitive bodybuilding and sculpting, recently the level of "Women’s "Bodybuilding has been eliminated. Each gender has different weight classes in which they can compete and show off their work. The women heavyweight division has recently been scratched from competition due to optics. With advancements in how we fuel our athletes, people like Iris Kyle have been able to rise through the weight classes in the women divisions and hold Ms. Olympia titles for eight years. Fueled by protein powder and shakes, she has utilized this nutritional tool to help fuel her lifestyle.
Beauty standards have always dictated the way we think people should look in. it fueled the industry in the 1960s with ads telling men to drink protein and gain some weight. The idea of the industry that men and women should go out and get the body they deserve, a sexy well toned and muscular body, nourished with protein shakes and meals made with protein powder. To say that beauty trends and standards have only existed in the fitness industry would be false, beauty trends have existed since since ancient times and have guided the fitness industry to what it is today. 

 

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