Female athletes feel an intense pressure to perform and look the part. Courtesy of LFHS Athletics

Whether it’s coming back from an injury, balancing school work with practice, or even squeezing in enough time to sleep, student-athletes are faced with numerous challenges. 

The pressures of body image standards for female athletes is one that rarely gets enough attention. At times the mental game of battling body image pressure is harder than the physical sports games themselves.

“I think teenagers in general add a lot of pressure to body image especially because social media is so popular. People can easily go on their phone and see others that are perceived as “perfect” and compare themselves to the pictures they see,” said junior Nastia Belova. 

As a third-year Varsity tennis player, Belova has definitely experienced the pressures of looking a certain way and shares that uniforms play a huge role in this. 

“Though maybe not intentional, I think sports that have you wear more revealing clothing such as swim, gymnastics, dance, or cheer could lead to the promotion of body image in a negative way,” said Belova. “In general, I think it is very common for athletes to see others practicing around them and compare themselves to one another.”

This issue isn’t just on the tennis courts. Senior Ellery Newman, a member of the Varsity dance team has also been affected by these standards. 

Newman said that although the pressure body image standards bring has never been “vocalized” on her team, it doesn’t silence the thoughts inside her head. 

“Since we are staring at ourselves in a mirror for two hours every day, I would be lying if I said we didn’t compare ourselves to each other,” said Newman. “For my team, we deal with it by remembering that we workout to build strength, and that strength is going to look different on everyone.”

Being a dancer since a young age, Newman has dealt with body image pressure for years. However, her perspective on the matter has shifted as she has gotten older. 

As a young studio dancer, she worked towards the stereotypical ballerina physique, which is known to be a leaner body type. After joining the dance team she learned that in order to perform to the best of her abilities, she needs stronger muscles.

Junior Cate Lee, a member of the Girls Varsity Field Hockey and lacrosse team said that body image issues have been “normalized” at our school, which encourages many athletes not to address the problem at hand. 

“We grow up and hear girls say ‘I feel so fat in this,’ or ‘I hate the way this looks on me.’ The more we hear those words, the more comfortable we feel to say them,” said Lee. 

Female athletes are ready to end the stigma around the issue, and redirect their focus to what they’re truly passionate about. Belova believes that in order to succeed in her sport she must block out these negative distractions.

“I think it is important to remember that your body is the reason why you can perform the way you do. Instead of focusing on how you look compared to everyone else, focus on how you feel and how you can be your strongest, most prepared self to truly succeed at your sport,” said Belova.