Roxanne Edwards

I thought this interview was very interesting as I had never seen or read an interview by a female bodybuilder, I also thought Roxanne Edwards is very insightful. Edwards has somewhat of a healthy body Image, as she is indifferent to the fact she is not the typical standard of beauty. In fact she rebels against normative ideals of femininity, especially against the idea the breasts are vital to women's femininity, as she has none.  She feels that she will help redefine beauty as she claims she is “displaying her strength on outside”.  As a woman in bodybuilding your femininity is being questioned as it is not the typical body for a women while having developed, large muscles is more desired and acceptable for men as they symbolize the strength men are suppose possess. She also empowers women as she tries to voice her opinion of women acting for themselves will help them feel less insecure, she is also very encouraging of women being themselves and follow their passions and not what is expected of them.

Edwards feels that she is combating prejudice towards her skin color by still competing, not withdrawing .I can relate to Edwards' struggle with prejudice towards race as I feel straighter hair is more “marketable” and more accepted. Eurocentric standards continually dominate the global beauty economy, Edwards has seen how this could affect others interpretation of her, she is indifferent and continues to perform. She also exhibits signs of a negative body image as she takes steroids to improve her performance and so she can appear more “hard”. While she admits steroids can have negative effects, she also feels that she is not taking large enough amounts to see these effects. Roxanne already has a body that defies the odds but she still feels the need to look better or “harder”.

I found the the photo of Edward’s leg to be the most shocking photo as I could truly understand the meaning of peeled.There are so many pronounced veins, and you can see all the defenition of her leg. If I saw this photo without listening to the interview I would probably think it was a male leg, not a female leg. Edwards  interacts with her body differently than I do with mine. She is consistent with her workouts while I am much more scattered. She also puts more thought into the vitamins as she only takes liquid forms while I would buy the cheapest or one a friends recommend. I liked how Edwards doesn't fall into trends such as having voluptuous curves or even getting breast implants to please those judging her in competitions. She truly lives by her own rules, does not conform and tries to spread her message that women can be feminine in many different ways.

In class we talked about the assembly line and ideas of perfection. Roxanne definitely has “Skin with biography” every muscle and vein that protrudes is only a testament to her hard work and determination. Edwards can be compared to the assembly line as every muscle in her body has a purpose like every station on an assembly line. She also maintains her fitness by exercising regularly, which matches the constituency of an assembly line.