Sports has been identified as a great way to help young women deal with issues related to body image. Often, the confidence that they gain by playing sports is a big factor in being comfortable about their bodies. In the past year, two of the world's most prominent athletes have taken this idea even further in media campaigns that equate physical power with beauty. Olympic ski champ Lindsey Vonn wrote a book titled "Strong Is The New Beautiful." UFC star Ronda Rousey is starring in Pantene commercials that feature taglines of "Don't hate me because I'm strong" and "Strong is beautiful."
Fitness star Emily Skye has been delivering a similar message to her millions of followers on social media and dropped another reminder Monday.
Skye posted a picture of herself while flexing muscles in workout gear next to one in which she is wearing a dress. "Just because you have muscle & look muscly in the gym or when you flex doesn't mean you look muscly walking around," Skye wrote. "I LOVE lifting weights! It makes me strong mentally and physically and I love what it does for my body physically speaking!"
Skye, who has more than 10 million Facebook followers, has been featured the past few months in People Magazine, the Today Show on NBC and Men's Health.
"Many women seem to have this fear that lifting weights will make them 'man like' and it's just not the case," Skye continued on her post. "Weights will make you strong, shape your body and burn fat so don't be afraid to lift ladies!"
Other notable examples of athletes addressing body issue in the past year include Serena Williams, Gabrielle Reece and All-American cross-country runner Rachele Schulist, whose Instagram post went viral last week.
