Roxanne Edwards Interview

Roxanne Edwards is a very interesting human being.  She said that her mother said that Edwards, "Came out of the womb an athlete."  As a body builder, she seems to approach her body a little differently than most women would or do.  However, according to her just because she is a bodybuilder does not mean that she does not possess the same feminine qualities at any other woman.  Edwards says that, "Femininity is found in your character, not just your breasts."  This is an example of Kathy Acker’s idea from “Against Ordinary Language: The Language of the Body,” which was centered on the thought that bodybuilding is a form of a language and self-expression.  Edwards said, “I wear my strength out” she expresses herself through bodybuilding.  Acker also wrote how bodybuilding is like learning a new language, and it is not understood by everyone necessarily, which is what Roxanne Edwards is trying to get across in her interview.  “Show up and be you,” she said.  Not only does this just apply to the bodybuilding world, but everywhere in the world.

            In today’s world so many people are worried about the way they appear to other people.  There seems to be a perception of how a person is supposed to look in today’s world, so many people try too hard to become someone that they are obviously not.  I saw this a lot when I was in high school.  Over and over again, a new trend in either clothing or language would pop up and suddenly, like an epidemic it would spread throughout the entire school.  People are constantly changing who they really are just to fit in with “the crowd” and become socially acceptable. 

            Roxanne Edwards is unlike this crowd.  She recognizes the fact that she may not be like everyone else, and she embraces it.  Bodybuilding, especially among women, is not what we define the average person or body as.  She recognizes that although she may be different in the way she approaches her femininity, but she embraces it because as she said, “Accept who you are as being beautiful.”  Being “beautiful” should be different for everyone, but in today’s world there are a lot of people that think there is a universal image, or the perfect body that they have to achieve in order to feel secure about themselves.  Everyone has their own insecurities about themselves, some share the same as other people and others do not.  Edwards stated that she is a “Human being that sees the world from a different vantage point.”  In other words, she understands the usual insecurities of women, but at the same time she has different ones than them.  Insecurities are all a mind game when it comes down to it.  When there is a lack of connection between the mind and body, we develop insecurities.  Learning to accept ourselves for who we truly are is an important part in getting rid of insecurities and stereotypes for the “perfect body” as well.  As Acker put it, “The body cannot be controlled,” but our mind can help us to understand it.