The Weekly Riff with Louise Green

Episode 24 - Fitness is a Feminist Issue

Louise Green Season 2 Episode 24

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0:00 | 21:12

Fitness does not exist in a vacuum. Women arrive at movement carrying decades of messaging about beauty, body size, aging, worth, and what it means to take up space in the world. In this episode, Louise Green explores why fitness is a feminist issue, examining the historical, cultural, and economic forces that have shaped women's relationships with their bodies. From Victorian ideals of fragility to modern wellness culture, she unpacks how women have been encouraged to shrink, consume less, and view their bodies as lifelong improvement projects. Louise offers a different vision of fitness—one rooted in strength, autonomy, self-trust, and participation—while sharing practical ways to recognize these influences and build a relationship with movement that supports a bigger, fuller life.

Key Topics

  • Defining feminism beyond politics and common misconceptions
  • Why fitness is a feminist issue
  • The historical regulation of women's bodies
  • From fragility to fitness culture: changing ideals of womanhood
  • The influence of beauty standards, media, and marketing
  • How women continue to be valued differently than men
  • The economics of insecurity and the business of dissatisfaction
  • Reclaiming fitness as a tool for strength, confidence, and autonomy
  • Practical ways to challenge inherited beliefs about bodies and worth
  • Building a relationship with movement that expands life rather than narrows it

Link to Jennifer Livingstone's Article (the news anchor bullied by a viewer). 


Louise Green is an award-winning coach with 20 years invested in working with women of all body sizes. She has coached thousands of women from all over the world, if you're ready take the next step in your strength, check out her coaching program: https://www.louisegreeninc.com/size-strong