My Thoughts on the Cultural 
Standard of the Female Body

In 1999, Kathy demonstrated the sport of Powerlifting at the Opening Ceremony of the 10^th Annual Commonwealth Games of Virginia. This vignette was performed live for 11,000 athletes and televised on live television in Southern Virginia. She also participated in the torch lighting ceremonies and carried the torch. In 1997, Kathy was in the spotlight during the 8th Annual Commonwealth Games of Virginia. Kathy was chosen to demonstrate the sport of powerlifting for over 11,000 athletes and their families at the opening ceremonies in July in Roanoke, VA. She also had the very distinct honor of being able to carry and light the torch signifying the start of the 8th Annual Commonwealth Games of Virginia. In September 1997, Kathy was featured in the "Faces in the Crowd" section of Sports Illustrated. Kathy was chosen 1995 CITGO Congress of State Games, Female Athlete of the Year for the Commonwealth of Virginia and the 1994 APA Female Powerlifter of the Year. She was featured in the Portraits of the City Campaign, and has done numerous local and national radio and television interviews.

Kathy Roberts is a true champion on and off the powerlifting platform. In her spare time, she works with children in the community to help keep them focused on their goals and out of trouble. She helps to keep them motivated and wanting to stay physically fit. She was featured as an unsung hero on "Faces of Courage" which appeared on Fox television. This program was dedicated to individuals who have made a positive impact on the community. Kathy was also featured as a "Hero" on Heroes television show on NBC, and sponsored by McDonald’s for the Portraits of the City Campaign which was featured in seven different newspapers in the District of Columbia honoring unsung heroes in the community.

As a competitor, Kathy goes to competitions with the intention of performing to the best of her ability. She does this by demonstrating her abilities as one of the best pound-for-pound DRUG-FREE female powerlifters. She stays very focused while competing, and the crowd is absorbed into her excitement coming from her explosive and impressive lifts. Kathy often sets records at her competitions. She is truly a pleasure and an inspiration to watch.

Do you enjoy motivational speaking?

I definitely enjoy motivational speaking. I love being able to reach out to people in general and let them know that they can set their goals and set them high, and that they are attainable without using drugs. This is my main message. I also stress that education, determination and dedication are the foundations to success. I have a message and the platform to deliver it and I feel compelled to share it. It’s one thing to speak and tell the kids what they are capable of doing, but it’s another thing to actually do a demonstration and show them that it can be done.

I feel that I probably would have been recognized when I first started out competing in bodybuilding if I had some of these features. During my first competition as a bodybuilder, I was told by the judges that I was supposed to have a certain look physique wise. I guess I find it ironic that those who judge are sometimes overweight or underweight and really don’t know a whole lot about the sport except for the individuals that they know who are already involved in the sport. In bodybuilding you don’t know exactly what they are looking for. The cultural standard affected me more when I was smaller in stature. Outside of bodybuilding I haven’t experienced a lot of bias on the subject of the cultural standard of what makes the female body attractive.

Personally speaking, I feel that irregardless of size, it’s all in how you feel about yourself and how you carry self. Self love and self image have a lot to do with how others view you. I am a confident person, therefore I may not recognize what others would feel is discrimination based on my "look".

I wanted to add that while the standard may still revolve around the Barbie-doll image, I think that the general public’s perception has evolved over the years. There was a time when a muscular woman was totally unacceptable. It seems that now, the general public is more excepting and rather curious in a positive way. The role of women in society has changed, both in the business world and leisure world. After the last Summer Olympics, where the American women dominated so many sports (i.e., basketball, soccer, and softball), doors have been opened. It has paved the way for women in sports and helped to change the image of an athletic women. I do think that some women get too hard or too masculine looking and they are still not looked upon positively, even among their female peers. Society as a whole has taken great strides to improving life, via a healthy lifestyle. I feel that being too thin is now the "no, no". There are models and actresses who are too thin, and the public doesn’t look too positively on that anymore. A little muscle, a good healthy, fit, body is becoming the norm.

How has being more muscular and strong affected your life, with men, with your family and with the general public?

Let’s put it this way, if a man isn’t confident enough and they are intimated by my size and strength, then he doesn’t have any confidence in himself. Yes, I do find that quite a bit. I do have to say that my size and strength in general often fascinate people. Most people do look twice, but in most cases, it is an approving or curious glance. Many men seem to have these strange fantasies about a big strong woman. One guy said to me that in society people think most men want a little thin women, but in all reality, men love a muscular or strong woman. As for my family, they are behind me 100%. They have always supported me in all my endeavors.

Definitely not! I’m a path maker. I set the standards. I am definitely not comfortable with the "norm". I am a successful individual because I have worked hard for everything that I have achieved. Nothing was given to me. I feel that I can appreciate things even more because of where I come from. I must add that I look very good in my dress clothes, not big and bulky. The only time I wear pants is when I work out at the gym. I do have a "lady like" appearance, but it’s me, not traditional. When I speak to the students at schools across America, I start my lecture, dressed professionally. Most kids look at the weights and then at me and question my abilities. For example, there was a young boy who saw me dressed up. I guess he thought I was a teacher. As he walked past me, he looked at the weights and asked me who was going to lift that weight. I told him that it would be me. He looked me up and down from head to toe and said, "Yeah, right!". I think this kid was in the fourth grade. Then I went to change into my workout clothes for the demonstration. After my demonstration as the kids were going back to class the boy stopped and said that he was sorry. I told him that it was okay because I knew that the kid learned something that day. I have gotten a lot of compliments about how well I look in dress clothes.

I have been training for powerlifting for over eight years. I started off in powerlifting because I wanted to gain weight naturally. I was a bodybuilder and needed to put on some size. I loved the power moves and after my first competition, I was hooked. It’s been history in the making ever since. I have always been interested in sports in one form or another. I played tennis, ran track, racquetball, table tennis, and swimming. I love the outdoors, and like mountain climbing and hiking. I don’t like to sit idle for long periods of time. I love a challenge.

Once again, I am very confident with my body. It seems like I’m the opposite of most women. While most women are trying to loose weight, I’m trying to gain it. I have a very high metabolism; I can burn weight in a very short period of time. I am very comfortable with my size and don’t mind gaining weight as long as it’s muscle. I think it’s a mindset. Some people are genetically predetermined to be the size and shape that they are. I think this is true to a certain extent. Hard work and lots of determination and the proper diet can assist in getting the results that you are training to attain.

I’m a lifetime drugfree world champion powerlifter. I do have a full time job. In addition, I do motivational speaking as requested. I also work very diligently to promote my site, my career, and positive clean websites on the internet.

I say be confident in who you are. Except yourself for who you are. Love yourself. Most importantly, take care of yourself. Health is everything. Without health you can’t do anything. Basically, you’re only given one body, one life, so you must make the best of it. Look out for you and not the rest of the world. Be happy with your body and don’t try to please your peers or the world. The bottom line is if you feel good about yourself, others will feel good about you also.