The Empowerment Project

Obviously, not an original name by any stretch of the imagination, however it is all I could come up with before people started taking notice and using it. I guess it does capture all that I am trying to achieve with this project, movement, vision, statement - any of those fit. 

The mission statement really captures and hits home what we stand for, what we believe and what kind of legacy we want to leave. It reads; 

Purpose: “To empower people at every stage of their unique health and fitness journey. To encourage pride at every positive action, and building the confidence to strive for more. We celebrate the body free from judgement as a voice in equality. 

A nipple is a nipple and any person should be able to show themselves in all their glory.” - Simon Allen

To further explain my purpose behind this project I have the following key points;

“As a lover of the health and fitness industry, I also acknowledge it’s darker side. Commercial marketing holds people at the start of their journey, each goal a series of false summits on the way to an ever-changing finish line. The industry only celebrates the glossy, photoshopped outcomes that fuel a never ending series of marketing campaigns. 

It is my goal to celebrate everyone that has chosen to improve their health. I want to showcase the beauty of every human body and encourage people to be happy with every positive step.  

I believe in true social equity.

I believe currently accepted cultural norms unjustly strip opportunity from people based on how they look.

I believe that my automatic privilege as a white male over other cultures and genders is disgustingly unfair.

Nudity is an art form.

We should celebrate and appreciate every body in all their colours, shapes and sizes.

We all deserve to show our skin and be proud of each fascinating difference that makes us uniquely us.”

There is a lot more to this than just taking photos of naked people, which on the surface to a person who has issues with sex, race, people succeeding or people being joyous in life, this would look like an insult to their beliefs. I have already had an acquaintance who is… very Christian say “Some creep will get off to this, it’s basically porn”.

So that statement really sums up the attitude so much of society has towards the female body, if their first thought was to sexualise a female with their clothes off - they have some internal issues to work through. This person has completely missed the point of empowerment and creating a level playing field for everyone to play on and has chosen to speak through their sexist or misogynistic lens. I say that fairly bluntly because when I had posted a photo of a male friend with no top on, there was no repercussions, no comments made, only support for ‘how buff’ he is.

I honestly welcome challenges of how this is fair treatment for women, please explain to me in very basic terms how the pigmentation of a female's nipples are different to those of a males? I mean, other than females have a life giving use for theirs and males do not. I’ll wait for a true reason that isn’t laced with sexist remarks, disgraceful misogynistic views or dumb conclusions. 

Moving on from the above, this extends to empower ourselves to be confident in our own skin. We are all on various stages of our fitness journey and it is unfair on ourselves to compare our personal achievements to others. For example; if you are 3 months into your health journey at the age of 32 - you have no business comparing yourself to a top level CrossFit games athlete who has been doing gymnastics since they were 5 years old, olympic lifting since 18 years old and competing in the sport of fitness for the past 5 years. Please, admire these incredible human beings, but don’t compare yourself, it’s a losing battle. 

We need to make it healthy to celebrate the small wins in our health journey, with no judgments, no remarks like “but I’ve still got so far to go”. No mate, you just lost 5kg’s and ate more vegetables in four weeks than you have your whole fucking life - that’s incredible! Live in that proud moment and use that energy to keep moving forward on your journey, you’ve just taken a step most people are too lazy to do. I’m here for the lazy people too though, you want to make change? Let me hype you up to do it. You could feel as amazing as the guys in this project look.

This next one gets very deep and after many, many conversations with incredibly patient friends, who are now my brothers and sisters, I have truly learnt how incredibly selfish and righteous I was. I didn’t understand that just by being white (even though I get asked if I am Spanish all the fucking time) and male that I had some automatic step up in life, I did not understand the struggle my black brothers and sisters were going through just because their skin was a different colour to mine.

I propose anyone reading this has a true moment of self reflection, be honest with yourself and think of a time you witnessed racism and just stood by and watched. The sooner you do this and the more honest with yourself you are, the quicker you can make a change within yourself. It’s not easy to admit to yourself that maybe you grew up in a racist household and your parents beliefs have been ingrained within you, it’s not easy to admit to yourself that you clutch your purse that little bit tighter when you see a group of Aboriginal kids when walking down the street. While this process is difficult for us to confront, just think of how long our friends have faced prejudice and that we all need to do our part to make this world a safe place for everyone. 

Yes, I am tackling some deep cultural, societal and systemic problems that I have no qualifications in but I’ll be fucked if I’m going to sit on the sidelines any longer and wait for others to change. This is one of many ways I can spread acceptance of ourselves in all our various shapes, sizes, colours and backgrounds. Every single person in this project is fucking amazing and have decided to join me in making change in the world we are living in. We are here to lift each other up and celebrate health and fitness, we will challenge those who view the world through a racist, sexist or elitist lens and we will leave the world a better place for our children.