Good Lord. Yoga’s been having a rough go of it in 2012 so far.
First there was the yoga-can-”wreck”-your-body piece in the New York Times Magazine that got lots of people’s mats in a bunch. Now there’s a YouTube video, produced by the high-end gym chain Equinox, in which a yoga instructor is shown doing some pretty killer moves for three minutes and 29 seconds. She’s in her underwear, practicing with an unmade bed in the background.
STOP THE PRESSES.
The video was posted in late December, but in just three weeks it already has over 1.4 million views. I know YouTube comments are basically the dregs of Internet Society, but lots of people on there are flipping out about how the video sexualizes yoga by showing the instructor, Briohny Smyth, in “lingerie” and with the rumpled bed in the background.
I put lingerie in quotes there because, honestly, I wouldn’t put what she’s wearing in the same realm as, say, what Victoria’s Secret models wear in commercials sandwiched between episodes of Seinfeld and 30 Rock. She’s wearing black, boy-cut underwear and a racer-back black bra—bikinis are more revealing than that. Besides, would you want her wearing a pair of ratty old sweatpants and a baggy sweatshirt? Half of what’s beautiful about this video is watching how her body moves. I’d kill for that kind of control (not to mention those shoulders).
Yes, I noticed the bed, but I took it more as, “Oh, she just woke up, and this is what she does first thing in the morning. Good for her! Dang, look at that handstand.”
A Huffington Post blogger posted her own thoughts about the video yesterday (we see eye to eye, it seems), and she talked to Smyth, who said she’s received a mixture of praise and scorn for it. Smyth reveals she struggled with an eating disorder growing up, so the video is as much a celebration of overcoming body issues as it is about the graceful yoga moves she’s doing on the mat. So yeah, that is good for her.
Watch the video below and judge for yourself. And please, tell me if you’re outraged—and whether you think I should be, too.
What’s to be upset about? I’m in awe.
I thought the video was beautiful and immediately shared it on Twitter. I practice yoga myself and I see strength rather than sex when I watch this. It’s inspiring.
I’ve been doing yoga for a few years and when I watch this video I’m in awe that she’s confident enough in her body to be filmed in lingerie and that her body has the ability to do those moves. Who cares if it sexualizes yoga? Maybe that’s why she does it (though I doubt it). My theory is, being healthy is great, no matter what inspires you to make the effort.
I thought she was amazing. I find it inspring that she’s doing yoga first thing from waking up (at least thats whats portrayed in the video).
PS- just because there are ‘yoga pants’, they’re not necessarily a requirement.
Well perhaps you’ll be offended by this!
http://youtu.be/wV2Fm-wxgOo
Thanks so much for your thoughtful piece on the Equinox video, and keep up the wonderful work…