Professional DH rider Anneke Beerten has spoken about the pressure she and many other sponsored female riders face on social media to look good.
Beerten – who rides for GT – took to Facebook to express the discomfort she suffers from using social media as a popular female athlete in the 21st century.
“It is the reality that for female athletes it is a lot about social media and how you look these days,” she posted on her Facebook page.
“It’s almost like ‘winning a race is cool, but how many likes did you get?’
“To me that is not what it is about, again I am stoked I can share this all with the world and hopefully inspire more people to ride or to get them stoked on riding.
“I am getting a little bit tired of having the feeling I have to post the perfect picture, checking how many likes and new followers I have.”
The post came with an image taken shortly after a disappointing finish at the Argentina EWS round in April.
“I was thinking of not posting this picture (above),” Beerten said.
“Why? Because I thought I believe did not look at my best. But this is me, covered in dust, tired, angry, exhausted, frustrated, veins popping, a glove tan and taking a minute for myself after finishing a two-day enduro race.
“I think the picture speaks for it self.”
The Dutch downhiller – who was also a former BMX world champion – talked about the pressure she faces from sponsors to create a brand image in a world that is now dominated by social media; with all the positives and pitfalls it brings.
“I love social media and how easy it is these days to keep in close contact with my friends all over the globe, and in this way I can contribute to promote my sponsors,” she said.
“But this whole social media thing is taking itself to a whole new level. Most of my contracts have a ‘social media paragraph’, and there are social media rankings and people that keep track of how well you engage.
“Because the cooler I am on social media the more sponsors and people maybe like me?! But what do the pictures really tell about me?”
Beerten’s message was echoed by a vast number of Facebook followers – both male and female – on her page with over 20,000 likes. The fans rallied in support for the professional rider and expressed their admiration for speaking out on this topic against the pressures of being a sponsored rider.
Beerten ended the post with a message of inspiration and reflection from her own life and her early years as a woman rider in a sport “mainly dominated by males”.
“At the end of the day I want to win that race for me and that feeling it gives me, make my parents and friends proud, get my sponsors stoked for me winning and that feeling that you all worked hard to win it,” she said.
“As a young girl I dreamt of doing all of this, I rode my bike non stop, felt the wind though my hair and my face was most of the time covered in dirt.
“I was not comparing myself with anybody, I was just being me and doing what I love. I am proud to show my feminine side in this mainly manly dominated sport of full face helmets and scars, but only in a way I feel comfortable with.
“I am a person that does not like to share my dinner plates or my butt in a new yoga pants that I just bought, that just isn’t me.
“I guess what I am trying to say with all this is, and this is to most of the girls out there; please be who you are, you should not compare yourself with numbers, likes, or other people.
“You are awesome, share your passion with the rest of the world the way you feel comfortable with it. Do not feel like you have to post something you do not want! We are all an individual and beautiful just the way we are.”
You can read the full post on Anneke Beerton’s Facebook page here.
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Opening sentence. ‘Professional DH rider Anneke Beerten has spoken about the pressure she and many other sponsored female riders face on social media to look good’.
So male riders can get by just on race results and don’t have to do any promotion or social media work? In 2016 if you want to earn a living out of racing mountain bikes then you have to play the social media game; make sponsored videos, photoshoots, etc regardless of whether you’re a woman or a man. You don’t see many male pro’s posting images looking ‘tired, angry, exhausted, frustrated, veins popping’ after riding their sponsors products either as it doesn’t look good for the brands they represent.
This is just a person whingeing about their job and has nothing to do with gender.
jim – that is really a dozy post. You can’t be serious, surely?!
Funny how the “related posts” box at the bottom links to “Rachel Atherton” – an old thread about how attractive Rachel is.
There is some irony here in that this will be her most popular bit social media publicity so far?
Nothing “dozy” about Jim’s post either….
“Funny how the “related posts” box at the bottom links to “Rachel Atherton” – an old thread about how attractive Rachel is.”
To be fair I got the exact same link on the GT7 thread, I think it’s just coincidence.
I think Jim the Saint might well be a total ****ing idiot though.
Type Gee Atherton into google and look at the images page. Are you really going to say that Rachel uses her ‘sexuality’ more than Gee in publicity shots?
A pro mountain biker is rarely paid solely on their race results. They have to get coverage and exposure for the sponsors that pay their wages. As a general rule of thumb not looking pis*ed off after riding your sponsors products is a good start whether you’re a woman or a man.
What I took away from the article is that Anneke’s main beef is: “But this whole social media thing is taking itself to a whole new level. Most of my contracts have a ‘social media paragraph’, and there are social media rankings and people that keep track of how well you engage”.
I bet you a pound to a penny that male riders are monitored and therefore rewarded on the same basis.
So as I said this is a pro whinging about the amount of effort they have to put in off the bike with regards to social media. It has as much relevance to male riders as it does female riders.
Or are Northwind and DezB claiming that male pros don’t need to have a positive social media presence?
Jim, you are correct in what you say. However the context of Anneke’s post was the last 2 quoted paragraphs…
“I guess what I am trying to say with all this is, and this is to most of the girls out there; please be who you are, you should not compare yourself with numbers, likes, or other people.
“You are awesome, share your passion with the rest of the world the way you feel comfortable with it. Do not feel like you have to post something you do not want! We are all an individual and beautiful just the way we are.”
Northwind and DezB are obviously focussing on that and missing the point that you are not.
“I bet you a pound to a penny that male riders are monitored and therefore rewarded on the same basis.”
Ratboy. Broken teeth & unwashed in god-knows-long-long. See what would happen if a woman tried that.
‘Ratboy. Broken teeth & unwashed in god-knows-long-long. See what would happen if a woman tried that’.
She’d be like Missy Giove, arguably the most famous female mountain biker of all time.
Nice picture of Missy with Ratboy. http://fcdn.mtbr.com/attachments/downhill-freeride/1007293d1439133742-missy-giove-returns-world-cup-@-windham-clx2mczuwaeq9ky.jpg
This is one persons perception (rightly or wrongly) of how they understand social media and the pressures it puts on them. I can see where she’s coming from as we all know the bike industry has dropped some massive clangers on how they view females recently (sock gate and Maxxis calendar spring to mind). I’m guessing what she’s trying to say is that. She’s a biker first and foremost and wants to be viewed as such. the fact she sometimes wears lipstick and has a set of boobs should not come before that in light of how the world or sponsors view her.
Peace.
Gotta love the internet, where someone can respond to a woman trying to raise a bit of awareness about sexism, with what amounts to “back in your box, girlie, men have the same issues as you” and not only sit back thinking they’ve said something great, but get “likes” from other internet users (coincidentally, also male!).
Well done fellas.
It’s tough to be a woman. The chimp part of me thinks “if you don’t like he pressure then ride for fun and get a regular job to pay the bills”. But the husband and father part of me recognises that even in that case she’d face sexism and the Glass Ceiling in the workplace too. Damned if you do…
The criteria for being successful on social media are completely different for men and women! Female MTB riders are judged far more on looks than results – you can see this a mile away from their social media feeds (which target what works in terms of maximising coverage).
It’s a tough time for a lot of us! Have you seen what the industry is trying to do to mountain bike gear systems? They must be getting some kind of a cut for every new busted knee presented to a knee surgeon!
That was off topic! On topic, I reckon she should do what she thinks is right and good luck to her!