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“Tall Girls Are Usually Pushed to the Back and Outcasted”: World’s Tallest Female Bodybuilder Maria Wattel Voice Her Anger Against Gender Biases in the Sport

Published 12/28/2022, 12:00 PM EST

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With a staggering height of 182.7 cm, 42 years old Maria Wattel is a bodybuilding sensation. The Dutch bodybuilder earned the Guinness Book of World Records for ‘Tallest Professional Bodybuilder Female’ last year. However, her struggles as a tall woman are still prevalent in this gender-biased world. Wattel recently took to Instagram to share a post that showed her incredible physique. But the caption that accompanied it, was unfortunately a sad and harsh reality she has to live with.

Just last year in January, Wattel earned worldwide recognition for being the tallest professional female bodybuilder. However, it was a bane rather than a boon for her.

Maria Wattel shares her disappointment in facing gender bias due to her height

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Maria Wattel shared a heartfelt caption that showed her hard work and struggles to maintain a stealthy physique. But what hampers that effort is how the bodybuilding world ignores that effort and treats her differently due to her height. Her initial line invoked how far we still are in accepting all men and women of all sizes equally, without any biases. She wrote, “Hell will freeze over by the time they start rewarding TALL FEMALE athletes in our sport the way THEY REWARD tall MEN”.

The bodybuilding world and the world at large, deal with looks and rewards tall men. But they prefer women to be shorter, with a size fit to perfection. There are extreme limitations put on women’s bodies and it is absurd.

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In her post, Wattel further describes how easily men are accepted as being unique, extraordinary, and balanced when tall but women face the opposite consequences. She wrote, “Tall girls are usually pushed to the back and outcasted”.

Wattel also wrote, “It is very very very different and more difficult to create a well-balanced muscular physique when TALL for both sexes, yet women tend to end up with the short end of the stick.”Her attempt at bringing this unfair game to the forefront found some supporters.

Wattel receives support from her fans

When it came to user comments, some respectfully disagreed with her while most showered her with love and support. One user asked her to continue being herself and not change according to the set norms. She replied, “I don’t care to win a show or not, however, I do care about opening the eyes of the blind and for a younger generation to understand and not get lost in this “fake” world”. Her focus on the word ‘fake’ clearly lets us into her frustration with all factions of society.

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Wattel clearly seems determined and stronger than ever to continue her passion for bodybuilding. However, she is also very sincere in her efforts to guide the newer generation into a healthier form of lifestyle.

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Maria Wattel’s story of the constant struggle to deal with hypocrisy and gender bias is powerful enough to inspire everyone. What other sportspersons’ story do you know that needs attention and should be brought to the forefront?

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Written by:

Tanmay Roy

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Tanmay Roy is a US Sports author for EssentiallySports. He has done MBA and B.Tech in Civil Engineering.
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Edited by:

Pritam Priyedarshi