How Carrying the Weight of Being an Ally On My Shoulders Gave Me Amazing Glutes

Dec 2

Dec 2 How Carrying the Weight of Being an Ally On My Shoulders Gave Me Amazing Glutes

President of the United States Mt. Rushmore McBaldEagle

A year ago, I didn’t like the person I was. I’d been pushed by the patriarchy into fulfilling the typical mold of a straight, white man with some Jewish heritage. And I weighed over 195 pounds. I hadn’t yet realized that it was my turn to listen. I hadn’t realized that we were living in a sexist world. And I hadn’t realized that my low-carb diet was actually starving my muscles of the resources they needed to grow.

And then I found out about being an ally.

Being an ally means that you support those in need of help. It means giving a voice to the voiceless by speaking on their behalf. It means lifting up the opinions of those not listened to by going into all white-spaces and having difficult conversations. It means being the hero your city deserves, even if you’re not the hero it needs right now.

For years I didn’t know just how much my voice as an ally was needed in the fight for justice. But now I do and realizing that was a lot. The weight of responsibility was almost too much to bear, but I took on that weight. Why? Because it was the right thing to do. And ever since then, my glutes have looked amazing.

Looking at my pre-ally buns compared to my post-ally buns, they’re almost unrecognizable. The amount of time I spend carrying the weight of the struggle on my shoulders, physically lifting up the voices of POCs, and clenching my ass anytime someone tries to diminish human rights, has left me with glutes tight enough to bounce a nickel off.

Soul Cycle might exercise your core, but being an ally exercises your moral core. My social justice work has left me with a toned physique and a rump to die for. Because at the end of the day, the biggest muscle in the body is your heart.

Before I woke up, I was a self-serving, chauvinistic seven out of ten. Now that I’ve grown as a person I’m at least a nine and for the Mid-West, probably a ten.

So would I recommend being an ally? Yes. Would I recommend telling your friends you’re an ally? I think so. And would I recommend taking the burdens of minority students onto your toned shoulders? Well… only if you’re ready for a real workout.