Jo Whiley: "I don't want to gesture at the Foo Fighters and have bingo wings flapping"

[Loopytiles]

Times interview today with Jo Whiley, who among other things presents from the Glastonbury festival. She's quoted as saying she steps up her fitness regime before it because when presenting she doesn't want to gesture at a band and "have bingo wings flapping".

I found this depressing: the sexism of the media/creative industries and immense pressure to be thin.

Also "bingo wings" is a very gendered term, and perhaps ageist too.

I heard a 'top personal trainer to the stars' on Woman's's Hour a while ago. Jenny Murray asked him about the bingo wing thing, and whether woman 'of a certain age' should cover up. He basically said that it's just what happens to women's arms as they age, and there's no point worrying or stressing about it.
In fact, I've been regularly exercising my shoulders/arms for about 18 months now, and am pretty strong,with good upper body musculature (although I say so myself ), but if I wave my (firm, muscular) arms, the backs of them arguably could be said to flap.
But re. Jo Whiley: she's always known that looking a certain way is an asset in the shallow budiness of show, so it's no surprise that she plays up to it. She probably thinks that by talking about her 'bingo wings' herself, she pre-empts anyone else making mean comments about them. Having neen shunted off to R2, she knows it's only a matter of time (literally) before she disappears into the ether.

"Bingo wings" only really happen to women though.

She would do well to invest less time at the gym and more time on her brain.

She's 51. It's a bloody miracle she's been asked to front Glastonbury coverage as it is

Also: it's no longer enough to be merely thin; we must all be buff as well.

Do bingo wings only happen to women? Is it not that men don't tend to wear sleeveless clothing after a certain age and it's still fashionable for women to do so

I don't blame her, as a PP says she's in an industry that usually doesn't give women who are not young/thin/attractive work.

I have heard lots of women in RL fret about arms - and I do, although I am not overweight and don't talk about it because I try hard to avoid conversations about bodies. It's a "thing". It's nigh on impossible to find clothes for occasions or nights out, or casual and work summerwear, that are not sleeveless. As a PP says, men just wear long sleeves or T shirts.

Bingo wings do happen to men but only when they are much older. Probably to do with the way our musculature differs / hormones / whatever type stuff.

I'm surprised it's taken this long for it to be a "thing" on telly (see also nichole kidman's weird clapping - one theory was it was to stop flapping) but very possibly because there were less older women on TV and the ones that were, were expected to cover.

In saying it she deflects from anyone else saying it, agree with Agoddess but wouldn't it be nice if appearance was the same level of issue for women as men presenting this stuff.

She's 51. It's a bloody miracle she's been asked to front Glastonbury coverage as it is

Abso-bloody-lutely.

So in that sense, I don't blame Jo Whiley for not wanting to subject herself to the inevitable abuse and scrutiny if she appeared on TV with bingo wings (or any other physical feature that might betray her age). It's sad that she feels she has to step up her fitness regime, but I can understand why she feels like she has to.

I bet Marc Riley (if he is indeed also doing the Glastonbury coverage this year) doesn't worry about it...

I've never been a fan of Jo Wiley and her style of interviewing/presenting but I've felt incredibly sorry for the way she has been slowly pushed out of her specialist field (of which there is no doubt she is a leading expert) over they years. When you compare the way she has been 'allowed to hang on' to presenting things, such as Glastonbury, to the way John Peel was positively regarded as national treasure and presented his show on Radio 1 into his 60s - well, the sexism is pretty clear before we even start on bloody bingo wings.

I remember her final show on her regular Radio 1 slot - it was so moving. It's a man's world, without a doubt.

What do you mean by her specialist field, Chips? Not disputing what you say, I thought she was a deejay but never really listened to her as I find her voice and manner annoying.

It's Mark Radcliffe who presents it, not Riley, but even he gets shuffled off to BBC4 in favour of younger presenters.
John Peel was a unique exception: most male R1 presenters were retired over to R2 or got rid of.
Annie Nightingale is more equivalent to John Peel with a long, respected career - she's 77 and still going.

She was well known for championing new music which went on to great things godess. Exactly the same as John Peel. John was encouraged to continue and lauded as some sort of new music messiah while Jo was shuffled out of the limelight in case anyone noticed she was (shh) old.

I find her simpering.

Her show on radio 2, it sounds like she is fumbling, desperate for anyone to listen, apologetic almost.

She does a thing where she plays songs for parents handing outside the sports centre picking up their kids, think it's called "mum/dads taxi." It's so depressing.

I find her simpering.

Her interviews have always been a bit cringey/fawning. I never liked Jonathon Ross for the same reasons.

Bingo wings aren't simply a beauty issue. They're a health issue. They're not harmful, they're a symptom of a serious problem with aging.

Men and women begin to lose muscle mass in their 40's. We begin to atrophy and weaken from there. Men lose slower than women, but they do shrink.

If you want to be independent into your 80's, your biggest physical challenge will be maintaining strength. Muscle strength will determine how likely you are to need assistance (stair lifts, zimmer frames, etc), how steady you are on your feet, and how mobile you are.

Strength training also offers major benefits for bone density and mental acuity and mood.

Every woman who is at all able to do it should be training with weights... the heaviest weights they can manage.

I rarely see women lifting free weights (barbells and dumbbells) and most of those I do are under 35. But I see men of all ages, including the years of parenting young children, at the gym. Women should claim their space in the weight rooms and work out so they have physical health and independence their whole lives.

just getting, for someone 40+ who does yoga and running but has no interest in going to the gym, where should I start? I have a set of 2kg hand weights, what would I do with them?

To be clear: I'm coming from the women's health issue angle. Not the "make yourself pretty or cover up" angle.

Why does she need to 'gesture' at a band? And why does she think the band cares about her appearance and the state of her arms? And why does it matter to her what they think of her appearance? Words of an ageing groupie by the sounds of it. Shame when women demean themselves like this.

Justgettingstarted thank you for that kick up the arse. I've always had chunky arms and am working on them in the lead up to my wedding, but you're making me realise the importance of building upper body strength beyond looking good on one day.

chestnuts it's not hard to see why she would care, after all as women we are all socialised to believe that our main value lies in our appearance. It's not that easy to get past that.

chumpchange Yoga is helpful and you should continue with it.

If you want to do more (I think it's a great idea!) then you probably need heavier weights. Ideally, they should be heavy enough that you can do 8-12 repetitions before exhaustion (failure). This varies with the movement. There's one exercise that I use 4kg weights. There's another where I lift 70kg.

You can gradually build up a collection of dumbbells. You can even buy a barbell and plates cheaply at Decathlon. A physio ball and a sturdy coffee table are helpful standins for benches. There are also kettlebells and resistance bands. Google things like "beginning dumbbell workouts." Combination of dumbbells and body weight exercises like Pushups and squats will take you far.

If you research the exercises (Youtube is great) in time you will be able to understand what every movement is about and figure out how to improvise with what you have available.

V quickly - thanks so much, will do just that.

Really appreciate the nudge.

justgetting that's interesting about strength. Gyms and weights being unfriendly or intimidating spaces for women is an issue. I rarely dared use weights in the gym because there was no one to show me what to do and I was embarrassed.

I attend les mills body pump group exercise classes and love it.