Powerlifter Annie Clayton attends the 64th National Figure Skating Championships on March 24, 2017 in San Jose, California.
Annie Clayton, a powerlifter from Alaska, recently changed perceptions of her appearance by transforming herself into Arnold Schwarzenegger in a series of social media posts.
Despite doing the exercise for many years, Clayton says she was unaware that the image she was putting on the Internet was different.
“I never saw anything like that on Instagram,” she told Alaska Dispatch News. “Because women look exactly the same on the outside.”
A red wig, heavy makeup and a body painted bronze gray was enough to give Clayton the appearance of the ’80s action star.
Clayton said it’s a huge honor for her to have someone believe her in so much and she would do it again if asked.
“Who knows where this will go? It could go big or it could go small,” she told the paper. “Who knows? Maybe if they see it, they’ll think I can do something different.”
Clayton was initially excited by the attention from both her Facebook friends and from fans, but was disappointed that her story’s effectiveness is mixed.
“You get the stereotype that you’re going to turn into Arnold Schwarzenegger with a wig and the muscle,” she said. “But the only problem with it is that it’s against social media terms of engagement,” she added. “That’s no way to spend an hour.”
Still, Clayton hopes that the selfie will do something else — raise awareness for her favorite sport.
“Powerlifting is new to everybody,” she said. “In the States we only have competitions and everyone watches them — and then they think that’s what we do. But powerlifting is a lifestyle. It’s not a contest. You’re going to see me with heavy bandages, trips to the hospital and all that. But I do this every day.”
Read the full story at Alaska Dispatch News.
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