Something New under the Sun
Excerpt from the book 'Modern Amazons' by Bill Dobbins
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Female bodybuilders have had a profound - if largely unrecognized - effect on culture as a whole. The "hard body" is becoming increasingly sexy. In Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the audience was more impressed by Linda Hamilton's muscles than by Arnold's. Angela Bassett was more muscular in What's Love Got To Do With It than Tina Turner ever imagined being. Not only are female "pro wrestlers" with bulging biceps worshipped by a growing international audience - the World Wrestling Federation's "Chyna" was given a cover and pictorial feature by the US edition of Playboy. Supermodels are doing workout videos. Female VJs on MTV have to have well defined abs and tight athletic bodies. Young socialites in New York hire personal trainers so they can participate in the trend toward female muscle chic.
Nonetheless, the sport of women's bodybuilding, particularly at the pro level, has continued to create controversy. The women continue to get bigger, harder, more muscular and better defined. After all, this group of genetically gifted women have trained intensely with weights for 10, 12 or 15 years. The idea of muscles on women is one thing, but the visual impact of the development of a pro female bodybuilder is overwhelming. Just as society seems to be getting used to the mass and muscularity of the top women pros, the competitors move up to a still higher level.
People admire a muscular female physique like that of Madonna, who is far more muscular than any previous superstar diva, and yet are at the same time repelled by the competitive female bodybuilders who inspired Madonna to develop such a muscular and athletic body. Women bodybuilders seem to have won the battle but lost the war. They have revolutionized our culture, but don't receive credit for it.
People don't believe what they see as much as see what they believe. Preconceptions regarding female muscle cloud an understanding of what is actually going on. There are women with muscular but unattractive bodies, just as there are muscular men with unaesthetic physiques. Women's bodybuilding should be evaluated on the basis of the best and most attractive bodies in the sport, not the worst. Champions are the ones who should define a sport. When you think golf, you think of Tiger Woods, not some duffer who can't break 100.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Female bodybuilders have had a profound - if largely unrecognized - effect on culture as a whole. The "hard body" is becoming increasingly sexy. In Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the audience was more impressed by Linda Hamilton's muscles than by Arnold's. Angela Bassett was more muscular in What's Love Got To Do With It than Tina Turner ever imagined being. Not only are female "pro wrestlers" with bulging biceps worshipped by a growing international audience - the World Wrestling Federation's "Chyna" was given a cover and pictorial feature by the US edition of Playboy. Supermodels are doing workout videos. Female VJs on MTV have to have well defined abs and tight athletic bodies. Young socialites in New York hire personal trainers so they can participate in the trend toward female muscle chic.
Nonetheless, the sport of women's bodybuilding, particularly at the pro level, has continued to create controversy. The women continue to get bigger, harder, more muscular and better defined. After all, this group of genetically gifted women have trained intensely with weights for 10, 12 or 15 years. The idea of muscles on women is one thing, but the visual impact of the development of a pro female bodybuilder is overwhelming. Just as society seems to be getting used to the mass and muscularity of the top women pros, the competitors move up to a still higher level.
People admire a muscular female physique like that of Madonna, who is far more muscular than any previous superstar diva, and yet are at the same time repelled by the competitive female bodybuilders who inspired Madonna to develop such a muscular and athletic body. Women bodybuilders seem to have won the battle but lost the war. They have revolutionized our culture, but don't receive credit for it.
People don't believe what they see as much as see what they believe. Preconceptions regarding female muscle cloud an understanding of what is actually going on. There are women with muscular but unattractive bodies, just as there are muscular men with unaesthetic physiques. Women's bodybuilding should be evaluated on the basis of the best and most attractive bodies in the sport, not the worst. Champions are the ones who should define a sport. When you think golf, you think of Tiger Woods, not some duffer who can't break 100.
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Nicole Rollolazo, USA. Photo: Bill Dobbins