Misunderstanding the Female Bodybuilder
Friday, January 25, 2008 at 17:15 Thanks Flametamer. Great article.
"Give me a solid, strong willed, strong-bodied woman any day of the week."
Short bio: I am a 42 year old New York resident and father of three great kids. Screenwriting, playwriting, cartooning and voice over.
Okay, I know the following words will be anathema to men of all races, creeds and colors. I know, in my heart and soul, I'll be disclosing some dark, ancient, mythological secret that, once revealed, will change human relations between men and women for eons to come. So be it. This needs to be said. Some years ago-the eighties, to be exact-I became enraptured, enamored, en-"everything" with the sport of women's bodybuilding. Yes, God bless my soul, I can now admit to this deplorable, despicable skeleton that has rattled around in my closet for a couple of decades now.
Valentina Chepiga interview with Lori Braun
I love strong women in all ways the word strong can be attributed. In character, in spirit and last, but absolutely not the least of which is in body. Yes, it's true, the sight of a woman with powerful, rippling thighs, a well-muscled torso, bar bending biceps, horse shoe shaped triceps and dense, striated pectorals (rock-hard boobs to you novices) gives me the happiest and simultaneously worse kind of rush. Though I must confess to not being a "muscle schmoe", as the terminology goes, which is definable as a geek, nerd, and or plain flat out weirdo who will do anything short of blowing his own brains out to be in the mere presence of a muscle goddess. Shudder.
These sexy, living statues in the flesh tend to have that effect on some men and are the embodiment of everything an independent, purpose minded female should be. Much to the chagrin of most if not the greater majority of the narrow-minded world populace. You see, these free spirited, "Live life on my own terms," sexy women instill many emotions and opinions in those unenlightened enough to see, well, the light. In most cultures, societies, neighborhoods, etc., it's men who should look and be physically capable of things involving strength and dominance. Instill fear or respect just by looking imposing. God forbid that a woman...a "girl" should ever be able to reach that same plateau. The simple truth is most men and women, for that matter, look like crap at a relatively young age. Cigarettes, the waning ozone layer, too much sun, too little sun, obesity, and hell, for all I know, cooties, are responsible in some way for making the average man or woman look fifteen years older than they really are. Then there are those who train their bodies to be the epitome of strength and fitness.
Bodybuilding, long dominated by men the first three-quarters of a century has over the past twenty-five years given birth to a large and ever growing faction of the distaff members of the human race. Yep, chicks, babes, dames are getting their groove on pumping barbells and dead-lifting more weight than the average armchair athlete ever, or, perhaps, never dreamed of. How do they do it? Hard work. Undeniable determination and endurance. And, yes, in some cases the ugly subject of steroids raises its' head. Like the men of the sport many of these women chase physical perfection at virtually any cost. So powerful is the influence of women's bodybuilding that though the payment is still some levels below that of men's contests such as the Mister Olympia, the women have done something unforeseen and unprecedented; they have initiated an underground swell of fans who can be in contact with them called "sessions",where for a price a male fan can rub, touch, squeeze various body parts until his heart is content.
These women don't need doors opened for them, chairs pulled out, or cabs hailed on their behalf. It's not that they wouldn't appreciate these well-mannered, gentlemanly acts of courtesy it's simply that it's not in their persona to depend upon these actions. And "There's the rub," as Shakespeare would say. Men need to do these things. In other words they need to be needed and in turn feel a measure of control. That's not a negative thing. It's just the way most, not all, guys are wired from birth if not by social entreatment. Think about this; who sets the standard? Who declares what's in vogue and what's not? What's chic, cool, or happenin' just by putting an image on television or on a magazine cover. The women you see in Playboy and Penthouse or on shows like "Baywatch" aren't the macrocosm of what women look like. They're the visual fantasies of men who in most cases would have an easier time hitting a three-hundred million dollar Mega-ball lottery than ever dating one of these women whom they fixate and or masturbate over. Not that there's a damned thing wrong with masturbation, mind you. Quite the contrary. The point is women's bodies have been men's playthings for so long that anything or anyone that goes against the grain is looked upon with distain, at the very least.
So to compensate for these women of iron who live life with a nose-thumbing disposition, men did what they normally do; they found an alternative that made them feel less intimidated. Also known as women's fitness contests. These women in their own right are wonderful, skilled athletes without the extra muscle of their more massive counterparts. Though I find it a tad ironic that many of them would have been classified as bodybuilders at the inception of the female version of the sport. Several of the top competitors have that hard, tight, well-defined look that Rachel Mclish and Lisa Lyons ushered in way back when.
Women bodybuilders are a fascinating conundrum, to say the least. On stage, in the heat of competition, they are out for blood. Flexing, pulsing, bursting their bikinis to the brim with pure, primal female power. Yet, in the private, non-competitive side of their lives they are wives, mothers, daughters and church goers. They tend to be extremely voluptuous during the off-season when they aren't in training and the normal amount of female body fat reclaims its' form.
No, I'm not saying a woman has to go to a gym and build a body that Hercules would be envious of to be strong, sexy and independent. No more than I would tell a woman to change herself to suit someone else by getting augmented breasts or fake butt implants. Subjects that are so far affecting that even the sport of women's bodybuilding has felt the sting. More and more women are getting boob jobs because the training and severe dieting they do causes their bodies to shed much of their natural breast fat, leaving in many cases a very hard, very flat surface akin to that of a man. In other words they are trying to reclaim more of their feminine look and along with it more sex appeal. What I'm saying is that beauty is a personal thing to all of us. What works for you or me may turn the next guy's stomach. Some guys date women taller than themselves, while some men are chubby chasers. There are young women who purge themselves to look like the acceptable "norm" which, again, is dictated by some image they saw in the media, which is male driven. See the vicious cycle?
Men can and in many cases do look like pure, unbridled crap, yet demand that women maintain the same young, vibrant look from one decade to the next. It seems that some measure of prolonging a young appearance for women is developed every year, from new dietary methods to fashionista surgery, which in many cases cause for more harm and sometimes death. Yet no one takes issue with men to maintain a fair and equitable balance. Many of these young women die to have to-die-for looks. And that's a good thing? Emaciated, skeletal, limb-thin, sunken-eyed zombies trying to sell not only a fashion sense but, scarily, an acceptable eating trend? Give me a solid, strong willed, strong-bodied woman any day of the week. As the saying goes, a hard woman is good to find.
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-Ben
I'm a man who doesn't know
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Culture Club, "Karma Chameleon"