Confusion and disillusion lies beneath women’s bodybuilding at the moment. We don’t know which way to go – do we scale down, be more feminine and lose what is supposed to be the whole essence of bodybuilding or do we carry on striving for better, bigger and harder physiques??
From my own point of view it is difficult to scale anything down, years of power lifting have seen to that! I don’t have any implants, my hair is short and I am only just learning how to tippy toe onto the stage without falling over. I am now – thinking about implants, growing my hair, wearing more makeup and spending most of my time at home practicing walking on my toes. Oh dear.
In the UK it seems that a more feminine look is being required – the general public don’t seem to like us any more with our freaky muscles, they seem to prefer the fitness/figure look and I suppose to some it is more pleasing to the eye. However, what do you do? Do you play the game and try to get as feminine as possible even going as far as breast implants or do you continue building your awesome frame so they cant ignore you and have to give you that first place?
There is another side to all this though. I have found that since going back into bodybuilding I am having to keep a very close eye on the way I look. At least with the power lifting you just looked square and not overly muscular, but since bodybuilding my shape is changing and I am aware of how masculine it makes me look. I always said that I would never play the game and grow my hair etc but to be honest with watching how masculine my physique is becoming I am trying really hard now to keep as feminine a look as possible.
“A lot of women have given up the sport because of lack of clarity on the judging criteria as well as general stigma now which is a real shame as we should be encouraging and nurturing the newcomers who are our next generation of possible great bodybuilders ”
It is very hard and time consuming but it also aids your mental state. Remember that us girlies are putting testosterone into our systems, using estrogen blockers like Tamoxifen and Proviron. However you want to argue the point it still fucks around with your hormonal balance and emotional state and you ‘feel’ more masculine so putting that extra effort into your appearance does somewhat help your self esteem.
Your confidence can sometimes can take a really serious knock if a fat couch potato educationally sub-normal wanker that has never trained in his life says something really unkind to you like ‘are you a girl or a bloke?’ or ‘you look disgusting – you must be a dyke’ and yes people do say stuff like that.
I went to the WABBA World Championships in Barcelona last week and what an eye opener. Yes, they had competitors with silicone tits but these girls got judged exactly the same as the rest of us flat chested girlies up there. There was definitely a different attitude in the organization towards women’s physique bodybuilding. It was how it used to be. I was told that we would get judged on our physiques only before I went but I didn’t believe it.
Disillusionment had been creeping in until then – but when I went to Barcelona and saw the judging I was brimming with enthusiasm again. Maybe I could be doing with a little more feminine charm and grace but at least in this organization I would get judged on my physique and the femininity issue would be more for me and my self esteem than for on the day of the show.
So what do we do at home?? I think most of us want to be the EFBB British Title holders don’t we? I think we would be lying if we said no. The EFBB British is still THE show that we all want to win on a national level no matter how much we bitch about it.
I know one awesome female heavyweight physique girl who should have got placed better than she did this year, and it was the same last year, and the year before that but it was pointed out to me that she didn’t present as well as the girl that won and that she stood like a bloke. WHAT BULLSHIT, it shouldn’t be like that.
The girl I am talking about is Gaynor Davies who has been competing for many years and she also has competed the last 2 years in the Universe and done well. She can come in whatever condition you ask her to – big and full, small and ripped, she is hugely talented and apart from all that she is a genuinely nice person. I think it’s a real shame and it still isn’t clear whether she will carry on competing or not after the results this year again.
Many of us are totally unclear on what the organizations are looking for – you hear a whisper about bigger and less ripped so you come in looking like that – and – bang – you find its smaller with striated glutes! A lot of women have given up the sport because of lack of clarity on the judging criteria as well as general stigma now which is a real shame as we should be encouraging and nurturing the newcomers who are our next generation of possible great bodybuilders.
So, please, could we have some set in stone judging criteria please?? What would be interesting to hear is from the guy’s point of view. It’s all very well me banging on about women’s issues in bodybuilding but do the guys have any sort of similar problems? And no I’m not talking about prejudice on the size of your lunch box!
It would also be interesting to know from the guys point of view what the attitude of women is towards muscular men now as a friend of mine who has been competing for many years has said that he now finds it really difficult to get a girlfriend as women these days don’t like the muscular look and are going for heroin addict lookalikes which he feels is related to the changing roles for men since the 90′s man emerged with his caring sharing feminine side and limp handshake…….. eeeeeeewwwwwwww!!! uuuggggghhhhh, I can’t see the attraction but then with two tall previous exceptions I go for very short, very muscular men. Lee Priest – come and get me!!
TALK TO ME! Tell me what you think and what your own experiences are and whether you think I am dribbling bullshit and should be publicly flogged with a wet dishcloth or maybe you think I am absolutely right and you want to make me all yours and finance my bodybuilding forever!! Without your experiences and comments the points I am trying to raise are worthless really and it also makes me look at things from other points of view that I may not have considered before. (Please leave your comments below).
Thanks Emma. Train hard and be strong (Ladies included),
Mick Hart.
Founder of Mick Hart Training Systems and the No Bull Collection Magazine.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Emma,
I know what you mean about the prejudice we face as bodybuilders with our appearance, and trust me it makes no difference if it’s male or female bodybuilders. Either way, people will say you’re “too big”. Girls say when I show them a picture of Arnold, “Ewww gross, why do you want to look like that? Girls don’t like guys who are that muscular!” And guys will say ignorant things about female bodybuilders and powerlifters being dykes..but I honestly think they are just intimidated by a woman who can benchpress more than them so they feel the need to put her down. As a 5’8″, 230 lbs man I am constantly told I am too big, so if I could meet a girl who actually likes my build that would be the perfect situation. Me and my workout buddies always wish we could get our girlfriends as involved with the iron game as you are, but muscle girls are hard to come by where I live, unfortunately. Most of the girls in my gym are totally isolated on elliptical trainers with iPods in their ears the whole time so you can’t even talk to them.
As for judging standards. I am one of the few people who actually prefers the big “mass monsters” and believe Ronnie Coleman deserved every one of those 8 Olympias. If they want a smaller, more aesthetic looking physique, why don’t they go find some underwear models and call it something else…they’ll have to change the name, right now it’s bodyBUILDING, meaning you should be building your body up, not down! And if the female bodybuilders gave in to the pressure and lost alot of muscle you might as well just call them bikini models, because it sure as hell wouldn’t be bodybuilding anymore!
Don’t let anyone discourage you,
Matt
Hi Emma,
I agree whole heartedly with Matt, body-BUILDING is about striving to be the best and biggest that we can be! not cocking around with judges not knowing whether they want to be at a ‘figure’ comp or a BODYBUILDING comp.
I have always admired the people who have taken this sport to the new and amazing levels that it is now at. I was always scrutinised at school for pushing myself in the gym and trying to get into the best shape that i could. But at the end of the day when all those same ignorant lazy people look in the mirror every morning and then see people like us in the papers and the news and in the street, it will be our turn to turn around and laugh at them and how pathetic they really are!
And anyone who says they dont like female bodybuilders or insults them needs to wake up and realise that you girls put in a shit load of hard work and are more of a woman than any other frail borderline anorexic wannabe.
keep up the good work, its about you and you only.
Matt G