Strong and Hard Women
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announced that due to health reasons and aesthetics, female bodybuilders should
decrease their muscularity by 20 per cent.8 Due to this new ruling, Yaxeni Oriquen won the 2005 Ms. Olympia title, though Iris Kyle returned to the top in 2006 and has maintained her reign to the present day (2012). It is worth mentioning that the elusive equilibrium between femininity and muscularity for female bodybuilders was once again addressed in 2007 at the IFBB Pro League Committee. Betty Pariso, a pro woman bodybuilder, requested ‘that the “desired look” for female bodybuilders be formalized in writing as part of the IFBB Pro Rules’. In the minutes of the 27 September 2007 meeting it was stated:
after some discussion, the committee held that majority opinion that the judges were already shaping the look for female bodybuilding with the winner they choose and therefore, there was no need for additional criteria than what is currently expressed in the Pro Rules.
(cited in Bolin 2011: 31).
32 The history of female bodybuilding
Thus it appears that through these judges’ decisions, women’s bodies are sculpted, shaped and transmitted, with changing and contested ideas of what type of body signifies acceptable femininity.
The British scene
I went to see the ‘godmother’ of bodybuilding today, although unfortunately Diane Bennett wasn’t at her gym. Diane is known as the ‘British mum’ of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who alongside her husband (Wag Bennett) allegedly adopted him and supported him in his bodybuilding career when he came to Britain at the age of 19. Diane is part of the executive committee on the UKBFF and is a Women’s Fitness Representative… The gym is fascinating, like a religious shrine to bodybuilding. Signed posters are decorated around the walls. Pictures of bodybuilders are reminiscent of stained glass windows.
You feel as though you have been catapulted back through time, especially when you enter Arnie’s room. The weights that he had used, such as the globe dumbbells and contraptions resembling instruments of torture chambers, are presented against a backdrop of memorabilia. The sheer mass of newspaper articles and pictures of Arnie are almost overwhelming – I felt like I had set foot onto sacred ground.
(Field diary entry, 20 July 2007).
Despite our tenuous relationship with the most influential male bodybuilders of all time – Arnold Schwarzenegger and Eugene Sandow (dubbed the founding father of modern bodybuilding) – the UK bodybuilding scene remains relatively hidden, and the female bodybuilding subculture remains even more obscure and shrouded in mystery. Carolyn Cheshire claims to be the first UK female professional bodybuilder; however, the origins of female bodybuilding in the UK
haven’t yet been documented. Grogan (2004) estimates that there are only 30
amateur Women’s Physique Bodybuilders who compete during a year in Britain.
Exact statistics are difficult to gather, however, as there are several associations in Britain under which female competitors can compete, including the British Natural Bodybuilding Foundation (BNBF), the Natural Physique Association (NPA),9
the World Amateur Bodybuilding Association (WABBA), the National Amateur Bodybuilding Association (NABBA) and the United Kingdom Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (UKBFF, formally known as the EFBB). For bodybuilders who want to get the ‘pro’ card (professional status) and compete in major competitions such as Mr/Ms. Olympia or the Arnold Classic and to get mainstream magazine coverage and sponsorship, however, the key organisation is the UKBFF – the British version of the IFBB.
Amongst the top 100 female professional bodybuilders in the world, only five are British, with none of them being placed in the top 50 (IFBB RAS rankings 2011). In the IFBB RAS rankings of 2011, Wendy McCready, Sarah Bridges, Emma Sue, Carmen Knights and Gayle Moher (although Gayle currently resides in the USA) are listed; other British female bodybuilders such as Dawn Sutherland,
The history of female bodybuilding 33
Joanna Thomas, Andrulla Blanchette and Karen Marillier were ranked in the top 100 within the preceding five years. Flex, a bodybuilding magazine run by Weider, declares that ‘Britain doesn’t produce many professional female bodybuilders but what it lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality… the guys may make the noise yet it’s the girls who deliver the medals’ (Plummer 2007: 196).
Indeed, the last two Brits to win the most prestigious professional shows were both female – Andrulla Blanchette (Ms. Olympia, 2000) and Joanna Thomas (Jan Tana Pro Classic, 2001). Despite this success, in 2005 the UKBFF body withdrew the ‘pro’ card for female winners at the British finals (they must now compete at the ‘Worlds’ to get their pro status), but retained it for the men’s overall champion.
This means that past overall winners at the British championships in Nottingham, such as Aga Ryk (2007), Michelle Jones (2008), Xyleese Burford (2009), Lisa Cross (2010) and Rene Campbell (2011), must now qualify in European or World competitions to become a professional. According to Sarah Bridges (UKBFF
judge and professional female bodybuilder), the women’s sport has been in decline since its ‘heyday’ in the 1980s. For example, at the Nottingham finals in 2010 there were only eight female bodybuilder competitors, in comparison with almost 200 males. Whilst some participants claim that the small subculture means there is ‘tightness’, unity and support, others claim that the community is ‘bitchy’, fractured, judgemental and secretive. Although it is difficult to judge how cohe-sive the British female bodybuilding subculture is, I would perhaps suggest that there are clusters of female bodybuilding friendships within the subculture which help and support each other at specific times – although these friendship groups may change and are not static.
The poor media coverage of female bodybuilders has not helped the sport to develop. Similar to Bolin’s (2011) findings in the USA (featuring content analysis of 299 covers of Flex magazine), which showed the marginalization of women bodybuilders (less coverage, smaller photos, few front-cover photos, etc.), there has been little media coverage in the UK. Even within the British bodybuilding subculture, there seems to be very little support for female physique contestants.
This is clearly illustrated by a question-and-answer session in a recent issue of an influential bodybuilding magazine – BEEF: British Muscle in Action (2007) – in which Jeannie Ellam (a competitive bodybuilder) writes:
I would like to express my feelings regarding the disappointing lack of exposure for women’s bodybuilding in the BEEF: I would like to know why the only reference to the UKBFF BB championships in the BEEF magazine is to the winner of the men’s category… Doesn’t women’s bodybuilding count?
In response, professional bodybuilder John Hodgson replies:
The sad fact is that it’s a male dominated sport…if a bodybuilding show just had male competitors would it survive? The answer is a resounding YES, but the same could not be said if the roles were reversed. Like it or not the overall trend towards the female bodybuilder has been negative and
34 The history of female bodybuilding
even more in the current times… Some women enter the stage looking too much on the masculine side – it does detract massively from the feminine image. I do feel that more coverage should be given but at the same time I feel women need to focus on getting the balance right of combining femininity and muscle.
( BEEF 2007: 39)
In summary, few British women have recognition either on the stage or in magazine articles. Furthermore, very few are able to gain sponsorships to help support their career and advocate the sport to others.
The decline of female bodybuilding? Fitness, Figure and
Bikini competitions
Ever since its genesis, commentators have claimed that female bodybuilding
‘is dying of a hereditary and untreatable confusion of purposes’ (Gaines and Butler 1983: 69). Questions surrounding the aims of women’s bodybuilding have dominated the sport from its conception to the present day: ‘Are they about the showing-off onstage of healthy, marketable women to no
particular end than that? Or are they about the unhindered development and competition of female muscle?’ (Gaines and Butler 1983: 69).
In addition to dealing with the containment strategies previously discussed, female bodybuilders must now also compete for limited resources (in terms of prize money, pro cards, sponsorships, modelling, endorsement, venue space, media coverage, etc.) with more ‘feminine’ and less transgressive athletic forms of embodiment. Fitness, Figure (‘Body-fitness’) and, very recently, ‘Bikini’ competitors have now been added to ‘the industry mix of power, labor, and capital’
(Bolin 2011: 45).
Scott-Dixon (2006) claims that since the very beginning of female bodybuilding there has been a conflict between those wishing to develop a toned, athletic appearance and competitors who wish to push their bodies to the extreme and develop huge, hard and defined muscles. According to Dobbins (1994), many women felt they had neither the genetics nor the desire to achieve the look of the comparatively muscular Carla Dunlap, who won the Caesars Palace competition in 1983. Therefore, to resolve this difficulty and meet this demand, the Ms.
National Fitness contest was founded in 1984 by the Fitness Trade Association.
Wally Boyko, who launched ‘Fitness’, purports:
I had become pretty disillusioned with the whole hard-core bodybuilding scene, especially women’s bodybuilding. The steroid abuse was becoming rampant and obviously not a healthy approach to life. I knew there was a demand in the fitness industry for role-models – a healthier, more feminine image for women in particular. I created Fitness to fill that void.
(Kennedy 2005: 116)
The history of female bodybuilding 35
Fitness competitions are judged on aesthetics in a similar manner to bodybuilding, but competitors are expected to have a lot less muscle and higher body fat; they are also judged on a dance routine incorporating aerobics and gymnastics (see Bolin 2011). As stated by Oxygen, a monthly American magazine dedicated to Fitness and Figure, in comparison to female bodybuilding competitions: ‘Fitness contests became more main-stream and competitions showcased more sex appeal’
(Kennedy 2005: 116). In 1995 the IFBB picked up on this marketable arena and created Ms. Fitness Olympia. Since then, Fitness has experienced phenomenal growth, creating celebrities and new role models like Monica Brant-Peckham, Susie Currie and Kelly Ryan. As a consequence of these new competitions, it was argued that the sport of female bodybuilding was being undermined. This thought was encapsulated by the New York Times in the following quote: When the history of women’s bodybuilding is written, 1998 will emerge as the year that the weights tipped in favour of the sport’s old nemesis, femininity… Fitness competition, a slenderized version of women’s bodybuilding, has eclipsed some of the bulked-up muscle shows in participation and popularity.
(Roach 1998)
However, the rise of Fitness has itself come under increasing challenge from Figure contests. Famous Fitness competitors such as Monica Brant-Peckham and Jenny Lynn have successfully switched from Fitness to Figure. Figure is arguably a Bikini-type contest, where women display their ‘toned’ physiques in
‘feminine’ poses whilst wearing high heels. To the unknowing eye, these women would still appear quite muscular, but in comparison to Fitness and to female
bodybuilders,10 Figure women have little muscle mass and maintain much higher
body fat (see Figure 3.1 and Figure 3.2 for a comparison between a female body-
builder and a Figure competitor). As a consequence, their bodies are much more marketable, and competitors are far more likely to gain modelling and sponsorship contracts. In 2003, Figure – created by Louis Zwick, the founder of Ms.
Bikini America, Ms. Bikini Universe and Ms. Bikini Canada – became a pro sport (Kennedy 2005). Zwick claims that Figure meets the demands of female athletes who want to compete without having the pressures of choreograph-ing a challenging dance routine. He claims that the judges ‘look for the woman who has that quintessential naturally beautiful look from head to toe’ (Kennedy 2005: 10). Critics, however, claim that Figure shows are ‘almost a throw-back to women’s bodybuilding contests of the seventies’ (Huxtable 2004: 5) and shouldn’t be included as a real event.11 As female-bodybuilding journalist
Hans Klein12 has noted, however, even Figure girls have recently been accused of getting ‘too big’. Judges’ committee chairman Jim Manion sent out a memo to all Figure pros warning them that their delts (shoulders) were becoming too big and they had too much definition in their thighs, and would subsequently be marked down on these ‘defects’ in future competitions. Perhaps as a consequence of these concerns, women’s Bikini competitions were introduced as a new sport discipline
36 The history of female bodybuilding
Figure 3.1 Lynn Grey, female bodybuilder. Courtesy of Rebecca Andrews by the IFBB in November 2010, aimed at women who do not wish to build their muscle to Figure competitors’ standards. Female competitors are expected to display a toned physique with symmetrical upper and lower body development, with no excessive muscularity or conditioning. No specific level of body fat or muscularity is prescribed; rather, it depends on what suits the individual competitor. Due to the infancy of the competitions, interpretation of judging criteria and placing is allegedly inconsistent and confusing. Unsurprisingly, this category has met the
The history of female bodybuilding 37
Figure 3.2 Louise Rogers, Bodyfitness/Figure. Courtesy of Rebecca Andrews greatest reaction from the female bodybuilding community. Lisa Cross, winner of the UKBFF 2010, argues:
I’ve read forum posts by girls getting ready for bikini class contests, and all they talk about is teeth veneers, false nails and hair extensions. That’s a beauty pageant, not a bodybuilding competition. It’s another example of the authorities undermining the hard work done by women who treat bodybuilding as a
38 The history of female bodybuilding
way of life. Everyone knows that we are a dying breed, and this is just another nail in the coffin.
(Shahrad 2010)
However, despite the repeated cry that female bodybuilding is firmly on the route to extinction, due in part to the increase in female Bodyfitness competitors (the British equivalent of Figure), I believe the picture is somewhat more complex. For example, the physiques of some female Bodyfitness competitors resemble in size and definition those of some of the early female bodybuilders in the 1980s. Hence, in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, women are still building their bodies to historically unprecedented levels. This trend is also reflected in the number of females engaged in weight training in wider society. Whilst muscular female celebrities such as Madonna, Holly Walcott and more recently Jodie Marsh are still considered deviant by mainstream society, they do spark public interest and place female bodybuilding back in the spotlight.
Conclusion
This chapter has provided an overview of the neglected history of female bodybuilding. As I stated at the beginning of this chapter, feminists have been particularly concerned with ‘the body’ as a site on which gender ideologies are inscribed. Within this context, female bodybuilding, as arguably the most gender-controversial body modification of all, has received increasing critical inquiry by feminists. Whilst some believe that female bodybuilding has the potential to reclaim the female body from the snares of patriarchy, other feminists are outspokenly cynical regarding this extreme practice. It is to this fiery debate that the next chapter turns – by examining the opposing feminist reactions to this comparatively new phenomenon.
4 Muscle is a feminist issue
Muscles on women clearly have meaning, but exactly what they mean and how they are valued is not agreed upon even amongst feminists.
(St Martin and Gavey 1996: 47)
The controversial nature of female bodybuilding has caused significant rupture on feminist ground. Whilst proponents claim that female bodybuilding is a way of empowering and liberating women, others see it as another
form of corporeal entrapment in the guise of choice and agency (Bordo 1988). This chapter provides a literature review of the small corpus of research to have been conducted on this practice, by briefly examining the two key opposing feminist reactions towards female bodybuilding. It begins with those who herald female bodybuilders as resisting hegemonic norms by creating ‘new styles of the flesh’
(Bartky 1988). I then turn to the counter-argument put forward by feminists who declare that female bodybuilding is simply another form of oppressive control over women.
Feminist reactions: the female bodybuilder as a feminist icon
‘[The] muscular woman is not just a look; it’s a social rebellion’.
(Fierstein 2000: 32)
Space: invading the male domain and transgressing the ‘slender’
feminine body
Cashmore purports that historically, sports have ‘validated masculinity’ and ‘made possible a strong and assertive proclamation of men’s strength, valour and, above all, superiority over women’ (Cashmore 1998: 84). On the reverse side, sports also then offer women ‘the potential for reducing physical power imbalances on which patriarchy is founded and verified’ (Castelnuovo and Gutherie 1998: 13).
Bodybuilding has conventionally been perceived as the ultimate masculine activity, as a celebration of male embodiment and muscle power. However, through struggle, perseverance and determination, female bodybuilders have accessed this
40 Muscle is a feminist issue
‘ovary-free’ male domain (Klein 1985; Mansfield and McGinn 1993; St Martin and Gavey 1996). Advocates claim that by doing this, female bodybuilders have penetrated this homosocial area and challenged and undermined divisions and traditional understandings of men’s/women’s space (Hanson and Pratt 1995; Blunt and Rose 1994; Massey 1994).