[silentcrs]

Forgive me on this one since I'm about a year late, but I don't get into baseball much (and avoid the NY dailies even more).  To sum up the situation for others not into baseball: Alex Rodriguez (who has the richest contract in baseball history) got into a spat with his now ex-wife about a year ago.  The two separated in July of this year.  What was the spat about?  Among other things, A-Rod seeing other women.  So far seems like your typical celebrity breakup.

However, there's more going on for amazon fans.  Turns out A-Rod liked muscular women.  Among rumors that he had a thing for Madonna, he apparently liked strippers with a muscular build.  Considering this was a celebrity breakup, things got nasty.  He was accused of looking for the "she-male muscular type".  Blogs went crazy and started posting stuff like this (don't go unless you can take a "joke" about what we like): http://sportswrap.berecruited.com/2007/05/31/stripper-alex-rodriguez-likes-the-she-male-muscular-type/

So I decided to take a look at what A-Rod liked.  Surely, he must be going after some really manly female bodybuilders to get this kind of a reaction.

First, his ex-wife.  Beautiful abs, noticeable biceps:

http://lh5.ggpht.com/fisherwy/Rzx8meQj8oI/AAAAAAAALB0/KW-2fip_ZXs/cynthia+rodriguez+wife+of+Alex+Rodriguez+or+arod%5B2%5D.jpg

A girl he apparently liked, Joslyn Morse.  A stripper with a fit body and noticable biceps:

http://www.celebritysleuth.com/photos/joslyn_noel_morse_006.jpg

Not my type in particular, but this is considered "she-male"?  Another look:

http://cache.fleshbot.com/assets/resources/2007/06/2007_06_04_joslynmorse.jpg

Not to mention, these stories usually run with stock photos of other strippers A-Rod presumably would like.  This is a "she-male"?

http://www.gambling911.com/Scores-Stripper.jpg

So A-Rod is apparently a closet schmoo.  At least at a very minor level.  That's not what the problem is.  The problem is apparently, in this day and age, it's still unacceptable to like this kind of girl if you're a straight heterosexual male.  Even if you're an athlete.  Even if you're a celebrity.  Even if you have gobs of money.  Like muscular women?  You're weird.

I'm a fairly young guy, and I've always read from older people in this community that things are "different" nowadays and women's fitness is more accepted (and appreciated).  Looking over blog posts and news articles from the last year about A-Rod, and how 9 out of 10 like to dig into his interest in "man-like" women, I can't help but feel out of place myself.  If A-Rod is considered weird for liking a toned body, what are we?

[Lingster]

If A-Rod is considered weird for liking a toned body, what are we?

…Not spending enough time in strip clubs, apparently.

[Grandmaster]

If A-Rod is considered weird for liking a toned body, what are we?

Weird.

[TheMKFB]

I'm still only young too Silentcrs, well 25, and I think that's pretty young.
But it must have been 7 or 8 years ago that I read in flex that Jean Claude van Damme also has a thing for muscular women. They even had a candid photo of him and his then girlfriend flexing togther and she had some guns. If memory serves me right, she was in the fitness industry.

[DevonCory]

Yes, Gladys Portugues. A beautiful woman and a fairly successful pro bodybuilder during the 80's. Twice in the top 10 at the Olympia.

[trilliwig]

Weird.

Refreshingly unusual, is the way I would put it.  ;D

[cpbell0033944]

When I first joined this madhouse called Amaz0ns (winter '06), I doubted my love of muscular women.  I tried to "cure" myself, cancelled my membership, rejoined, deliberated and agonised.  It's only natural.  Now?  I laugh at stuff like that article about A-Rod.  Yes, there are hideous steroid victims around.  Are they representative of the whole of female bodybuilding?  No.  Not even at the Ms Olympia.  And is the Ms O representative of FBBing on a wider basis?  Again, no.  It's a spectrum.  At one end you have the Jodi Millers, Johanna Dejagers and Gina Farnsworths.  At the other, you have Nicole Bass.  The point is that there's room within the FBBing world, even excluding Figure and Fitness and European Bodyfitness, for all tastes. 

That article was an extreme reaction.  It was written because the writer is trying to be snarky and "clever".  He/she is playing on the fact that the wider population has a distrust about muscular women.  This distrust or unease usually manifests itself in one or more of the following gut reactions:

1.  Ewww.
2.  It's a man.
3.  It's a steroid abuser.
4.  She's a lesbian.
5.  Don't tell a soul, but I'm actually turned-on.  I'm ashamed of this reaction, so I'll pretend that I think one of 1-4.

We are in a sixth group.

6.  Mmmmm!  She's hot!

Needless to sy, the writer of that article is pandering to groups 1-4 whilst not alienating group 5.  Group 6?  Well, we're weird.  But are we?

If you go back, say 15 years, there were more of us.  There was the original American Gladiators (or just plain Gladiators for Brits like me).  There was Cory Everson as Atalanta, Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, Sigourney Weaver as Ripley and Jeanette Goldstein as Vasquez, FBBing was shown on TV, and being buff was cool.  Then, something bad happened.  Trends shifted towards the girlie, doll-like appearance, and Ms Olympia became a minority affair due to the appearance ofthe competitors.  Where are we now?  We're just starting to pull-out of a massive trough we've been in for years.  There is slightly increased coverage for buff women now, but there's still plenty enough public inertia to provide these gossip writers with comedic potential.

In short, though it seems like a cliche; we are not weird.  We are DIFFERENT.

[fasola]

When I first joined this madhouse called Amaz0ns (winter '06), I doubted my love of muscular women.  I tried to "cure" myself, cancelled my membership, rejoined, deliberated and agonised.  It's only natural.  Now?  I laugh at stuff like that article about A-Rod.  Yes, there are hideous steroid victims around.  Are they representative of the whole of female bodybuilding?  No.  Not even at the Ms Olympia.  And is the Ms O representative of FBBing on a wider basis?  Again, no.  It's a spectrum.  At one end you have the Jodi Millers, Johanna Dejagers and Gina Farnsworths.  At the other, you have Nicole Bass.  The point is that there's room within the FBBing world, even excluding Figure and Fitness and European Bodyfitness, for all tastes. 

That article was an extreme reaction.  It was written because the writer is trying to be snarky and "clever".  He/she is playing on the fact that the wider population has a distrust about muscular women.  This distrust or unease usually manifests itself in one or more of the following gut reactions:

1.  Ewww.
2.  It's a man.
3.  It's a steroid abuser.
4.  She's a lesbian.
5.  Don't tell a soul, but I'm actually turned-on.  I'm ashamed of this reaction, so I'll pretend that I think one of 1-4.

We are in a sixth group.

6.  Mmmmm!  She's hot!

Needless to sy, the writer of that article is pandering to groups 1-4 whilst not alienating group 5.  Group 6?  Well, we're weird.  But are we?

If you go back, say 15 years, there were more of us.  There was the original American Gladiators (or just plain Gladiators for Brits like me).  There was Cory Everson as Atalanta, Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, Sigourney Weaver as Ripley and Jeanette Goldstein as Vasquez, FBBing was shown on TV, and being buff was cool.  Then, something bad happened.  Trends shifted towards the girlie, doll-like appearance, and Ms Olympia became a minority affair due to the appearance ofthe competitors.  Where are we now?  We're just starting to pull-out of a massive trough we've been in for years.  There is slightly increased coverage for buff women now, but there's still plenty enough public inertia to provide these gossip writers with comedic potential.

In short, though it seems like a cliche; we are not weird.  We are DIFFERENT.

You sir, shure know your way with words.

And we might be different, or not exactly what mainstream media tells us to do or like. But one thing is shure, we are way more centered and open to new or different things than most of the guys and gals at most of those blogs/boards. I mean, it is the way of human nature, if we look at it in a wider view. The same thing happend when european conquerors came to america ( and I mean all of AMERICA) the complettley trashed the native cultre because it was different from theirs. But never actually took a second to analize or event try to understand what they were seeing.

It is easier to cover your ears and close your eyes and trash what might be against your beliefs than take the time to analize it, see if there is a posibility to actually accept it or embrace it, or if still you can't live that way, just let those who live it , live. We don't go to every board around and trash the slender, frail, almost sickennig image of women because it is not of our liking, we let them live their own lifes nad get bussy with ours.

Just my thoughts.

[cpbell0033944]

You sir, shure know your way with words.

Thanks for the compliment. 😉

And we might be different, or not exactly what mainstream media tells us to do or like. But one thing is shure, we are way more centered and open to new or different things than most of the guys and gals at most of those blogs/boards. I mean, it is the way of human nature, if we look at it in a wider view. The same thing happend when european conquerors came to america ( and I mean all of AMERICA) the complettley trashed the native cultre because it was different from theirs. But never actually took a second to analize or event try to understand what they were seeing.

It is easier to cover your ears and close your eyes and trash what might be against your beliefs than take the time to analize it, see if there is a posibility to actually accept it or embrace it, or if still you can't live that way, just let those who live it , live. We don't go to every board around and trash the slender, frail, almost sickennig image of women because it is not of our liking, we let them live their own lifes nad get bussy with ours.

Just my thoughts.

Exactly.  We've all done it in our lives.  Look, if someone says "Look at this woman – she has large muscles which I find ugly."  Then I'd have no beef with them at all.  It's when they respond to it with nastiness or slander that it's unacceptable.  Much of it is from fear; fear of women (misoygny is not so much hatred of women as it is fear) and fear of what might happen to some men if women become more physically powerful.  So many men are threatened by women, and, as glass ceilings have been shattered, many ofthese men have used physical strength as their last refuge from reality "At least there are jobs I can do that no feale can, because I am strong and they are weak" is their mindset.  So, when they see even a small, fit physique like Morse, they hate it because they fear the consequences.

[Author]

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