[AlexG]

Came across this thread on the Unrealmuscle forum.  Yes, its been discussed before in the past, but I thought I'd pass on the URL in case anyone was especially interested in reading what Autumn had to say on the subject.

Is Professional female bodybuilding fading away?

“I like a good story well told. That is the reason I am sometimes forced to tell them myself.”
~ Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens (1907)

[00tree]

Wow that thread really makes you think …

[baditude41]

     I have to go with my instincts on this…I agree with fbbcrazy, and believe Autumn is secretly disgruntled/frustrated with fbb in general.  I don't believe the sport is dying…at least completely.  And to be perfectly honest, it isn't about the steroid use.  It really is based on a "double standard" of gender.  For instance, Male Bodybuilders are widely received as an acceptable image…you rarely ever hear anyone making statements of:  "Oh, he's way to big…or too muscular".  But if a female bodybuilder decides to persue being big or really muscular…EVEN without drugs/steroid use, she's usually shunned or discouraged to give up.  I feel in society, we're taught to accept those images:  Men = Strength and Muscle, Women = Weakness and Frailty.
     I also believe, Autumn has a point about the prizes and the judging.  The prize money may not be the best, and (truthfully) I don't believe the judges know what their looking for.  I think the best judges for those contests, are either experienced or retired competitive female bodybuilders who are still active in bodybuilding. 
     Lastly, I have to say this…disappointing things happen…but you don't have to let them stop you…unless YOU choose to let them stop you.  Where I live, many African-Americans (like myself), either have been shot, or are shooting.  Many "promote" the thug life/ghetto living, or basically support some negative kind of behavior.  Does that mean I have to act like this?  Do I have to fall in a "commonly perceived" stereotype?  The answer is NO. 
     So if I have the ability and the will to break the stereotype…why succumb to it?  Same in fbb…why succumb to it, when you can rise above it?
     Just wondering…sorry for the length, BTW…but I had to get that out.
   

[alex]

I don't know much about the business. I can only MY personal impression on FBB nowadays, and my opinion is STEROIDS is pretty much ruining female bodybuilding. 

If you look at the 80's and early 90's women,  and today's competitors, you not only see a difference in muscle size, but also a big difference in the femininity department. It is MY OPINION, that female bodybuilder standards have surpassed the normal human female capacity to gain muscle, forcing todays women to an unhealthy and prolonged usage of anabolic steroids, giving them an eventual masculine and even freakish look. 

As much as I would love it to be possible for women to grow 20" biceps and 30" guads without losing their feminine aspects and beauty, it is just not possible with todays science. And if I, an avid female muscle lover, can't stomach the clear mutilation that some of these women have wrecked upon their bodies, can you imagine what the "normal" public feels like?

I can understand how some of the women today could look upon Cory Everson or some of the other older bodybuilders as a role-model.  But can you think teenagers nowadays would look at todays top contenders, with horrible hair and skin, masculine faces and in some case even with male pattern baldness…and still see them as a role-model?

[Holiday]

I can't remember who said this. But one guest at Hardbody Radio said they should award more pro cards and increase the prize money to encourage more activity.

[cpbell0033944]

I haven't set-up a membership there yet, so I haven't seen the thread.  However, I do understand and agree with those who claim that FBBing COULD die.  There have been, IMO, some women of recent years who, whilst as BBs may be legendary and talented at obtaining a competition-ready, shredded physique, require a double take as, at first glance, they do look worryingly masculine.  Those who followed my thread in which I rather melodramatically questioned my liking of muscular women will know that, whilst I respect their hard work, I find myself being turned-off by them.  As alex says, if I find them excessively masculine, what will the average person think of them?

Now, we all know that there are a whole crop of FBBs, both mature (Gina Davis etc.) and youthful (Cindy etc.) who are not roid monsters and who, if presented well in mainstream media outlets, could swing some people over to our side, and thus help save FBBing.  However, I fear that those who judge and those who run events are so enamoured with the very niche "size is everything and questions of femininity or femaleness are irrelevant" philosophy will never award the Ms O to a Cindy P, Britt Miller, or even Gina Davis because they are not part of the inner circle of favoured competitors.  I have other niche interests, and fully agree that striving for popularity at the expense of the hobby or interest, whatever it may be, is not wise.  However, neither is making it so specialist and so cliquey that, sooner or later, it dies because only a handful of people are interested in it.  Until the steroids are got under control in BOTH MBBing and FBBing, I feel that BBing will struggle.  Many people do not find the look of the current generation of men attractive either, which is bad for the 'sport', as it means that fewer young guys will see it as being obtainable for them.  For the women, it must be even worse – how many women actually want to look like someone in the middle of gender realignment for years on end, even if they do have an interest in becoming muscular and fit.

[L]

you all make very valid points, I am no expert at the business side of fbb but I do know that the sponsorship and prize money for men is much greater when compared to the females and this is a serious problem and it really should be fixed quickly if fbb is going to survive and prosper in the future. I respect Cindy and Autumn's honesty and they do have a gripe. The rules of what the judges look for in a contest are constantly changing. There needs to be some stability and consistency in the judging process. Decide what you want out of the female competitor and stick with it. I don't see anything wrong with fbbs working in the adult industry to support themselves, bills get expensive and I support them 100% they should feel no shame about what they do (plus I enjoy the porn 😉 BUT once again I reiterate that sponsorship and prize money for these lovely ladies must increase quickly. They do deserve alot more money for all the time and effort that goes into training and diet to make that body a shrine of a shredded queen. As far as steroid use is concerned,I have no objections to them but I would not mind seeing them gone for good from the sport because that is a MAIN reason why bodybuilding in general will never be a mainstream sport. I will admit I do have a little problem with many of these supplement companies (who by the way own alot of the muscle mags) using juiced pros to promote a product that claims to give them massive gains knowing DAMN well that the athlete promoting the product got that massive physique by way of GEAR use. That to me is just wrong, false and deceitful advertisement. IMHO more honesty is due, I know that one can't admit to steroid use in the U.S. because it is illegal but steroids are legal in other parts of the world and bbs should be honest about it whenever possible like Autumn is (I respect that Autumn, keep it honest, you go girl 😉 ahh well I'm done ranting, bottom line is MORE HONESTY FROM THE RUNNERS OF THE SPORT AND MORE PRIZE MONEY AND SPONSORSHIP MONEY FOR THESE SHREDDED HOTTIES 😉

[fm07]

I haven't looked at the link posted yet, but I'm going to reiterate some of the points made already.

* Female bodybuilding and steroid use is bad. Double standards? Sure. But I think females turning losing their gender (voice, strange chins and other health effects) is not appealing to most people. Yes, men use steroids, but you don't see them turning into women. They just become bigger. I think its the fact that these women end up start to look and sound like men which makes this difficult for most people to accept. And, by "look like men", I don't mean muscle mass.
* The barrier for entry is becoming increasing more prohibitive. If you young woman decides "I want to become a FBB and be the best out there" then she has to make some -serious- sacrifices. (see note above).
* Inconsistency among judges. I keep hearing about the varying scales of where judging is in FBB. One year being huge is the "in thing" and the next year its out.  This ends up just creating a whole lot of guessing and in the end huge disappointments for someone who would have otherwise won a competition but just didn't have the cards land in her favor that year.

Please do note, I don't want to imply that all FBB are on steroids, I really don't know. Over the years, I've found myself actually taking more of an interest in figure/fitness since it just appears to have a more health natural feel to it. I really hope that FBB takes a turn for the better since women will muscle are beautiful. But I wouldn't be here if I didn't think so!

[Holiday]

Do you guys think it wouldn't get a negative rep if the 'natural' FBB's were promoted more? Most will look smaller or look like figure competitors. But at least no one can throw the steroid jabs at them.

[fasola]

well, everybody has valid points, but I think that what's dying is not the sport, but what is considered the "mainstream" of the sport. By this I'm reffering to the IFBB/Weider view of the sport. In Europe for example there are 2 other associations, and I haven't heard of anything wrong from there (but Fbbers are also underpaid). The problem comes, I think, that the sport is technically centered in the US, or at least that is what the people think. Again I don't know too much about europe and the NABBA and WABBA associations.
Other thing, is that in the case of women, the idea of judgement is based on something very vague and subjective as femeninity. I'm sure that all of us have a different concept of femeninity, besides what we were thought since we are born. There isn't something that says what is femenine. It not only lays on the physical appearence but how you act and how you move in the world and in the society, so saying that a woman is not femenine becasue she has a more pronounced chin than the average woman, I think is just wrong.
About the "natural" look, I think that that is also subjective, because you take for example Joanna Dejhaer (I'm sure I misspelled her last name) and she claims to be complettely natural (and I believe her) and she has a very bulky buff body, that matches the supposed juiced women in her class. And also, if you compare Joanna with a fitness/figure competitor she is huge.
Finnaly, the only thing that might disappear, si the Show or the media bliss of FBBing, because if a woman wants to go to a gym and pump iron like crazy, she will still be able to do so, the only that won't be there is the circus that surrounds every sport in the hole world.

Fasola

[Author]

Posts