[Philip J Sherman]

Absolutely stunning! She reminds me a lot of Sharon Madderson

[Philip J Sherman]

I apologize, wasn’t trying to break fourm rules. I went ahead and took down the site.

[Philip J Sherman]

Aleesha Young’s response to being told by Women’s Bodybuilding that she’s too big:

http://www.rxmuscle.com/video/live-with/13917-aleesha-young-furious-after-omaha-pro-controversy-live-with.html

[Philip J Sherman]

What about a real life wonder woman?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-1K1zZcYN0

[Philip J Sherman]

Super sweet girl, not afraid of the iron, awesome. Reminds me a little of Britt Miller

[Philip J Sherman]

[Philip J Sherman]

@BodyByBane article was a little dated, was referencing moreso for it’s good explanations, not so much currency. Loved the links, crossing fingers for Olympia 2017

@cactusjoe Must admit NABBA girls are pretty sexy

@Uzi4You hoping so, will definitely keep an eye out for up-and-comers

[Philip J Sherman]

Women athletes are leaving the world of female bodybuilding and my heart is still in mourning.

For those of you who may not know (and who doesn’t know by now?) Shannon Courtney–a, it pains me to say, *former* female bodybuilder–officially left the sport back in mid-to-late 2015–and after having waited 2 years for a retraction it looks like unfortunately she won’t be back.

If you look at her instagram shacourtneyx (https://www.instagram.com/shacourtneyx/?hl=en) you can see she’s now only a shell of her former self since going cold turkey on the necessary training. In an August 2016 post she wrote “Weight 142.5 from 170lbs last June, when I stopped competing in bodybuilding. Feeling so good to get my ‘athletic’ body back.”

What a bummer for all of us who were rooting for her as a rising talent on-stage. She apparently quit in favor of her old distance running hobby, subsequently competing in a lot of fun runs, changing her training and burning off most of her glorious, hard-fought-for size.

The worst part is: she isn’t alone. A lot of big-name girls are quitting on us, losing their beautiful size, and moving on to other ventures. You can see from her instagram that Dayana Cadeau, a long-time Olympia mainstay, (https://www.instagram.com/ifbbprodayanacadeau/?hl=en) stopped her training, apparently for health issues, and is practically a twig now. That’s a little unfair. She does admittedly look good and is obviously working her new, slimmer body. It’s our same Dayana and always will be, but to me an incredibly less sexy, less abled version.

Kristie Hawkins (https://www.instagram.com/kristy_hawkins/?hl=en) is another one, if you haven’t seen. She’s no longer bodybuilding. But don’t worry, she hasn’t lost her size. She’s power-lifting now so she’s managed to stay bulky. And interestingly at the time of this writing her profile picture is still her competing on-stage which shows that her heart is still in bodybuilding.

So why the change?

Some argue that these girls can’t keep the training up forever, that the sport, like football or basketball or any other professional sport, has a time limit and is never meant to be sustained forever. But if these girls are retiring, they’re retiring incredibly young with many more years ahead of them in the sport to improve and grow and that’s hinting at something a bit more sinister.

One reason I now believe our girls are shrinking (the whole coming-to-terms thing) is the changing times. In 2015 the IFBB officially announced that they cancelled Ms. Olympia. I’ll link an article here if you haven’t heard -> https://www.t-nation.com/powerful-words/death-of-womens-bodybuilding

The article explains how the sport has been losing popularity as the women have been getting larger (I know, crazy right?). Because of multiple factors, not the least of which being the rampant illegal steroid use and women funding their training through religious-taboo sexual fetish pay sites. Women’s bodybuilding has developed a negative stigma and that has ruined it’s reputation with the general public.

It should be noted here that there are trends these days for women to hit the gym more. The feminist movement/”Girls can do anything guys can do” is one. And internet memes i pop culture like “She Squats” and “Strong is the new Sexy” are helping girls see the value of integrating exercise and weight training into their lives. But that just feels like apples and oranges.

Let me explain: the type of training that these movements tote are to give girls that lean, toned look (think Jillian Michaels or… say… the new Dayana Cadeau) which… isn’t a bad thing but to me that’s just not enough. Ms. Olympia in all it’s admittedly imperfect glory still stood as an attainable standard of strength for girls. While the average girl may not be able to relate to the “manliness” of it she would jump at the chance to relate to the “girl power” aspect of it.

I saw the growing size of the Ms. Olympia’s contestants as a normal expression of human nature in that in every aspect of human life we seek to progress and push the boundaries of what’s possible, whether its going to the moon or having a complete computer the size of a phone in the palm of your hand. The loss of Ms. Olympia and what it was created to mean feels like a step backwards for us all.

The worrying question remains: because of this lack of incentive and goal, will good women who would otherwise compete and serve to push the sport forward now refuse to have 20″ biceps? Will the Natalya Kovalyovas go the way of the dinosaurs? Is this a societal message that women are and should be the weaker sex? Or will there be a push once again?

I would love a time machine so I can see the answers. In many ways the loss of Ms. Olympia is another move in the answer to that age-old question: Who is better/stronger/faster, etc.: men or women…? Why should the bar be set lower for women? I’ll leave you with that conflict expressed on the theatrical stage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO23WBji_Z0

[Philip J Sherman]

Phoenix, as you write the site, I urge you not to take UnnDunn’s wisdom lightly. Me being in the IT industry, seeing the systems, and the zero days, I join with him in warning you that security through obscurity virtually always ends up the way he describes. In the early days that tactic was powerful; today in the 21st Century, professionals know it leaves your site and its users unintentionally exposed. Trust me when I say that security in the Information Age has become too complex for teams of one to fight against alone and win.

And that’s unfortunate because this is an important thing. Brawna is an important thing. The platform is a unique community that lets us all discover content that we can’t find just anywhere else. We hope you’ll understand that its not just important to you–it’s important to all of us. And those of us who can lend a hand want to plug into it just like we’ve always done.

You may not know, but I’ve been a part of, reading, rating, and actively writing and creating content for the original Brawna website for upwards of ten years under the same pen-name: P.E. Sherman. Some of my stories, such as “Theresa’s Muscles”, were even some of the highest rated on the site I’m proud to say. But since Brawna has gone dark we’ve all lost an open platform on which to find stories that we enjoy and to share stories that others would enjoy. Many original Brawna members feel the same way.

As someone who enjoys coding, I’m really glad that this idea and Brawna led you to an interest in the art. It’s important to know I’ve also been thinking seriously about reviving the Brawna platform. Finding you begged the question: why don’t we all contribute together and build on each others’ talents? One of the things that made Brawna so great was its spirit as an open site created by the contributions of many people. That same spirit should rightly extend to its source code.

[Philip J Sherman]

Are you accepting any help on coding the site for those who have coding experience?

[Author]

Posts