Many don’t fully recognize that all these categories really just represent variations of the same basic activity. I have written elsewhere that the gradual development of the size and muscularity of women bodybuilders in the 1980s and 1990s eventually evolved into fitness and figure - and subsequently physique and bikini. But she was too big for most of the judges, who had never seen a woman that developed. However, lacking big muscles, as most of the women at the time did, many of them were nonetheless disparaged and criticized as threats to the culture and to our “cherished ideals of womanhood.” This made competing in bodybuilding for many women all the more difficult and resulted in a lot of very short competition careers.įor example, the late Kay Baxter probably looked more like a modern bodybuilder than almost anyone else from back then. Rather than being about muscle building per se, these were more competitions about diet and definition.
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Olympia was called the “Miss Olympia” at the time.Įven the biggest and most muscular of those very early women bodybuilders would not seem to be that muscular by later standards. The fact that many still looked at bodybuilding for women back then as beauty pageant is clear when you note that the first Ms. Olympia in 1980 did not wear high heels and they did flex and hit bodybuilding poses. Before that, women wore high heels and were not allowed to hit muscle poses. They’ve put in countless hours transforming their bodies in the gym. Maybe now they can get the respect they deserve.īoth the National Physique Committee and the International Federation of Bodybuilders began officially recognized female bodybuilding competitions in 1980. They have created a “sisterhood of muscle” formed by overcoming the same obstacles and stigma that’s associated with being a muscular woman. But what is most recognizable is the bond that’s created between the female bodybuilding competitors. It was the beginning of women’s muscle competitions.įrom humble beginnings at a local YMCA in Dayton, OH to the big stage of the Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, female bodybuilding competition has made great strides to becoming a well-respected and recognized athletic event. It was 1977, and the idea of women developing their muscles for primarily aesthetic purposes had just been created.
#FEMALE BODYBUILDING BOOKS MOVIE#
Arnold Schwarzenegger was still competing in bodybuilding and starting to establish a movie career.Īnd something new was being introduced to the culture: a few contests were being held that featured beautiful women in bikinis and high heels who had exercised and dieted to create physiques with muscularity and definition.
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Fax machines were the exciting innovation. The Internet was just for academia and the government.