Strong Women in History: Josephine Blatt

Josephine "Minerva" Blatt

Josephine Schauer was born in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1869. At 20 years old she married Paul Blatt, a local strongman known as “Hoboken Hercules”. They began doing joint strength acts where she took the name “Minerva”.

During the 1890’s, Minerva worked in diverse weightlifting spectacles and toured all over Europe and the United States with various circuses. She demonstrated such stunts as breaking horseshoes with her hands; breaking steel chains by expanding her chest; catching 24 lb cannon balls fired from a cannon 30 feet away; lifting a chair with a 60 kg man and raising him in front of her with the extended arms. She was capable of lifting a 165 kg stone with a single finger.

On April 15, 1895 at the Bijou Theatre in Hoboken, Minerva stood on a high platform and harnessed herself to another platform below with 23 men on it. It had a total weight of 3,564 lbs (including harness and chains) and she lifted all of them off the floor. She was listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as having lifted the greatest weight ever by a woman, but the source is in dispute.

She also received national attention following her 1893 victory in a weightlifting contest over another professional strongwoman, “Victorine”. She accepted the championship belt which recognized her as the “World’s Strongest Woman.”

Josephine Blatt retired from performance in 1910 and invested in New Jersey real estate. She died on September 1, 1923 in Hoboken.

Edited from: Iron Ladies at the edge of XIX and XX centuries & Wikipedia

Sample426CA0712

Rachel McLish showed the world that muscles on women were sexy.  While never the biggest, here's a pump-up worthy of the the first Ms. Olympia.

An Area Orion female muscle morph.

Sample425CA0712

Cool off with fitness model Lea Damante.

An Area Orion female muscle and breast expansion based on a photo from AMaginations.

Superia

Here's a look at a couple cover & logo designs I did for a potential Megan Avalon comic book called "Superia". My friend Philip contacted Megan about doing the series and asked if I would be interested too. Although I can't commit to an ongoing title, I wanted to lend a hand and create a few covers.

While these variants are not morphed, the cover chosen by Megan is. Maybe we'll get to see it down the road...

Artist Spotlight on Jebriodo

There are many amazing artists that love and depict strong, muscular women in their art. One of the finest is Jebriodo (Jed Dougherty). His works primarily depicts female strength and power, as expressed through physical mass and energy. There is a fantastic, surreal and often humorous element to many of his paintings.

His imagery is inspired by a number of sources, from the physical exaggerations of ancient goddess images, burlesque figurative paintings, female comic-book physiques and female bodybuilders. Jed's artwork has been shown in several galleries and has won numerous awards. Check out more of his work at jebriodo.deviantart.com and jedsart.com. He is available for commissions.

Double Bystander

Look Ma, No Hands! Here’s a female muscle morph done the old fashioned way - with a little camera trickery and no Photoshop. Sure you can see meathead in the background, but I certainly had to do a double-take on the cute redhead with massive guns.

Sample424CA0712

Leg Day. Sometimes I like to focus on a specific body part and Barbara Fletcher's legs are pretty amazing. Not sure if those heels will hold after the AO labs get through.

An Area Orion female muscle morph based on a photo from HDPhysiques.

Sample423CA0712

I Love Lucy.

An Area Orion breast expansion morph.

Nibbles

Little nuggets of news from the Female Muscle world.

Kris Murrell Stars in Grown Ups 2
Champion female bodybuilder Kris Murrell is currently filming “Grown Ups 2” in Massachusetts with Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Maya Rudolph and Salma Hayek. Didn’t think it needed a sequel, but with Kris in it I may just go see it.

Woman who beat brain tumor becomes fitness model 
A valley woman who beat a brain tumor trained for months for a body building competition. 40-year-old Betty Vasquez went through quite a battle through to get here. From brain tumor to bodybuilder, an Avondale woman is sharing her story -- how she found out she had the tumor, how she got rid of it, and what she's doing now.

64-Year-Old Grandma Wins Bikini Contest, Redefines 'MILF' 
Score one for Los Angeles -- a local grandma beat a bunch of women half her age in a bikini contest in Atlanta, Georgia earlier this month. Ruby Carter-Pikes, 64, won second place in the FitSciences Championships on June 2. The contest is part fitness, part bodybuilding .

Fort Smith Homicide Detective Trains As Body Builder 
For Tammy DeMier, determination has brought her success as both a detective with the Fort Smith Police Department and as a record-setting power lifter. A Texas native, DeMier fulfilled her goal — to become a homicide detective — in Fort Smith.

UAE weightlifter Khadija Mohammed blazes a trail for Gulf women 
Najwan El Zawawi didn't have the Olympics in mind when she arrived to set up a weightlifting program in the United Arab Emirates four years ago. Many Emiratis in this conservative Muslim country confuse the sport with body building, and some fear that allowing their girls to participate would lead to injuries or a masculine physique which could, in turn, erode marriage prospects.

Inspiration on Wheels

Cindi Johnson of Rockford, Illinois recently won the 2012 NPC USA Wheelchair Championships in Louisiana. Cindi suffers from Malignant MS, a rare form of multiple sclerosis, which started to take her right leg. In 2009, she suffered a seizure so severe that it severed her sciatic nerve and lost the use of her left leg.

Unable to walk, in pain and overweight at 225 lbs, Cindi decided to do some gym therapy. She says, “Once i did get in that gym, I would feel normal for once. The guys in the gym would make me forget that this existed for me. I didn’t feel like I was in a wheelchair, I forgot about the pain. I was happy once again.” She trained hard for a year and competed in her first show at 110 lbs.

Cindi’s inspiration to workout comes from others with MS and she hopes to inspire “I want to show people, ‘See – you can get out there and do this yourself.’ I want them to know there is a life outside.”

Competitive bodybuilding helps Cyndi cope with being confined to a wheelchair. “I felt like not only could i fly, but like I could actually get up and walk. In my night show I took a chance and stood up to do my ab shot, kind of for my MS friends – just to to kind of say ‘MS can kiss my ass’.”

Kristi Bruce Spotlight

I was born in a very small town in Kentucky in the late 70’s and raised by my father from a very young age. My father was adamant about me becoming a strong independent woman. Academics were pushed to a high level and weakness was not an option.

Athletics were never of any interest to me. I was the bookworm, but my inactivity at a young age and horrible diet of “country cooking” soon led to me being a bit of a chub around puberty. My senior year in college, one of my friends asked me to go to the gym with her. We did cardio, which I hated, and then we went to lift weights. I was hooked from the first day. I couldn’t believe how strong I was and how it made me feel. I read everything about working out, got my first gym membership, and was in the gym 5 days a week. Before I knew it I was way stronger than all the girls I trained with and started lifting with the local male bodybuilders.

After lifting for power for many years, the guys helped me prep for my first show in 2005. I competed again the next year and made some good changes, but still had trouble dialing in. After my show in 2006, I vowed that I would give it my all, do it myself, and bring in a better package for the next show. With almost no money, I returned to the stage in 2009. I couldn’t believe that I was able to get 1st at both shows. I still have some weak points, but I will give it everything I have for my return to the stage in 2012...

Kristi recently won the 2012 NPC Southern States and will be competing at the NPC USA’s. Show your support by cheering her on at kristibruceonline.com, Facebook & Twitter or donating to her 2012 contest preparations. 

Contest History:
2005 NPC Kentucky State Championships: 3rd place middleweight
2006 NPC Big Dust Classic: 1st place middleweight and overall champion
2006 NPC ELITE Championships: 2nd place light heavyweight
2009 NPC GNC Classic: 1st middleweight and overall champion
2009 NPC Junior National Championships: 1st light heavyweight
2010 NPC National Championships: 10th light heavyweight
2011 NPC Coastal USA: 1st light heavyweight
2011 IFBB North American Championships: 7th light heavyweight
2011 USPA Dirty South Powerlifting: Bench Press Champion - 225.6 lbs
2012 NPC Southern States: Women's Bodybuilding Overall winner

Sample422CA0712

Woman Power.

Figure competitor Stefanie Richard gets an upper body overdose. An Area Orion female muscle and breast expansion morph based on a photo by P&P Image Factory.

Bizarre Bodybuilder World

This digitally altered photo series titled Bodybuilder's World by Belgian photographer Kurt Stallaert takes a look at a rarely imagined world filled with people, young and old, who have clearly spent every waking moment pumping iron. While it may seem strange for every single person to be so ripped, it's definitely the fully developed and extremely fit figures attached to wholesome children that warrants a double-take.

I have to admit that it took a second to acknowledge that something was amiss in these photographs. It wasn't a very long second, but upon realizing what I was looking at, it seemed hard for me to ever see past these children whose sweet, innocent faces sit atop unusually muscular bodies. The brawny batch of kids would certainly have a hard time going unnoticed in our world, but it seems to be the norm in their alternate universe where little girls exhibit the physical strength to bench press double their body weight, easily. I suppose this is one extreme alternative to childhood obesity.

By Pinar | My Modern Met

Sample421CA0712

Tight Squeeze? Debi Laszewski gets a leg-up after a trip through the enhancement labs. An Area Orion female muscle morph based on a photo by Annie Rivieccio for Muscle Angels.

Results May Vary

Here's a behind the scenes look and interview with powerlifter Jessica Scofield, star of the new female muscle growth mini-movie 'Results May Vary'. An innocent girl is transformed into an awesome, destruction superwoman! The video features muscle growth and destructive rage (smashing doors, tables, walls and ripping a cardoor from its hinges.)

See the full video at ftvideo com.

RhondaLee Says...

What do Female Bodybuilders & Fitness Models think of their Area Orion morphs? Here's what RhondaLee Quaresma said.

"Thank u so much! This art is amazing... looking at me so morphed makes me giggle...love it! Makes me train harder... teehee!" - RhondaLee

I'm truly happy that my art could inspire someone to train harder. Thanks RhondaLee

Savannah Rose Transformation

Here’s the incredible visual journey of Savannah Rose Neveux. It’s amazing how much a body can change in such a short time.

“EXACTLY 1 YEAR AND 4 MONTHS AGO - I made the decision to change my lifestyle. I threw out my alcohol and my junk food, I joined a gym and I got rid of the negativity. I set out to get in the best shape of my life, and I achieved that… I will continue to try and improve, each and every day.” - Savannah Rose

Bringin’ the Hammer Down

 

Female bodybuilder Erica Cordie looks like she was built to play a superhero. I’m assuming this is DC Comic’s Steel, although it’s not a bad Thor. Either way, Erica is one of the sexiest superheroes to ever wield a big hammer.

Soviet Superwoman

Cold-War Blastoff - here's a special piece I did for my friend Soviet Superwoman. Suzy Kellner makes the perfect model for the Sexy Super Ruskie (after a few Area Orion lab enhancements).

Soviet Superwoman is the creation and property of soviet-superwoman.deviantart.com.

The Place of Persistence

Congratulations to long time female bodybuilder Michelle Brent, who finally turned pro at the NPC Team Universe Championships after 25 years of competing. It's been long deserved.

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence." - Calvin Coolidge

Sample420CA0712

I love discovering new beautiful women and recently came across the gorgeous Jenna Mariah Balsley. I was immediately smitten and had to take the photo to the "labs" for further "investigation".

An Area Orion breast expansion morph based on a photo by Dehaven Digital Photography.