The Sudden Demise Of Ms. Olympia Competition In Women’s Bodybuilding

The era of overly muscular female bodybuilders is over!

 

FitnessVolt:  If you’re unfamiliar with the amount of muscularity many elite female bodybuilders possessed back in the 80s and 90s; then allow us to take you back in time. It all started when female bodybuilders like Lenda Murray (8x Ms. Olympia) and Bev Francis (2x Ms. Olympia Runner-up) appeared on the scene.

These women really took the female physique to new levels and would be impressive even by today’s standards. But the problem is… the standards of muscular development were lowered in 2015 and there was no more Ms. Olympia.

Before the 80s there was no such thing as a female bodybuilder who looked freakishly muscular until these two women took to the stage. However, there is one thing which really separates female bodybuilders in the 80s/90s to the more modern competitors.

Drugs Changed Everything 
Read more at https://fitnessvolt.com/34157/ms-olympia-women-bodybuilding/

Pearl - a female bodybuilding drama

Variety - “Pearl,” premieres on Sept. 1 in the Venice Days section of the Venice Film Festival. The drama, which centers on a female bodybuilder whose past catches up with her, stars Julia Fory, herself a female bodybuilder who has never acted before, and Peter Mullan.

The director, Elsa Amiel, is up for Venice’s Lion of the Future award for a debut feature. She has previously worked as an assistant director to Bertrand Bonello (“Saint Laurent”), Noemie Lvovsky (“Camille Rewinds”) and Mathieu Amalric (“On Tour”), among others.

In the film, bodybuilding star Lea Pearl is just a few hours from the final of the most important competition of her career when her ex-boyfriend shows up with the 6-year-old son she has not seen in years.

Talking about what drew her to the subject of bodybuilding, Amiel says: “There was a desire to explore the theme of the body in greater depth. How the body is portrayed.”

Her interest was sparked by portraits of female bodybuilders by New York-based photographer Martin Schoeller, which she found intriguing because the women “possess a quality that mixes uncanniness and femininity, while arousing a feeling of malaise mixed with fascination.”

She adds: “What unsettles the spectator is their vulnerability, which is completely unexpected when thinking about this discipline. This new perspective gave me the keys to explore bodybuilding.”

Speaking about working with Mullan, Fory says: “He was always trying to explore the best way to interpret each scene. I guess his approach encouraged all of us on set to keep tapping into that right emotion.” See more at Variety

Female bodybuilder says Arnold Sports Festival discriminates

Beth Mandyck

The Columbus Dispatch - Beth Mandyck had mostly hung around smaller bodybuilding competitions until she won the Ms. Buffalo Bodybuilding title nine months ago.

That crown vaulted the Rochester, New York, nurse to two national competitions last year. Her trainer told her to set her sights on the Arnold Sports Festival in 2018.

But Ms. Buffalo likely won’t be coming to Columbus.

The Arnold hasn’t offered women’s bodybuilding as a competitive category since 2013. Organizers said the number of women who wanted to compete in bodybuilding competitions had been dropping for years, and the Arnold offers several alternatives.

Mandyck, though, said the annual event discriminates against women by not offering the same competition it has for men. She has lodged complaints with the city.

“The Arnold is like everybody’s dream. When I went to look at it, I was aghast that there was no women’s bodybuilding,” she said. “If there’s a category for men, why can’t there be a category for women?”   Read More >>

Aleesha Young FURIOUS After Omaha Pro Controversy

One of the most dynamic young female bodybuilders in the IFBB, Aleesha Young is absolutely STEAMING mad after her controversial placing at the recent Omaha Pro show. by RX Muscle

 

Champion bodybuilder fights back

Kate Austin chats about confronting cruel online trolls and dispels the misconceptions about female bodybuilding.

Did "Ugly" Kill Female Bodybuilding?

New article on the Death of Women's Pro Bodybuilding from T-Nation.

Here's what you need to know... 

• In 2015, the Ms. Olympia was dropped, marking the possible end of women's bodybuilding.
• "Man face" is a term used to describe the masculinisation of a female bodybuilder's facial features.
• Drugs cause man face, of course, but there are other factors involved.
• The audience for women's bodybuilding is shrinking, but the "schmoes" could keep it alive.

Read more at https://www.t-nation.com/powerful-words/death-of-womens-bodybuilding and let us know your thoughts

Female Muscle Movie Update

@IreneAndersen Irene Andersen at The Arnold Classic shooting "Too Big For The World."

"Me and the film crew went to the Arnold Classic to shoot some new scenes for Too big for the world. We had the opportunity to film Arnold at two occasions and maybe we'll get a private interview next time so I can ask him why he removed female bodybuilding.

This year we will film a lot of scenes since I'm competing in many shows. We will also film me in different beautiful and powerful surroundings in nature. Next stop is the snowy mountains in Norway and I've just received my outfit for that.

We're also planning our next Indiegogo campaign so that we will be able to film all the scenes for the film and edit the film before 2015 is finished. The film will premiere 2016!" - Irene Andersen IFBB PRO

We also filmed me and another female bodybuilder when we talked about the future of female bodybuilding and the love for sculpting the body.

You can help support the film at www.toobigfortheworld.com

Too big for the world

A documentary about one woman's dream and the discrimination against female bodybuilders. Change history-save female bodybuilding!

Too big for the world is a crowd-sourced documentary from Irene Andersen and Helle Nielsen about love for building muscles, female strength and discrimination against female bodybuilders. 2014 both the European championship, the World championship and Arnold Classic removed female bodybuilding. This means there are only one really big competition left and that is Olympia. Many female bodybuilder are now afraid that Olympia will remove the female bodybuilding division too.

Therefore we're making a documentary about this and it's called Too big for the world.

Be part of making this film! You will never see a more epic film about muscular women but to make this a reality you need to step up and show that female bodybuilding is worth fighting for!

You can contribute here on the Indiegogo campaign: Too big for the world or donate directly on the website: http://www.toobigfortheworld.com. Anonymous donations accepted.

Irene Andersen, IFBB PRO from Sweden, is on a mission to save female bodybuilding from extinction. Helle Nielsen is Irene's very important sidekick that will do all she can to show the beauty and strength of FBB.

Society & Muscles

Thoughts on female bodybuilding by Helle Nielsen

I guess what puzzles people the most is how come I as a woman have the desire to build muscles. Have you noticed that little kids always have a fascination with muscles? When I’m around my little nephews or cousins they’re always like: “Aww Auntie let’s armwrestle or let’s see you flex your muscles” and they brag to their friends about their strong auntie. When I’ve made appearances on Tv I’ve experienced that mainly kids has approached me in the street and been in totally awe about how strong I look.

Who is sending out that message?

I wonder where that fascination go when we grow up? I guess in the way we are raised by society we have been taught that women are supposed to be small and fragile little things and the man is supposed to be muscular and strong.But think about it… who is sending out that message?

The commercial media has decided for us that the ideal of female beauty is to be so slim that even the models has to be retouched several pounds lighter. Teenage girls around the world who are trying to live up to the ideal of a beautiful woman are suffering from various eating disorders while the rest of the western world continues to get fatter.

In our modern world few people have physically demanding jobs. The male species are not as lean and muscular as he once was as he is now working a desk job. Scientific studies show that environmental and food chemicals alongside with obesity cause males to having higher concentrations of estrogens in their systems, which can lead to loss of regeneration and serious illness.

Barbie & Ken

How many women and men really apply to the image of Barbie & Ken? Yet, society still has old school “rules” about how a woman and a man should look.

When I was a teenager I thought I had to be skinny to be attractive.

I’ve always been very athletic and more muscular than my peers. As a teenager I fought my body in every possible way to get smaller and skinnier — not eating and over exercising. After joining a gym (to exercise and get skinnier) I really started growing some serious muscle, which I didn’t quite understand since I only ate salad!

I was reading the bodybuilding & fitness magazines in the gym and friends brought me to watch bodybuilding competitions and it occurred to me that I had a structure similar to the girls competing.

I realized that I had been given a great gift. I was never going to be a tall and skinny model but short and buff was perfect for bodybuilding. I felt that I had found a place where I fitted in, and where my body was an advantage and not a disadvantage. Further the finely sculpted & defined physiques on stage impressed & and awe struck me at the same time. I thought they looked stunning! I knew instantly that I wanted that too! That was the start of my competitive career.

Women & men embrace your bodies! Every shape, form or body type is unique. The individuality and uniqueness can’t be praised enough!

Take your freedom to look however you want to look like — 

Calling ALL Female Muscle Fans

NEW FBB FEDERATION

Via @KittysDD - I spoke with some people about this new development in the Female Bodybuilding world, as it was recently announced that there is no longer FBB at the Arnold…Ms International as it was called!!

I am an experienced 10 yr veteran promoter with the NPC , Judge and Competitor. I know what it takes to promote a successful Bodybuilding Event and I think the promoters of these events are caving… as a promoter, YOU get to decide what events you want, and how your event will be run, and how they money gets spent. Unless you are playing political games, kiss ass games, or whatever is needed to try and suck up to people in higher positions, all of course with intentions to be engraciated to them later down the road. Of course all  this leads to the political games which undermines the foundation, which is exactly what has happened with the Bodybuilding Sport. There is nothing wrong with growing and expanding the arena, but to actually bad mouth the sport that gave those same people a JOB…a show to be promoter of… and a show to sell your products to the athletes of that very sport….

I venture to say that all the FBB fans need to abandon their fruitless efforts with the people who do not care, and join together and support a new FBB Federation. Its just that plain and simple.

Kat Connors - Female Bodybuilder

Petition to Save Ms. International

http://chn.ge/12ivk07 Please support the sport of female #bodybuilding - if the Ms International is allowed to die without a murmur of protest then it is likely that female bodybuilding and female physique competitions will also disappear from the world's sporting agenda forever. This is unfair, sexist, and will have a detrimental effect on all female muscle sports from powerlifting to fitness and bikini competitions. The latter will simply become beauty competitions of the kind we thought had died out decades ago. Arnold Schwarzenegger - the figurehead of the IFBB - built his life and considerable fortune on bodybuilding and it is only fair that female bodybuilders be given the same opportunity.

Jackie Paisley Needs Your Help

"Jackie Paisley was once a top competitor and role model in the fitness industry. A former IFBB professional female bodybuilder during the 1980s, Jackie achieved the ultimate honor by winning the prestigious 1989 Ms. International overall. I doubt the thought ever crossed her mind that one day she would literally be competing for her life.

With a degree from Arizona State University, a certified personal trainer, nutritionist, dancer and professional bodybuilder with over two decades of experience, this woman is no stranger to obstacles. My favorite quote from Jackie is, “Every truly great accomplishment is at first impossible!”

In 2011, after months of illness and misdiagnosis from doctors, she went through a seven-hour surgery to remove adhesions and eight lymph nodes filled with silicone due to breast enhancement done during her competitive years. Until her personal experiences with ‘silicone toxicity’ Jackie didn’t consider the consequences as the medical community expressed such safety. After the surgery, the effects left her previously sculpted muscles and strength, diminished and extremely weak. In addition to unexpected physical complications, resulting in months of recovery, Jackie also cares for her eight year old special needs son (Neo).

The expenses have overwhelmed Jackie and although many of her friends have tried to help get her back on track, she struggles to make the basic payments of rent, electricity, and food. As a proud and independent woman, Jackie shies away from asking for help. Through all these complications though she remains positive about her recovery and has used her knowledge to identify “The Genetic Code” to help others become healthy through herbal supplements rather than medication. This is how I first met Jackie several months ago. I am a bikini competitor and athlete looking to make my mark in the fitness industry. The training, diet and supplements alone begin to take its toll on the body for many athletes over time. Jackie was able to utilize her skills and personal experiences to help me identify, treat and work through the different systems so I can get back to my goals. I still have a couple months to my recovery but I can already tell a major difference.

What I am asking is for help (see below Links), on behalf of a woman who has impacted the fitness industry for years and is continuing to do so. All she needs is a spotter to help minimize the heavy weight until she can readjust and push forward." - Allison Pease

1. Jackie’s YouTube Post (12-9-12)
2. Direct Donation Link
3. Jackie Paisley Facebook Fan Page

Is CrossFit Killing Female Bodybuilding?

Female bodybuilding's downward spiral has been evident to us fans for years. Lack of support within the industry, no media coverage, mass exodus to lesser divisions like Physique and disrespect from the world at large. Add miniscule winnings and lack of corporate sponsorships that are lucrative to competitors in Fitness, Figure & Bikini. Seriously, why bother?

Enter CrossFit, which is gaining serious steam and could take the bodybuilding/fitness world by storm. It's a sport for competitive muscular women with a wide appeal and quantifiable results and goals, something bodybuilding doesn't have (1). I can't remember the last time I've seen a bodybuilding competition on TV, yet the CrossFit Games: The Fittest On Earth is broadcast on ESPN2 and backed by major sponsor Reebok.

Female bodybuilders and Fitness models are beginning to take notice. Across the Twitterverse more and more are including CrossFit into their training or making the switch completely. Natural female bodybuilder Toni West announced that she is training to compete at the CrossFit Games Open in February. Women compete in bodybuilding because of their drive, passion and little else. Who wouldn't want to be involved in something exciting and new that celebrates strong women.

Could this kill female bodybuilding completely? As more move to CrossFit, bodybuilding will surely take a hit. But how could it get much worse? Maybe bodybuilding promoters will take notice and step up their game. It's doubtful.

Like Powerlifting, CrossFit is a tangent sport that could possibly help bodybuilding in the long run. Increased exposure with mainstream CrossFit might bring more fans. Who's to say that CrossFitters wouldn't compete on the BB stage either?

I'm a proponent of any endeavor that supports strong women and hope CrossFit breathes new life into bodybuilding. If not, at least I'll have something interesting to watch on ESPN2. Support Female Bodybuilding

Have you supported a Female Bodybuilder lately?

Female Muscle is sexy in any language:
vroulik spiere muskujve femra الإناث العضلات իգական մկանային qadın əzələ emakumezkoen muskulu жаночы цягліц женски мускул múscul femení 女性肌肉 ženski mišića ženy sval kvindelige muskel vrouwelijke spieren female muscle naissoost lihaste babae kalamnan naisten lihasten muscles féminins muscular feminina მდედრობითი კუნთების weibliche Muskeln θηλυκό μυ મહિલા સ્નાયુ fi nan misk הנקבה שריר महिला मांसपेशियों női izom kvenkyns vöðva perempuan otot muscle baineann muscolare femminile 女性の筋肉 여성 근육 sieviete muskuļu Moteriška raumenų Женски мускулите otot wanita nisa fil-muskoli kvinnelige muskler عضله زن kobiet mięśni muscular feminina de sex feminin musculare женский мышц женски мишића ženy sval ženske mišice músculo femenino kike misuli kvinnliga muskler பெண் தசை กล้ามเนื้อเพศหญิง kadın kas жіночий м'язів خواتین پٹھوں nữ cơ bắp cyhyrau benywaidd ווייַבלעך מוסקל

Help Lindsay Compete

Good Morning Everyone. I need your help to get to Jr Nationals, June 18. My sponsor fell though less then 2 weeks ago. I've trained very hard suffering from Epstein Barr Disease as it attacks your strength & immune system!

To all people who suffer from this, with faith and belief in yourself you can conquer anything. It's the human spirit.

I have set up a donation button my site www.fitnessinferno.com. Please help me in reaching my goal & my cause to help others by example. Please donate what u can. Thank you so much, I love u guys

- Lindsay Mulinazzi

Edited from Lindsay's twitter

Support Female Bodybuilding

Don't Let a Long Tradition of Strong Women Fade Away. The industry or public opinion of women in bodybuilding may not change overnight, but you can help make a difference by simply being heard.

Add this poster to your Facebook, Twitter, Blog or Website to show support. You can sign a petition or find out more at bit.ly/supportfbb

Commentary on the Sport of Bodybuilding

Every sport has a goal. Some are based on achieving the most (or least) points, others the fastest time. Whether it's point, speed or performance based, every sport is a competition to beat an opponent by reaching an ultimate goal.

Bodybuilding is very different to most other sports but still has a goal. To build your body with muscle beyond the average physique and compete against others. The winner has built the biggest and best physique, but it's subjective since it's determined by a panel of judges rather than a clearly defined best score or speed.

So why would a sport that is based on building the most muscle possible hinder it's competitors by restricting the amount of muscle they can add. It's like telling Formula 1 racers they can't go over 100mph. That's what has been happening with Women's Bodybuilding over the last 20 years even though those restrictions don't apply to the men.

Now they're trying to phase it out completely. Is it because the women are too big or don't fit into their ideal of femininity? What again is the goal of the sport?

I'm a fan of bikini & wet t-shirt contests, but wouldn't call it a sport. To try and dilute female bodybuilding by forcing it to become that for monetary gain seems like an evolutionary step backwards in a sport with a fine tradition of champions and athletes. Back to racing for an example. NASCAR has grown insanely popular and profitable but the cars aren't as powerful as Formula 1. Would you get rid of the Indy 500 because it didn't make as much money? There's room for all levels of Female Bodybuilding - Bikini, Figure, Fitness and Muscle. Just don't remove the top prize.

Maybe the entire system needs to change. A sport based on subjectivity can be interpreted by whomever sits in control. I think fans and promoters of the sport should work to ensure that Female Bodybuilding has a long and enduring future.

Sign the Petition to Keep the IFBB Female Bodybuilding Division.

Exclusion of women's bodybuilding in NPC and IFBB events becoming a reality

Reposted from Examiner.com by Lisa White

For years now the demise of female bodybuilding has been in the clutches of despair. Pro and amateur female bodybuilders have been training harder than ever for a sport that is slowly minimizing the female bodybuilding division and in some cases completely excluding it. A recent thread posted on the Muscular Development forum states "According to undocumented sources at a recent seminar in Colorado the NPC is eliminated NPC female bodybuilding and replacing it with Women's Physique in 2012." Because this is unsubstantiated we can only hope that it's not true since the Women's Physique round has yet to be put to the test and portrays the analogy of "putting the cart before the horse."

The Physique division is creating a change within the sport; just as the Bikini division changed the shape of Figure. Yes, the Figure division. In the past few years competitors in the NPC and IFBB who were known for harder lines and muscularity had to change their nutritional and training programs in order to place higher because their "look" was no longer deemed the quintessential figure build. Smoother, softer builds replaced harder physiques and left some of the best conditioned athletes with lower scores.

Though we all know change is inevitable this is a change that will effect women in the sport who have given up the most. As fans and athletes already know top ranking female bodybuilders win a substantially lower prize purse than their male counterparts. For example; four time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler won $200,000 while six time Ms. Olympia Iris Kyle won $28,000; just over an eighth of Cutler's winnings.

Not only are female bodybuilders paid less but many female bodybuilders have spent years perfecting physiques with the use of performance drugs and have lost much of their femininity. They have worked hard to maintain muscle mass but have since been considered "freakish" and "manly" to the mainstream and now are at an even greater loss with the decrease in the bodybuilding division. Unfortunately, the mainstream is not the only group ostracizing female bodybuilding as there are athletes within the industry who do not necessarily like the look of the female bodybuilders.

At the moment there doesn't seem to be a happy medium as the New York Pro is not including female bodybuilding this year, either. The event is set for May 28, 2011 with the addition of Pro Figure but no where on the flyer is women's bodybuilding.

So what happens next? Will it be replaced by the Physique round? At this point it's unknown but one thing for sure; if all the athletes don't defend women's bodybuilding it will soon be something we read about in old magazines and articles online.

Help Support a Female Bodybuilder

The sad state of Female Bodybuilding today is evident all around. They continually endure pain and sacrifice only to struggle to cover basic expenses and hopefully win a tiny monetary prize. It gets a little better for pro's, but not much.

It's a shame, but you can help.

Fabiola Boulanger is a great up-and-coming bodybuilder from Canada looking to go pro. She recently posted a call for help so she can cover basic expenses like food & supplements. She doesn't do overtly sexy photos, videos or webcam to earn extra money and I respect that a lot. All she is asking is for fans to donate a little money for some quality photographs.

She writes "Choose the pics you like, from A to P, and then go to www.fabiolaboulanger.com where there’s a PayPal button “Donate” to send your money. Each pic is going to be about 8″ x 10″ (some dimensions may vary because of the original dimensions of the pic). See the pricing list below, and make sure to include your full address when you’ll make your payment with PayPal. I also need the letter of the pics you chose, and you can ask for any type of dedication with your order.

1 pic: $25 | 2 pics: $48 | 3 pics: $69 | 4 pics: $88 | 5 pics: $100 (all prices include postal fees)

If you wish to make a bigger donation, I’d be really happy and thankful. So I hope you’ll be happy to see new pics from me, and hope you’ll be as generous with your financial support as you are with your nice compliments on my physique. I want to thank all my existing supporting fans, and wish you all the best xxx" - Fabiola

Click here for full instructions on how to order

My Journey Into the Sport of Bodybuilding

I found this inspirational and wanted to share. Re-posted from gailauerbach.blogspot.com

Gail Auerbach
My journey into bodybuilding started at the age of 6. 6 you ask? Yes, 6!!!! See at 6 years old I sat in a first grade classroom and I was the odd ball, the weird-o, the kid who was different, the one no one understood or wanted to be friends with. I was the one chosen last during dodgeball. At the age of 6 I was diagnosed with ADD, ED, BD and LD. I have attention, behavior, learning and emotional difficulties. Talk about being hit hard. EVERYTHING I did was a struggle and hard for me. So how did this get me into bodybuilding you ask? This was the beginning of me struggling to find my "place" or "home" in this world. This is where I began my first attempt to be understood for who I am and what I believe in.

So throughout school I got involved in gangs, sports, and a sorority, all attempting to find the people and place where I would be the most understood. I went to college on a cross country scholarship and went to the gym to lift weights three times a week. After a month my coach told me I had to STOP lifting! I was getting to big! After many stress fractures, I decided to switch to playing rugby in college. I got to lift daily and get as big and strong as I wanted! During college their was a bodybuilding show called Greek Physique and I decided I wanted to compete in it. I trained at the gym with many guys who offered to help me pose, diet and prepare. I loved the diet, loved putting on muscle, loved cardio, learning about supplements and loved competing! I competed in Greek Physique and won it 4 years in a row! When I left college I joined a gym back home where I was student teaching. I started working out there daily and meeting people who competed in the NPC and who told me I should do a show. I told everyone I wanted to focus on my first year teaching and just continued to train. I hired a trainer and he trained me 3 times a week. I started to see myself put on more and more muscle as time went on. I ate clean and started learning more about supplements. I decided to start attending the local NPC contests to see what it was like. During the first show I went to I had made up my mind...I WANTED TO COMPETE AGAIN! So in 2007 I started my journey toward my first competition. During the year I went to every show and met more and more people who competed. I started lifting, training and spending time with competitors and by the end of 2007 I had attended every local Illinois show and had met a whole group of friends who understood me and accepted me for who I was. They understood my "oddness" and in their eyes it was okay to be different. In fact it was my differences that made me so unique.

So in 2008 I stood back on the stage and did my first NPC bodybuilding competition. Ever since then I live the lifestyle daily, believe in the religion of bodybuilding and truly believe I found my "place" to call home! All of the struggling I did my whole life as a child only made me a stronger person. It only taught me resilience and to persevere when things are hard. This has helped me get through contest prep, in the off season when bulking and in my professional life as a elementary and special education teacher. The only difference is I have taught my students that it's okay to be this way! This is how I started bodybuilding and can't imagine my life without it!

See Gail at her Website, Blog or Facebook page