It was reported this week that bodybuilder Dona Oliveira died at the age of 58.
Here's the news shared by Lonnie Teper on the Evolution of Bodybuilding site.Dona Oliveira passes away.
No word on cause of death.
I remember her well from the early days of women's bodybuilding.She could be described as being from the second wave of 80's female bodybuilders.She was riding on the inspiration of the late 70's-to early 80's birth of modern women's bodybuilding.
She was genuinely beautiful.At 5'1 and 120'slbs weight she had amazing quality in a small package.
Fantastic arms,and shoulders.A tiny tight waist and lovely legs.She also had the requisite poofy 80's hair do.
I wouldn't be exaggerating by much if I called her great.She was a very fine bodybuilder.
She competed in several Ms Olympia contests,and placed as high as 6th.
She also won a few big contests including the 85' NPC USA,85' IFBB World Games,and the 88' IFBB Pro World Championships.
She retired in 1990.Then remarkably,she came back in her 50's to compete a few more times in Physique.
She was from Massachusetts,and you could sure hear it in her classic accent.
She had a long career as a hospital nurse as well.
Here's video of several news stories done on her from 1988.
I vividly recall the CNN story.I know I watched it.Hell,I probably taped it too.
It's the third story at about 5:20 in the video.
She featured regularly in the popular bodybuilding magazines as well.
She always seemed to be so bright,full,and robust.And very much like she was enjoying her time in the sport.
She said she retired because the level in women's bodybuilding changed too much.She's right.The muscularity,and conditioning did change a lot quickly.
Here's an early video from a popular American morning show with Dona,and Kris Alexander.
This is a good example of what the mid eighties female bodybuilder looked like.Very fit,yes.But they're similar to the appearance of CrossFit athletes now.Not really bulky,or hard.
(To address the question that always comes up,I wouldn't be surprised if both were natural at this time.Alexander doesn't look like she's taken anabolics.I doubt Oliveira had taken any,or much.I would say she did use PEDS at the height of her career.)
These women look very healthy.And you can see the why there was a growing interest in female bodybuilders at this time.
Here's a mix of images from her career.
An interview with Dave Palumbo of RxMuscle from her 2014 comeback.
Extraordinary condition in a 53 year old woman!
She seemed like a really terrific person.I've heard a lot of people in bodybuilding paying their sincere respects,and saying how much they liked her.
She kept training,and loved the life of a lifter.
You really can't say enough good things about the people who dedicate their lives to nursing either.
Deep condolences to her family,and friends.
She'll be missed.
I happened to be follow a link from Muscle Insider to their contest photo coverage of the NPC USA bodybuilding contest.I looked up the Women's Bodybuilding division..I was looking at the field of competitors,and found this picture.I can honestly say I have no idea why this women was in a bodybuilding contest.
This isn't what a bodybuilder looks like by any definition I knew of.
I got nuthin'
There were only five women in the whole bodybuilding division.Four in the heavy weight.One in the light heavy.She was the light heavy.So she won the division.Sigh.
I looked her up.She's a USAF veteran.Well,I thank her for her service.
She's also a porn actress.How unsurprising.
These implants are so utterly ( or should I say udderly ) grotesque as to defy belief.
Of course I've seen similar cartoon balloons on strippers.That's exactly the problem.This woman doesn't look like an athlete.She looks like a sex worker.
I have to wonder why they even allow these buffoonery boobs to be produced as medical devices?
I would think that implanted medical devices have to be approved by the FDA.
Yep.I looked it up.So at what point do they say enough?
Something short of the Hindenburg?
Breast reconstruction with implants after mastectomy?
Replacing a lost body part with a prothesis is common practice.
Abnormal formation of the breasts leading to plastic surgery?
Understandable.
But this? This isn't really an issue of augmentation as such.It's a radical form of sexual fetishization surgery. Have we gone beyond personal liberty into self harm here?
Women with abnormally large natural breasts will sometimes have them reduced due to severe back pain.And if these massive implants were damaged,or ruptured,it could cause a severe problem.
I don't like the idea of protecting people from themselves in general.There are considerations of informed consent,and harm reduction that reduce bad consequences.
But I wouldn't have any part in approving this by a medical board,hospital,doctors,insurance companies...or the FDA.
Common sense got up and rolled off.
I could put up other pictures of her.But what's the point.
She has trained with weights.But the entire front of her body is dominated by these basketballs straining under her skin.
I could say she has a short torso,bad abs,and she's at the age she should be in the master's division.But it's all beside the point.
I don't intend this as a mere attack on one individual either.The problem is general.She just got caught up in this mentality.But that's a bigger issue.
( the woman who won had implants,tattoos on her breasts,heavy make-up,and BBQ tan )
I've tried to find the NPC ( National Physique Committe) and IFBB ( International Federation of Bodybuilders ) rules online.
The NPC has many different divisions,and a plethora of rules.
Here are the NPC Bodybuilding Rules.
I can't find anything about implants,and site injections.
Here's the IFBB rule on implants,and site injections for Men's Bodybuilding for 2017.The Women's Bodybuilding division was discontinued a few years ago
IFBB rule on implants,and extras.
This should be the standard for ALL Physique,and Bodybuilding.
They should ban ALL implants.
They won't.
And because they won't the competitors will keep getting implants.About an estimated 80% of the women in all divisions.Ponder that one for a moment.Organizations claiming to be representing physique,and fitness effectively demand that women mutilate their breasts.
At the least they could impose some sane limits on size.
But at this point I don't think they care much about the Women's Bodybuilding division.It's hanging on by a thread.Why even have standards?
They act like they're giving the hens some chicken feed before consigning them to the fryer.A small courtesy.
The NPC,and IFBB ( which are not genuinely separate organizations ) are run strictly as businesses.
The more mainstream 'fitness' has become,the more money they make.And it's concentrated in a few companies,and individuals.Bikini girls pay entrance fees.They're anxious for approval,and success.Mainstream mutts want to see bikini girls.So ka-ching.
Good bye actual Bodybuilding.
Yes I know it's not much of an actual sport to begin with.It's a kind of beauty pageant for people who torture themselves with weights.But it used to be fun to watch.
Now it's too often dull,cringey,and sad.
Jackie Paisley died at the age of 54 on March 17,2017.She was a female bodybuilder who competed from the 1980's to her retirement in 1991.Her Wikipedia entry shows how successful she was too.I was watching bodybuilding at the time,and remember her.She was tall,and leggy,and a very expressive poser.
She really wasn't one of the athletes I followed closely at all.Not the body type I could identify with.
But she seemed like a nice positive person.She certainly had plenty of fans,and media coverage.
There's a large gallery of pictures of her on this 80's muscle blog.
You can see she was an impressive woman.
Women's bodybuilding was booming in the 80's,and it seems somebody spotted her natural gifts and told her she could make it onstage.She had a fast rise up the ranks,and competed at the highest level.She won the Ms International in 1989.She competed in three Ms Olympia's.
She retired in 1991 at the young age of 26.
Bodybuilding is a damn hard thing to do.It's sad but not surprising when people stop competing at a young age.It seems she didn't feel like the demands of competition were worth it anymore.
She went home to Arizona,and worked in training,and nutrition.She had been a music student,and posed for this statuesque photo.
Jackie Paisley playing the violin.
I do remember at the time seeing the progression of her career once she got on the national scene.The earliest photos show her before she got implants.She had a well developed but flat chest.It followed the usual trend with female bodybuilders.She started out with her real breasts,then boom,big hard implants were installed.Of course the drugs,and dieting reduce their breast tissue.But it was depressing to see how many women thought artificial breasts were a necessary addition.
At that time in the 1980's breast implants were becoming more generally popular.There's a sensationalistic but entertaining 1997 movie called Breast Men that portrays a fictional account of the rise of silicone breast implants.Silicone implants made by Dow Corning became the fake boob of choice.It was softer,and more pliable than saline.A lot of women got them.Many of them came to regret it horribly.They claimed it made them extremely ill.Dow Corning was sued into bankruptcy though the company survived.There is information about the whole controversy in this Wikipedia article on breast implants.Fair warning there are graphic pictures.
There were subsequent studies that claimed that the risk of silicone implants was exaggerated.That they weren't proven generally dangerous.
This 1997 story from the New York Times includes the following quote;
In
recent years, tens of thousands of women have claimed that they
suffered a host of health problems from silicone-filled breast implants,
including hardening of the breast tissue, implant rupture and disabling
disorders that resemble autoimmune disorders like lupus.
There
is abundant evidence that silicone implants ruptured at rates far
higher than initially suggested by manufacturers. But the vast majority
of recent scientific studies has found that the rate of autoimmune
diseases in women with implants is about the same as for the general
population.
This 2015 article from Forbes takes the other side of stating that the whole lawsuit onslaught was financially motivated,and a debacle of the real science.It reviews a book "Silicone on Trail;Breast Implants and the Politics of Risk" by Dr Jack Fisher.The article author Henry I. Miller takes a strong counter stance against the concerns over silicone implants,and places blame on FDA head David Kessler for overstepping his authority and using his power to suppress a safe medical device.
I do believe in healthy debate.And I understand the antipathy to David Kessler.He comes off as a self righteous crusader.But he may have been correct in his caution.
It's also clear we have a classic case of battling greed.Dow Corning didn't put enough research into how large bags of soft silicone placed over the chest cavity would actually affect the patients health in the long run.When the lawyers got involved in this conflict.They had a field day with it.They hit the jackpot.Sick mutilated women against a cold corporation.It's one of the most notable recent cases of a major company being devastated by class action lawsuits.
I'm not a medical expert,or lawyer.But I can smell the
bullshit.Silicone breast implants might not be statistically proven to
cause a whole range of common autoimmune disorders.But they can cause
problems when they leak.And they can,and will leak in time.They can develop mold too.I've seen a number of images of capsules full of murky goo pulled out of women's bodies.I did enough online research to believe the women,and doctors who claim they can be damaging to women's health.
Jackie Paisley claimed to be suffering from silicone toxicity in this 2013 article in Iron Man magazine.
She had had surgery,and was asking for support.
She posted this YouTube video on December 9,2012,
I think you can see her health has deteriorated.
She's talking about her medical history with her silicone implants.
She had developed pain in her left chest,and shoulder.This would have been about 2005/6.
She had surgery to remove the old implants,and replace them with a new set.She claims this surgeon failed to notice,or inform her,that there was silicone leakage.He failed to clean out the silicone that had leaked.
She seems to have become distrustful of mainstream medicine as well,and started pursuing alternative therapy.Following Naturopathy , and Allopathic healing ideas.
Which is in fact Pseudoscience.Sadly this melange of antiquated intuitive ideas is attractive to people.Though her disappointment with mainstream medicine's failures in her case are understandable.See Alternative Medicine for the bigger picture.
She continued feeling ill,and talked to other surgeons about having her current implants removed.Unsurprisingly she had problems with insurance coverage,and couldn't afford treatment.
She eventually had surgery in Atlanta by a breast implant specialist; Dr Susan Kolb.
Kolb is a legitimate surgeon.But she also has ideas that could be described as out there.She believes in all kinds of woo in addition to scientific medicine.Still Dr Kolb has been very involved in care for silicone leakage victims.
Jackie had the implants,and about 10 lymph nodes removed in 2011.
She had a mold infestation and went through a course of antifungal,and antibacterial treatment.She said she was treating herself with an antibacterial treatment.( more about that in a bit )
During this whole crisis she had become dependent on Benzodiazepines which she had been using for her insomnia problem.It's basically a tranquilizer.These drugs can cause dependence,and withdrawal problems.
Jackie went through a very difficult time during withdrawal.She had spells,and seizures which were very frightening to her.
Then she goes on to claim she had some unique genetic issues.She claimed she did research,and found she had some kind of vitamin D problem.She claimed she had found something she's calling "the genetic code"
Oh dear.It sounds like nonsense.No real idea about what she thought she had discovered.Gene polymorphism regarding vitamin D?
Some people do have such a condition.But I have no idea how this person with no medical education believed it effected her health issues.
She never published anything about these claims.
She mentions doing a podcast with Dave Palumbo.This would have been an episode of Heavy Muscle Radio.I tired to listen to it.But there's only a repeat of another show where that show was listed in the order.It's not available.
A friend of hers named Derwin White published an appeal on the Inside Edition Facebook page by Allison Pease.You can also read it here on Area Orion.
Pease is saying Jackie was helping her,and "used her knowledge to
identify “The Genetic Code” to help others become healthy through herbal
supplements rather than medication." I'm afraid this is where she may have started taking some dangerous substances. This is an interesting interview conducted by Derwin White on the site Muscle Insider.Here she talks about the treatment for the fungal,and bacterial infections.
Q. Tell us about the progression of your health problem.
A. I was given two years for recovery. Ten lymph
nodes were gone. I had steady recovery, but used antifungals, which made
me feel horrible, and killed the mycoplasmic bacteria with Miracle
Mineral Supplement, a natural but powerful bacteria-killing solution
similar to bleach, for up to six months before and after surgery. My
recovery has been slow but getting better. Tapering off the medicine I
was on for sleep has almost been worse than the surgery! By this
February 11, it will be two years, and I think I will be a new person.
That substance called Miracle Mineral Solution is poison.I don't know what else to call this horrible swill.It's either sodium chlorite, or chlorine dioxide solution.It's bleach. People selling this as a medicine have been prosecuted. I certainly hope Dr Kolb wasn't recommending this noxious stuff. I have no idea why Jackie would have thought this was a good idea. I don't object to people taking supplements.I also don't object to people making their own informed decisions regarding their health. But this is simply out of bounds.There is no conceivable benefit to this caustic solution. I wish she had of had better medical advice. Clearly a part of the problem was she couldn't pay for it,and couldn't get insurance.We're back to the American tragedy of proper health care being a luxury for the rich. She went on about her ideas on gene receptors,and illness.Since she had no education in this area I could only call this her speculation.She also claimed to be treating her disabled son in some way. ( The question of silicone implants affecting babies has been examined.It's unlikely to contribute to health problems. ) She sounded hopeful at the end of this interview.It's sad things didn't turn out that way. It does seem like the whole cascade of health problems started with the implant leakage.I don't have the information to say what actually caused her death in the end. ( The death certificate would have information if it ever becomes available ). The damage from the implants? She may have succumbed to the impact of the bleach solution on her long term health.She may have suffered a relapse of her drug dependency.Though that seems unlikely. It's awful the poor thing had to go through this misery. I'm sorry for the melodramatic title about the burst boobs. But it does seem like the implants were a kind of land mine she stepped on. RIP Jackie.
The cover of 'The Weider Book of Bodybuilding for Women' from 1981 by Betty and Joe Weider.
This is one of the early books I got when I was a teen starting out in weight training.
Bodybuilding for women was just becoming popular,or even known,for that matter in the late seventies-early eighties period.This book was published by the Weider company that also put out a number of popular magazines like Muscle & Fitness.They were the company in bodybuilding and fitness at the time.Betty Brosmer Weider was the wife of the head of the company Joe Weider.
She was a pinup girl,and model.She was actually an early pioneer in the modern women's fitness movement.So she may have actually written some of the material.But I'll bet Joe,and some copy people wrote it too.
It's very basic.It's written for the new audience of young women who were just starting out in weight training.It's trying to be reassuring to the 'ladies' that weights won't make you masculine,or intimidating.
It features black and white pictures of women in leotards using a lot of Nautilus equipment.Nautilus made all kinds of exercise machines that just look unnecessarily complicated.Rube Goldberg contraptions for exercise that are basically huge expensive machines to do what you can easily do with barbells,and dumbbells.Fashionably constructed out of shiny chrome,and fake tan leather.They went out of business as a gym manufacturer years ago.But they still own a number of home brands like Bowflex,and Schwinn Fitness.
I think most things were made out of chrome in the seventies.
I think the first time I became aware of the existence of bodybuilding was probably seeing the movie 'Pumping Iron'.I must have seen it on HBO.Because I'm certain I didn't see it in a theater.
I was inherently intrigued by the act of humans forcing their muscles to grow.I was really amazed,and pleased to see that other girls,and women felt the same way.So I bought a number of the early women's bodybuilding books.
I would have to say this is one of the poorer books on the subject.There's no sense of the revolutionary spirit of women lifting weights,and becoming strong.It's very safe,and corporate.I doubt I got that much out of it.The fact is lifting weights is lifting weights.Form is form.So while I can appreciate the fact they were trying to give women something to relate to you don't need cutesy little fitness girls to learn how to lift.I read the articles in Muscle and Fitness and they had good picture spreads of male bodybuilders.They did start including real female bodybuilders too.
I did belong to a gym when I was teen(My mother joined and took me along ).But they didn't have that much equipment.Certainly not all those crazy Nautilus contraptions.But it was all a bunch of chrome!
So maybe this book was a little encouragement.But it's very dated and would only be of interest to a collector of early women's bodybuilding books.Or if you're a leotard fetishist.
Multi station weight machine
Women working out on a multi station weight machine.Running shorts,and running shoes.This looks like the kind of set up they'd have in a YWCA gym.
I hope somebody let that poor girl down.
Barbell lunge
Ladies in leotards doing lunges with light weights.
Nautilus glute machine
Goofy Nautilus back,and butt machine.Looks rather....questionable!
"Help! Let me out.I promise I'll be a good girl."
I wonder if one of these is gathering dust somewhere?
Wrist curls anyone?
Here we have a buxom model performing wrist curls.Enjoy.
There's also a chapter at the end of the book on competitive women's bodybuilding which was in it's infancy.Mainly pictures of the current star of the scene Rachel McLish.A very safe,and soft image indeed.
So this book is a minor note in the history of women's weight training.But an interesting glimpse into the mood of the time.
And so much chrome.
I wish I had a lot to say about this.But it's like a shadow passing through the Bodybuilding world.
Did they even hold it?
Yes they did.Here are the results.
Margie Martin won it again for the second time.
The only video I've seen from the event was taken by a spectator in the audience during the prejudging.It was adequate.I could get some idea of the condition of the competitors.But it was also an amateurish failure on the part of the promoters.I would have watched a live steam if one had been available.Maybe their was one.I don't know?I do try to follow what's left of women's bodybuilding.I may not be doing a very good job of keeping up.But There's not much out there.
Why don't they try to get Amazon to stream it next year like they're doing with the Olympia competition.
And yes,it's disgusting that they basically decapitated Women's Bodybuilding out of the Olympia.They could easily have it before the rest of the contest.On the prior weekend,or on the Thursday before the weekend.But AMI is a business.They don't actually value bodybuilding for it's own sake.Honestly some of the women now on the Olympia stage look like they could be working in Las Vegas,and not as personal trainers.That's what sells to the masses.But the amount of respect I tend to have for common tastes might fill a thimble.I really don't think the object of bodybuilding is to be conventional,and unthreatening to ordinary people.It's for people to push their personal limits,and achieve something awesome.But that's a complicated subject which I may return to in the future.( If I can find time to sit down and klutz at the keyboard )
Now my feelings about the results.And this will be mostly about feelings.I've discovered I don't really watch bodybuilding like a usual sporting competition.It does seem more like a display,performance,or pageant.I don't want to see them run like beauty pageants because that wouldn't be the intent of the sport.It does have to keep the ideal of development.Actual muscle building.Though having different divisions,and weight classes is legitimate.
But I don't enjoy looking at people I don't find attractive.Who does? That's the problem.I try to be a good sport about it though,and not degenerate into cheap meanness.
I'll be honest.I never watched the years of the Ms Olympia that Iris Kyle ( or Kim Chizevsky ) won except for maybe 2013/14.I didn't pay very much attention to Kyle.I may have run a Google image search once,or twice.
Alina Popa is the one I like.I follow her media,and look for pictures of her.She is beautiful,and inspiring.
She came in second a few times to Kyle.Then she got injured in 2014.That was the year the contest was dropped so she couldn't have competed anyway.Terrible luck because she probably would have won.She deserved it.
So Margie Martin ( a woman I had never even heard of ) won in 2015.I thought Popa would have a good chance at it this year.She came in third behind Martin,and Sheila Bleck.
Well expletive deleted that,and the horse it rode in on.
I think they made the wrong decision.She has a polish,and beauty that women's bodybuilding is desperately in need of.I sometimes think women's bodybuilding is trying to commit suicide.Maybe it's just shortsightedness.They see a woman with bulk,and an X frame and give her the trophy.But she doesn't make you gasp,and say Wow!She isn't beautiful,or very interesting.But big.
That's were women's bodybuilding has gone off the track.Cory Everson,Lenda Murray.Anja Langer and others were amazing looking women.Larger than life,and heroic looking.But also truly beautiful to look at.Exciting.Inspiring.
You have to respect Margie Martin .She's a USMC vet,and the mother of four children.She does have the desired X frame.Wide shoulders,and well developed quads.She's not unattractive either.She seems like a nice lady.If you're a fan,fine.Good.She's impressive.
Margie Martin
Now here's why I can't put her in first place.Right to left symmetry is unacceptable.To be blunt,I hate breast implants.They never look better than real breasts.But hers are just wonky.The right goo bag is lower than the left one.I don't know what boob of a surgeon did this work,but he's a hack.But she's responsible for them.She paid for them.That should be a huge deduction.
I think the above picture(pink suit ) is from 2015,or earlier 2016.
I found a few from the contest.(there aren't many online ).So here she is this year.
Margie Martin Rising Phoenix 2016.
Margie Martin.
You can clearly see she still has the problem with the fouled up implants.If bodybuilding has any self respect left,you don't overlook something this glaring.
Now we move on to her lower abdomen.What is going on there? A tattoo? Scars?
It's a mess.
Scars are not someones fault,but...This is bodybuilding.A lot of flaws may not be somebodies fault but they don't get overlooked.I notice that in an instant.Again it should be a deduction.
If it's a tattoo, then 100% the fault of the contestant.And yes I think it matters.Tattoos are a distraction from the muscles,and skin.If they're large,or poorly placed it should count against the person.
We should have higher standards than this.Too many noticeable problems.
Sheila Bleck placed second.A very fine bodybuilder who has had a long career.Great muscle density,and nice symmetry.
Sheila Bleck at the 2016 Rising Phoenix.
She has the kind of high quality physique that should earn top placings in women's bodybuilding.
Some people may find the facial signs of Androgen usage,and low voice bothersome to their sensibilities.That's kind of par for the course in bodybuilding though.
I do think she's a worthy high level competitor.
Alina Popa.No apologies I think she's the best.She's the perfect package of muscle maturity,polished lines,and genuine beauty.She really does embody my ideal for a female bodybuilder.I've seen others I can put in that top tier.But she's the pinnacle.If I have to choose one female bodybuilder I would most want to have the physique of,it's her.
Alina Popa at the 2016 Rising Phoenix.
Alina Popa at the 2016 Rising Phoenix.
Her back was looking spectacular.Great shoulders.Great skin tone,and hair.Her conditioning is very good though the judges may have preferred a more ripped look.I personally feel that can go too far with women.I don't like the skinned chicken look.
The criticism I could make is the left calve.I may be seeing the effects of the left Achilles tendon tear ( And right bicep tendon tear she suffered when she fell on the stairs after her Achilles tear surgery.Painkillers and stairs are not a good combination. )
Her calves have never been her best body parts.They look adequate,but not extraordinary.But honestly it seems to be common to give great bodybuilders some mercy on the calves.I love deep diamond calves.It's a notoriously hard body part to force into growth.
Anyway;I do hope that women's bodybuilding isn't foolish enough to fail to award this amazing women the top trophy soon.
I am going to leave the review here at the top three.If I feel like it I might make a post on the lower finishers.
Rene Campbell on the cover of Strong and Hard Women
This book was written by an ethnographer about the female bodybuilding scene in the UK.
I've read a number of academic oriented history books.So I do know the approach to the content to expect.There has to be a consideration of weather or not a book is being written for an insider or general readership.This book is very much written for the ethnographic academia department.It has very little appeal to a general reader.
It's written in academicese.Insider language.It's the kind of book where you know you're going to find the word liminal.I hit it on page 133.I'm surprised she held out that long.
You could make a drinking game out of how many time she uses the word hegemonic,but I'm afraid you'd knock yourself out..The problem with this approach is that it's all in group communication on in group mutually agreed upon concepts.Which could be a bucket of self satisfied academic hogwash for all the average reader would know.I do suspect a certain amount of twaddle emerges from the ivory towers.I had a little groaning,and eye rolling workout trudging through some of it.And no,I'm not an inarticulate idiot who just doesn't 'get it'.I just take it with a grain of salt.
But we'll grant this writer,Tanya Bunsell, means well.
The first problem is she's not a good writer.It's very awkward.Does anyone actually use the word 'Whilst' anymore?It's pretentious,and slogging.Filled with constant references,and quotes from other ethnographers.Most of the beginning of the book is little more than a defense,and apologia of her attempt to study the subject.You could scan through the first 50 pages,and you wouldn't miss much.If you can't affirm it's valuable to study something,and get on with it why waste so much paper?
She doesn't seem to quite know how to position herself in the writing.She admits she has weight trained.And injured herself doing so.She's faced some negative comments from others.She became a personal trainer before she pursued her career in academics.Dated some guys who lift.She's laying out her gym rat cred.But it also feels like she sees herself above it.
Then it's on to the issue of how the ethnographer treats the subjects.Yes it's a genuine ethical issue of how people should be treated during research,and journalism.Stay detached,or go native?
How do you understand people without becoming immersed?Can you?
And how do you treat them with concern,and protect their privacy.Make sure they don't experience negative consequences by participating in a study of their lives.I do think she's trying to be considerate.She does seem to be using pseudonyms in most cases.Though you may be able to figure out who the women are if you tried.
Bunsell is looking at Women's Bodybuilding from a Feminist philosophical,and political viewpoint.
Do I have to say it doesn't pass their sniff test.Quelle suprise as the French would say.
Of course many feminists have decided that it's a beauty contest pandering to the male gaze,and compromised by commercial concerns.Many things are.
She also presents the question of whether bodybuilding is a deviant subculture.I don't think that's a fair way of describing it.I'm not saying the author thinks that.But the word subculture gets tiresome.
Bunsell does try to point out the way women are using bodybuilding to achieve a greater sense of self determination.To control,and create their own bodies.We all know the business of bodybuilding is hard on women.But that doesn't mean that most female weight trainers aren't committed lifters who genuinely enjoy the process.Including bodybuilders who have to go through all the difficulties of diet,and stage presentation.I do think that voice is allowed to get across.
There is the real strong point in the book.The voices of the female bodybuilders themselves.Yes,there are statements from the same old braying boys bashing female muscle.And some of the male fans too.But the women are speaking about standing up for themselves,and pursuing their ambitions to gain a muscular body.Their information is worth hearing.It's good material.There's just not enough of it.The two main informants are 'Sarah' and 'Michelle'.They,and others, talk about their attraction to bodybuilding,and the repercussions to their lives.The process and gym work,and the environment It follows 'Michelle' through a contest with the accompanying miseries.
She does go into the dreaded dark side,spooky steroids! And into the private wrestling sessions that some female bodybuilders make income from.(Which is spookier)
Of course she was going to cover these subjects.It's the usual.Maybe a little better informed than most.She was nervous when someone came into her flat,and deposited her growth hormone in her refrigerator.Luckily the fuzz didn't bust down the door.There is also discussion of the brutal labor of the gym.The risk of injury.The sacrifice of dieting.The general scene of macho body violence.
I don't think she's giving in to much sensationalism on these subjects to give her credit.
There's the issue of this being written in England.It feels much more insular,and behind the times in the bodybuilding world.I think that impression is accurate.It's sure not California.Maybe Brits are more shocked by these women.There aren't that many high level competitors from the UK.
Bodybuilding is more limited there.So is the whole fitness scene.Many of the basic life issues are the same of course,but I did notice the difference.
The book isn't very long.166 pages including the notes.Unlike bodybuilders,it doesn't have much meat on it's bones.There's it's main weakness.It's simply light in content.Not much that's fresh,unique,or especially insightful.It could be considered valuable to have an ethnographic study of women's bodybuilding.I'm sure it would be to ethnographers.So thanks for that.I don't happen to be one.But at least that angle has been covered now.
( Let me take a moment to compare it to the work done in the book "Caught in the Pulpit" by Daniel Dennett,and Linda LaScola. Dennett is a professor of Philosophy,and cognitive studies.LaScola is a qualitative researcher.That's not the same thing as an ethnographer.But they are approaching a similar set of issues of research into the life processes,thoughts,and feelings of their subjects.Which happen to be ministers leaving their vocation.There's not as much political analysis.But they do a fine job of bringing the voices of the people through to the reader.It's a more engaging human study.)
There aren't too many visuals.A striking photo of Rene Campbell is on the cover.But there are only a few black,and white photos inside.I have to admit one of the subjects is difficult to recognize as female.I think she's since gone into strongman/woman competitions.So there's the aesthetics conundrum again.
Recommendation:Don't bother buying it unless you're really intrigued by the ethnographic approach.
Most of this material has been better covered in other works.You could get it from a library,and read the sections quoting the women themselves to get the best out of it.
But I'm not saying it's without value.It's an addition to the limited number of serious works on women's bodybuilding.
