Vice is a digital media and broadcasting company, which was founded in 1994. The media company distinguishes itself by producing numerous documentaries and having a vast internet and social media presence. Vice has taken a different direction since it founding focusing on a youth demographic. The millenial generation they target specifically with their content. However, their various documentaries and written articles can amuse and engage wider audiences. The Vice model may be the future of news and reporting when the 24 hour cable news industry begins to decline. Older viewers still get their news and a majority of information from television or traditional print newspapers. The problem with this is that editors may remove certain stories or ignore certain events that may be important or interesting to consumers. The internet and social media allows for more exploration into various cultures and places that the mainstream media would not even consider covering. Never afraid of controversy, Vice covers various subcultures. This time, it explores an element of female muscle fandom specifically muscle worship. “Inside The Lucrative World of Female Muscle Worship” provides an excellent explanation into a rarely discussed subculture and activity. However, it fails to clarify certain details. Media coverage of the physically strong woman is most of the time negative or depicted as an anomaly. This report attempts to be neutral. The love of muscular female form is not new nor is the existence of the physically strong woman.
There have been muscular women prior to the rise of modern sports and fitness. Dr. Niall Richardson at the University of Sussex has studied the relation between women and the bodybuilding culture. Myth and stories have featured women who were either warriors or strong. Dr. Richardson reveals that the love of the muscular woman has a long tradition in history and popular culture. Amazons are warrior women of ancient Greek myth and continue to have influence on contemporary entertainment. The most popular amazon many recognize is Wonder Woman. Valkyries were figures in Norse mythology. These women decided who lived and who died on the battlefield. These strong women in myth had a presence in cultural consciousness since the ancient world.It is clear that this started prior to the 13th century, yet one could say that there was a revived interest. From a perspective of iconography at least the idea of the strong woman was suggested through the warrior woman archetype.
The problem with Dr. Richardson’s analysis is that he claims it is only now that the idea of the physically strong woman has become a reality. Muscular women did exist in the past,but their opportunities to display their talents were limited. They would either be performing in circuses, a street performers, or vaudeville houses. Documentation goes as far back as the late 1700s. Strongwomen acts were not like the female bodybuilding competitions of today. Here is the major difference. The muscular woman is nothing new, rather the fact the no time in history have women reach such a level of strength and physical power. This is no just regulated to a single country, it is spreading. More women are competing in sports and it is not unusual to see women from various nations compete in the Olympics. The hyper-muscular woman has become a phenomenon. The advancement in exercise physiology, supplements, and in some cases performance enhancing drugs has created a new type of female physique. D. Richardson forgot to mention that diet, specific training regimens, and genetics contribute to women’s physiques. The new breed of female athlete is bigger and stronger than ever before.
The reason some fans refer to female bodybuilders as goddesses is that it relates back to ancient myths. Prior to monotheism, female goddesses were worshiped. Athena, Venus, and Ishtar are just a few examples of goddesses of the ancient world. They could either be goddesses of fertility, war, wisdom, or civilization. Athena was the goddess of courage, strength, law, civilization, justice, crafts, and skill. While these goddesses are part of the imagination there were cases in which warrior women appeared in history. Armenian women were involved in uprisings against the Ottoman Empire. The Mino warriors defended Dahomey against French invasion. Sychthians and Sammartians probably did have women warriors for which the Greeks may have based their amazon myths on. This fighting spirit that these women warriors exhibited at various points in history indicate a level of strength. A strong constitution does not display itself visually, however it was a revolutionary leap when women started showing more physical strength.
The image becomes an empowering one. It generates either positive or negative responses. Yet there is a growing enthusiasm coming form the most supportive hyper-fans known as schmoes. Dr. Richardson explains “that there has always been a certain level of exultation, but also erotic fascination with these muscular women.” This should not be a surprise. Women who are different will get attention. The amazing phenomenon is that more women are developing their bodies to the maximum. Only recently have scholars and members of the public have taken notice of the physically strong woman.While there has been some consciousness about such women, the subculture remains a mystery to the mainstream. Various misconceptions are presented, but rarely actual facts. The vice report makes this mistake to a degree.
Lucus Oakeley discusses schmoes. These are the men who are into session wrestling and muscle worship. One man profiled is Johnny a 37 year old British Army technical trainer. At first it seems the text was shocked that Johnny was consider handsome in the conventional sense and liked strong women. The image of the schmoe is normally based in stereotypes or exaggerations. The first is either a paradigm of a sexual deviant or predator. The other image is either that of a pathetic or helpless man who merely is using these women as an extension of mama’s boy tendencies. There also is the image of the socially awkward nerd, who is an obsessive fan. The reality is that schmoes could be men as well as women from all walks of life. They could be of diverse religious, ethnic, political, racial, and class backgrounds. It should be no shock that male athletes and specifically male bodybuilders may be the biggest schmoes of them all. The assumption would be that men of great strength would not want women like this. The stereotype in this regard is that such men would want absolute control of women. This is not true,mainly because such men like women who share their fitness passion.
It would make sense that men who compete would also be schmoes as well.
A serious male athlete may find it difficult to balance a relationship along with training, other obligations, and arranging sponsorship with fitness or supplement companies. A woman not involved in the fitness culture would not have an understanding as to why a man would dedicate so much time to a sport. The extent to which men involved in bodybuilding go to sessions is unknown. Seeing as they are closer to the culture than the general session goer it may be higher than assumed. It is true that some schmoes are not proud of their fetish and normally hide it from family and friends. Johnny admitted in the article he does not tell his girlfriend of his desires for muscular women. Some are so furtive about their love of female muscle they choose to remain anonymous. A schmoe interviewed in this article who gave the name Kirok came from a very conservative area of the Midwest of the US. He chooses to remain anonymous so no one who knew him would find out. There are numerous reasons why men hide their love of the physically strong woman. The main reason has to do with social pressure and fear of ostracism. Generally,people are not honest about their fetishes or kinks, because people have difficultly understanding sexuality and sexual expression. It is not certain how many schmoes are in existence, but it appears as if they are keeping a struggling sport alive.
The hyper muscular woman generates controversy. Female bodybuilding presents the most developed physiques in terms of muscular development, which challenges gender role cultural convictions. Tanya Bushnell who wrote Strong And Hard Bodies : An Ethnography of Female Bodybuilding explained that muscles have been a signifier of masculinity. Strength and power are not associated with women in some people’s minds. Women’s bodies and constitutions were associated with weakness. The problem with her analysis in the text is that she believes the schmoe and female bodybuilder relationship is based solely on a dominance and subordinate role. Women’s motivations for doing muscle worship may not even be financial based or the desire to dominate men in some way. They may enjoy the physical challenge, because wrestling takes more effort. Muscle worship may not always involve session wrestling. Women who do this not for the money, are clearly doing it the same reason the men are. It is a form of sexual expression which could be either a kink or a fetish. Female bodybuilders may also like the admiration and meeting different people. Some women are able to travel all around the world doing muscle worship. It is also possible that friendships or more intimate relationships develop out of this. The simple act of wrestling could just be fun for them. Johnny claims that some of his sessions ended with physical intimacy. The majority of sessions do not involve sexual intercourse, but this does not mean it does not happen. This leads some to assume this is nothing more than a different type of prostitution. It is not, the main purpose of the service is to witness a muscular in person and have them demonstrate their physical prowess. Describing the relations between men and women in this activity as dominator and subordinate roles enforces the sexist notion that one sex needs to be controlled.Women who gain power are seen as out of control and that they need stern male guidance.
This dated concept of strict gender roles, clearly is eroding yet there is still marginalization and stigmatization of the hyper muscular woman. This not merely due to difference in taste or opinion, rather sexist prejudice and misogyny. There is a view that women should be docile, motherly, and obedient. Male authority should not be questioned and women should merely follow. The muscular woman challenges these sexist stereotypes and expectations. Men do not have sole domain over physical prowess and strength. It used to be that muscles are for men. However, women are muscling in on sports and their seems to be a wider following due to social media networks. While women have greater control of their bodies, there remain objections from the traditionalists and those who advocate one paradigm of beauty. Women cannot be stopped from participation in fitness and sports, but there are still barriers that attempt to control them. There is a the the parameters of acceptable muscularity which Bushnell articulates. There is the hashtag “strong is the new skinny” which celebrates strong women and the image as represented in popular culture. Yet a woman can be strong just not too strong. The hyper-muscular woman does not get as much visibility compared to the more fitness level or toned physiques. Bushnell cites that in 2017’s Wonder Woman film that Gal Godat physique was not that muscular to be playing the iconic amazon superhero. This position is valid, yet the film should be praised for including a number of female athletes who had athletic physiques. Not to the degree of female bodybuilders, but it does show a paradigm shift. Gal Godat should not be criticized for her appearance relative to the DC character. She stands at a mighty 5’10”. If anything she presented the amazon of ancient art.
What iconography shows is that the amazon of the past was represented as a statuesque woman rather than the modern muscular one. If we are going off the comics, Wonder Woman’s physique has been alternating between the two images of the amazon.There are rare occasions in which Wonder Woman appears very muscular depending on the artists drawing her. The image of female heroine is very prevalent in modern popular culture, yet the image of a hyper-muscular woman still is not entirely accepted in the mainstream. The idea of being “too much” or “too muscular” remains a double standard in regards to female body image. Women who are advocates of fitness and sports even have trepidation about getting muscular . There could be other factions that view this differently. Some argue that developing muscle should just not be for presentation, rather utility. Some female bodybuilders switch to crossfit or weightlifting because they just do not want to only look strong; they want to be strong.
Lenda Murray’s Appearance in a Wendy’s commercial (2016) . It seems more progressive compared to how female bodybuilders are normally presented in media.
Competing in something other than just posing and subjective judging creates an atmosphere in which female muscle can propagate to other areas. The muscular woman is not completely condemned to obscurity. They are not depicted always in a positive light. There are times in which it is either neutral or somewhat based on stereotype. It would be assumed that the hyper-muscular woman would be more accepted in their own fitness industry and culture. This is not the case. A male dominated fitness and sports world keeps women at a disadvantage. Despite these obstacles, women have developed an impressive lucrative business and market.
The cancellation of the Ms.Olympia and Ms. International female bodybuilding competitions was a massive disappointment. Cynics cited this as the death of female bodybuilding and the extinction of the hyper-muscular woman. There has been a reversal with female bodybuilding being more fan supported and women having larger control of the movement of funds. The Rising Phoenix competition has shown as long as there is talent out there, the sport will be fine. This is an evolution in terms of aesthetics and women’s involvement in fitness. The article claims that more bikini competitions are taking over, but there are other classes women have entered. Figure, fitness, and physique are other bodybuilding categories women can compete in. The IFBB seems to want to phase out heavy weight female bodybuilding, even though there is a market for it as shown by die hard fans and the schmoes. Female bodybuilding may even return in a way that many would not expect. The physique class has the muscularity level of middleweight female bodybuilders, while figure competitors have the image of the lightweight female bodybuilders. Some women realize they enjoy making gains may switch to another class. Gradually, bikini competitors may come with more cut and ripped looks. What the IFBB was attempting to phase out may just return again. The women seem to have more classes compared to men.
The platforms for larger women to compete are shrinking. This gradually is being reversed and it mainly has to do with a shift in business model. The large female bodybuilder has to find another means for income and a place for competition. The athletes go directly to their fans and supporters without going through a corporate gatekeeper. This makes the community closer and allows the structure to be tailored to fans and athletes. The women are gaining more control of the financial aspect and female bodybuilding itself. There may be a possibility that as the years progress, the IFBB may see how profitable this new structure is and ask the much larger women to return. Although there are positive developments, female bodybuilders struggle just like other female athletes. Wendy Mcready interviewed in the article stated that sponsorship opportunities are extremely limited. She has been competing for 22 years and is a professional athlete. Professionals like her do not need to do sessions to maintain an income, but amateurs or women just entering the sport may have to do this. Getting a full time job would not be possible considering the time for training, travel, and competition to be a professional bodybuilder. There has been constant blame that women caused the decline of the sport due to “being too extreme.” There have also been accusations that women’s bodies were getting too close to the male aesthetic. These accusations lack cogency. The idea of being “too extreme” is relative. To some any woman who is not there idealized version of beauty is extreme. The hyper-muscular women that people claim are “too big” really are not as large as they appear. The large women on stage may not even be more than 150 lbs. Males are larger on average and the males in competition could reach up to the 200 lbs mark. The concept that women have become large like men is a hyperbole.
Seeing as these arguments can be discredited, the root of them is the conviction have no right to be part of certain aspects of the sport. The future cannot be predicted, but it seems obvious that muscular women are not going anywhere. There could be a dramatic increase in muscular women. It seem strange that the original source of origin has been struggling while the image of female muscle goes further into the mainstream. There are some women out there who now view muscles as a fashion accessory and seem them as something of to be proud of. Such a shift shows that women are gaining more opportunities to go in to areas that were restricted to them.
Lucus Oakeley should be able to distinguish the difference between muscle worship and session wrestling. This is not made clear by the text, but there are some similarities. Session wrestling focuses mostly on the physical contest. Muscle worship is about the client either feeling the muscle or watching the woman pose. The line becomes blurred. Session wrestling can involve muscle worship, However, it is not always a fixture in sessions. This can be confusing to someone who just has been told about the culture surrounding female muscle. There are other specifics that are not mentioned entirely. Schmoes are really enthusiastic fans and female muscle fans just like women with any level of muscle. Schmoes favor women with massive muscles and specifically female bodybuilders because they have the most developed musculature. This was not described as well as it could have been in the text. The challenge with attempting to document a subculture is that scholarly research is not widely available.
This is why error or falsehoods can spread in media outlets. There just may not be enough information to provide an accurate account of an event or topic, The wonderful aspect about Vice is that it does true investigative journalism, rather than opinion based pieces. People who are different or have an ideology that deviates from popular opinion normally are either present as abnormal or negatively. At the most extreme level there is either scapegoating or a moral panic induced by a media frenzy. The situation with female bodybuilders is that they are more misunderstood and the culture surrounding it more so. The best way to extract information is to do interviews of the athletes and fans as well. The Vice Sports presentation “Last of The Swole Sisters” did this well by asking athletes about their involvement in the sport. The presentation did not automatically present the women as weird or anomalies. Oakeley’s article tries to give readers a bigger picture of this microcosm, yet there remain some knowledge gaps.
A large part of the female muscle fandom is a large online based community. The impressive part about this Vice article was that it mentioned Herbiceps.com and Saradas. To any female muscle fan these are common sites that are visited. Forums, websites, and blogs provide users with instant access to muscular women. Prior to the internet the only way to see such women was either on television, in a magazine, or a gym itself. Online private chats with athletes have become popular. One might assume that web session are similar to session wrestling in person. The conversations are mostly regular events like the weather or work life. Saradas is a place were fans can connect and talk with one another. There are exchanges of pictures, videos, and updates on the sport. The concern is that file sharing could reduce profit to athletes sites. So far, members are still willing to buy videos, even it they have seen it free on other video streaming sites. Such videos cannot be found anywhere else, Webcam chats have expanded into a large business empire with Herbiceps.com, which would not have been imaginable decades ago. Michael Eckstut is the CEO of Herbiceps.com and revealed that he merely started the site as a way to meet muscular women. He has become the Mark Zukerberg of the female muscle world. The likes on Facebook for Herbiceps has reached 80,000 can counting and it will not stop there. Customers flock to get webcam sessions or view pictures and videos.
Muscular women are appearing in more places than a gym or a stage.
Fans do not have to wait to go to bodybuilding shows or fitness expos to see women of high muscular development. The success of Herbicpes.com is related to micro-transactions. There is the issue of profit and how much the models receive. Eckstut states women get at least 50% of the earnings. Emma Switch, longtime session wrestler sates that it really is 52%. Some women prefer to organize sessions or photo shoots on their own and make more than going to a website like Herbiceps.com. There is a level of danger meeting strangers and travelling by yourself. Some women have report that the men they have wrestled may have gotten too rough (yet it’s nothing they could not handle). There could be the risk of being harmed or kidnapped. So far, nothing like this has happened. Hopefully it never will. There also remains the issue of what are the options for athletes in terms of private sessions or working under a website. A female bodybuilder can organize sessions on her own site or go to one. Some reluctantly do sessions to finance their dreams. Vladislava Galagan a new competitor to the female bodybuilding scene says she only does sessions to fund her training and to pay her coach. If she gains enough income she stated she will stop. There is the image of women being victimized or being forced into this due to a misogynist or sex obsessed culture, but the opposite is true. Galagan revealed that ” some women do it because they like it, others like me just do it because they need the extra income.” It should be no surprise that women have fetishes and that squeezing men with their legs may be one of them.
Often when this topic of fetish or sexuality is discussed women are not mentioned. Women have fetishes and sexual urges just like men. The difference is that many cultures have tried to rigidly control female sexual impulses. The sexual revolution liberated women from such restrictions. The reason this was imposed on women was the notion they needed to be controlled in all aspects of their life and the fear of female sexual power. A muscular woman not only induces the fear of female sexual power, but adds a insuperable physical force behind it. Even from female muscle fans these mixed feelings can be experienced. This may be a reason for why many rather view such women on the internet rather than in person. For others it is not good enough. Experiences have to be felt in the flesh. Women may also like the fact there is for a period a role reversal occurs in which women have complete control. The majority of the women are stronger or as strong as the men they wrestle, so in this regard they have control. This is not exactly a dominatrix or BSDM rather a woman embracing a sense of power. Men can do this without criticism; women are ostracized if they show too much competitiveness, strength,independence, or assertiveness. A private setting frees both men and women from dated gender roles. The internet community provides a private space free from the normally closed minded majority opinion.
There are more women who are coming to this female muscle worship industry. Fitness, figure, bikini, and physique athletes have appeared in mixed wrestling videos, even though they do not do session wrestling. Mixed wrestling by its denotation is just a man and a woman wrestling one another. This has occurred in professional wrestling seen by a wider audience. The other classes seem to be doing better compared to the heavy weight female bodybuilding class, but they are doing mixed wrestling videos . A figure model or fitness model would probably be making more than the disappearing class of the IFBB. The women realize that there is a demand for muscular women among a particular demographic and other bodybuilding classes have followed suit. Some women do not even have bodybuilding backgrounds, rather they are MMa fighters or weightlifters.Although it was common to see hyper-muscular women only in such videos, now there are women of multiple fitness levels. The interesting aspect is that the videos are doing more.
Female bodybuilder Colette Nelson has a mixed wrestling match with a man. She is not a session wrestler, but did appear in wrestling videos.
This Figure Competitor may not be as large as a bodybuilder, but knows enough wrestling moves to do mixed wrestling.
Bikini competition is the latest addition to the bodybuilding sports for women. It should be no shock that bikini competitors appear in mixed wrestling videos too.
Some video sites like Awefilms create stories to their muscle worship or mixed wrestling presentations. Most videos are simple normally involving the woman pulverizing the man with minimal effort. Other sometimes have the men win a match occasionally. While they follow the same formula, producers may attempt to do something different to maintain interest of consumers. Schmoes as the text exposes may have saved female bodybuilding from complete extinction. This proves that athletes can survive without IFBB support. Women are embracing the change. Women competing were cast in the shadow of men during major competitions. The Rising Phoenix now places athletes in a venue focused solely on them and gives them quality accommodations. The conditions seem better compared to the past with women who win the Rising Phoenix getting a total of $ 50.000. Female athletes are paid less compared to their male counterparts and this information seems like good news. This love of female muscle also presents itself in more artistic ways. Art, written stories, or various media produced by fans has rapidly spread over the internet. It cannot be denied that there was for a moment a decline in female bodybuilding. Now there seems to be the beginnings of a revival.
The psychology of the lovers of female muscle fans is more complex than previously thought. William Marston developed DISC theory. He was the creator of Wonder Woman and it is obvious that he too might have had a similar fetish. Marston’s theory stated that people demonstrated their emotions using particular behavior types. These types were dominance, inducement, submission, and compliance. This may explain why men may gravitate to women who strong in any sense of the word. Marston explained the sexual appeal as follows : “Give [men] an alluring woman stronger than themselves to submit to and they’ll be proud to become her willing slaves.” The DISC theory would be difficult to prove under the test of the scientific method. Emotions and behavior is a complex interaction between the nervous system, culture, biology, environment, and genetics. The text claims that Marston was only partially right. This does not mean every female muscle fan wants to be dominated by a strong woman. Attraction can be based on particular preferences. There are men who like lager women or thinner women,but there reasons are not questioned on a psychological basis. Men who like female muscle are also opened to women of various body types.
The body image diversity movement has embraced women who are larger and have curves. It is perplexing why the muscular woman still remains isolated.
People’s preferences may be larger than previously thought. It is just the media promotes one image of beauty and expects everyone to adhere to that standard. Female muscle fans may not want women to beat them up. The DISC theory seems to work off a suggestion of constitutional psychology. It seems to assume that a woman with any type of power would just be a dominant personality. Women competing in the sport may not have the dominant personalities one would assume with such physical stature. There stereotype or false notion is that a physically stronger person would automatically be more dominant. Just like other people, their emotions and behavior changes depending on the situation. The reason a female muscle fan is attracted to such a look also has to do with exposure from an early age. Children are exposed to more media such as television, the internet, and multiple social media platforms. Many who have this female muscle love state that they either saw an image or an actual muscular women in their childhood or adolescence. Maybe a boy read a Wonder Woman comic, which induced a strong woman fascination for life. Gradually, the interest grows as one ages.
The love of female muscle may not be so rare or strange. Clearly as shown in myth and folklore the image of the strong woman has been there. The common idiom “behind every strong man is a strong woman” may be taking on a more literal meaning. Psychology continues to study the mind, yet it has only been recently that it has begun to incorporate sexology into studies. There is more to learn about the science of copulation and sexual behavior. The motivation for following the female muscle fan culture is not entirely sexual. Fans have iterated that they are impressed with the amount of dedication and diligence these athletes have. They are unique and that is enticing. Not every woman can lift a grown man like he’s an infant or bench twice her body weight. It makes a bold statement about women’s capabilities and what they can achieve.
The bodybuilding sports are not mainstream compared to football, basketball, or soccer. Yet, many athletes use the same training techniques that bodybuilders pioneered. It is not unusual to see athletes incorporate weightlifting into their training regimens. Women’s sports have to struggle for coverage, funding, and recognition. Sports that are not mainstream, such as bodybuilding face a challenge that more popular sports do not. Relevance to the general public has been a goal of the sport since its birth. Women have an even tougher time with a general public that does not understand them and a fitness industry that wants to have them isolated. The athletes then looked to a new business model to save their sport. Muscle worship and session wrestling have made female bodybuilding of the 21st century more fan supported than ever before. The most important aspect about this is that it challenges the idea that the female athlete is not marketable or appealing to audiences. So far, it seems the claim muscular women are not marketable lacks cogency. There are both loyal and enthusiastic fans willing to spend a considerable amount of money to see contests, do sessions, or be members of pay sites. The use of the internet and social media can serve as model for women in other sports attempting to promote their organizations or themselves. With change comes objections. Those with more puritanical mindsets believe muscle worship is awful for the sport. They think it is immoral, lascivious, and sleazy. Others make attempt to object to it based on a feminist argument that women are just be manipulated and exploited by men. These arguments have a weak basis. As established before session wrestling or love of female muscle is not entirely sexual. It is natural for human beings to have some form of sexual expression or desire. Women are not being exploited. This seems like a mutually beneficial partnership between athlete and fan. If there is any exploitation it was with the Weider Corporation and wider fitness industry that put women in a secondary status. Doubtless of what one thinks of muscle worship or the physically strong woman they are not going anywhere anytime soon.
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