The Arnold Classic is considered the second most prestigious contests in the bodybuilding sport. Fans notice certain divisions were cut for the 2023 competition. The move targeted women, which has been a common practice. The only divisions available to women were fitness, wellness, and bikini. Women’s open class bodybuilding has been absent since 2013. The cuts to figure and physique show that women’s divisions are not safe from cuts. The obvious sexism is clear, but it also reveals a financial challenge. Running such a large contest requires a large amount of money. Unlike soccer or football, bodybuilding does not have access to immense corporate backers. The business model needs updating and the management does not seem to understand this. The controversy began back in 2022, when fitness websites got word of the cuts. The assertion is that women are not marketable. When going through social media platforms individual athletes have gain large followings. The institution does not want to recognize this fan base. As a result a missed opportunity for ticket sales and growth has been missed. A combination of institutional sexism, poor business management, and lack of vision has caused the current issue surrounding the Arnold Classic. The 2023 Arnold Classic went ahead in March, with more men’s divisions. The sport needs to make adjustments in an evolving world of entertainment consumption. What is not helpful is excluding athletes from competition. Doing so will eventually harm bodybuilding and regulate it to a small fringe. Building the amount of competitors, confronting financing concerns, and allowing women to compete ensures success.
The longtime controversy relates to the image. Critics, detractors, and those with anti-woman sentiments express few want to see muscular women on stage or in any sport. The claim lacks cogency, when the women active in bodybuilding have large followings on their social media platforms. A fan of female muscle is more likely to go to a contest or be consumers of the sport. The condemnation against women comes to an assertion that women lost their femininity and imitated a male aesthetic. Detractors claim the golden age was when women were not “too big” or “extreme.” What they do not remember is that many were not comfortable with muscular women at all. Depending on a person’s perspective, a fitness competitor could be too much. The size debate should be settled, considering each class has a different range of muscularity. Options should be available to fans and athletes.
The athletes as they present themselves on stage. Detractors make the claim that women are not marketable and that no one wants to see them. The athletes have built their own fan bases.
Bodybuilding is not going to have the same following as soccer, football, or cricket. The sport’s origins are more subcultural than mainstream. Muscular women have found a niche audience and that should be enough. The debates regrading women’s looks are irrelevant. A criteria is set for each division. It does not matter if they do not fit into the culturally accepted notions of beauty. The intent is to create unique images of the the human body. While, female bodybuilders have been singled out for being too large, other classes are being targeted. Women’s physique has not been present at the Arnold Classic since 2020. Sarah Villegas expressed her discontent with the decision in 2022. It is more of a loss to the fans who wanted to see the two time Olympia physique champion compete. Iris Kyle also disapproved of the omissions and took it as women being prevented from showing their talents. The disagreement goes beyond preference in aesthetics. Subtle sexism has become more overt.
Denying the existence of discrimination has been a tactic to stop change. Few fitness publications called what this was . Sex discrimination is apparent, but the subtle nature of it has become more overt. Female athletes are targeted when cuts are made. Figure was removed and it had been in the Arnold Classic since 2002. The irony was that some thought that figure and fitness existed only to phase out women’s bodybuilding. The 2023 Arnold Classic shows that women’s divisions all could be erased completely. Wellness, fitness, and bikini could suffer a similar fate in the future. The Ms. International started in 1989 and has been absent since 2013. Men’s classes are not deleted. More men’s classes have been added. There is men’s classic physique, open class bodybuilding, wheel chair pro, and physique. Women have only three classes to compete in. If all classes were present more women would be on stage. The image of so many female athletes in one place, might be unsettling to some. The organizers probably do not like the idea of women overshadowing the men.
The classes that were cut are the ones in which women are more muscular. A bias exists against women of larger size in the sport.
Reducing the number of women just give men more spotlight according to this line of thought. The fitness industry has an unaddressed amount of institutional sexism. The sentiment that women do not belong or should be active in the sport is more pervasive than previously thought. Women who show large amounts of muscle or physical prowess are subject to bias. The more frustrating aspect is that it comes from colleagues and professional in the industry. Removing all women’s classes would have been too apparent. Those who want to exclude women would have to take a more gradual and sophisticated approach. Claims such as money and lack of fan base are made to cover-up allegations of sex discrimination. What contradicts this is the number of fans who want to see women compete. Their only option is to look on video sharing platforms or personal websites of the athletes. The managers of the Arnold Classic ignore them. Women do not have much influence over the Arnold Classic or its administration. This enables sex discrimination to continue.
Finances are a challenge for certain sports. While basketball and baseball generate large amounts of money, bodybuilding is limited. The global economy is on the verge of crisis. Inflation cased by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War is effecting all aspects of the economy. The Arnold Classic has clearly been dealing with financial difficulties. Allegedly Arnold Schwarzenegger lost an estimated $4,000,000 related to hosting competitions during the pandemic. The possibility of a recession or another global financial crisis will harm the sport. Promoters are under pressure to reduce costs or have the contest disappear completely. Some are not being honest and continue to give a typical public relations devised response to the issue . Brian Powers the executive director of the Arnold Sports Festival stated :
“We look at all the sports we have, including bodybuilding, every single year, and we analyze whether we can host a competitive field or not. Based on our yearly analysis of all the divisions, we didn’t feel we were in a position to host a world championship Figure competition, which is what we are in the business of doing. We may be able to come back and do it again next year, depending on the depth of the field. We feel like we didn’t have that depth this year. We’ll go back and we’ll look at it again in 2024.“
The statement is expresses that hosting in venues can be expensive. What Powers meant by depth was financial resources . The way it was expressed was to pretend nothing was wrong. A person doing their own research can reach a conclusion to the mystery. Inflation makes prices go up and this becomes an obstacle to a promoter. Hosting the Arnold Classic in Columbus Ohio is more expensive now compared to ten years ago. Tony Doherty a longtime promoter admitted that some sponsors were withdrawing support. The Arnold Sports Festival has been in operation since 1989 and only recently has it seen such financial difficulties. Eliminating women’s classes is not going to solve business related concerns.
The classes present at the 2023 Arnold Classic included bikini, fitness, and wellness. There is always a risk that these could be omitted in the future.
More practical solutions exist. The more evident, but least popular is to the amount of prize money. The athletes who do not like the policy can always compete in shows with higher amounts. Some just want to compete for the fun and thrill of it. To them the cash amount is not the issue. The hosting venue might have to change. The objection to this is that Columbus Ohio is the Arnold Classic’s birth place . The Greater Columbus Convention Center has hosted the event for 34 years. If it becomes too much to host in Columbus, relocation is an option. One method could be to sell more products related to the contest. Releasing physical media such as DVDs or Blu ray of contests to sell to fans should be a priority. Box sets which are compilations of contests would get the attention of fans. Getting the Arnold Classic back on TV could help through broadcasting deals. More video streaming content should be made available. Fans who enjoy the contest are willing to pay for it. Ticket prices will have to go up to as well. Solutions do exist. Fixing problems depends on whether promoters are willing to make adjustments.
Women’s bodybuilding was the first to be removed. Then came physique and figure. Open class bodybuilding has had a ten year absence from the Arnold Classic. The Ms. Olympia was revived and women’s bodybuilding might be going through a new golden age. There are more women active in the sport compared to its inception. The quality of physiques presented have only gotten more impressive. The promoters do not appreciate the athletes. Fans do and they are not even taken into consideration. The untapped market has much potential that is not being utilized. James J. Lorimer one of the founders of the Arnold Classic gave a poor explanation for open class being removed for women. Back in 2013 he explained that its elimination was to meet the demands of the fans. Lorimer said it was to make room for the men’s 212 division. If it came down to expenses, swapping out a division would not matter. The men would actually would cost more, considering their prize money is higher. If ticket sales were too low, then efforts should have been made to promote women more.
Women’s bodybuilding should return to the Arnold Classic. The Ms. Olympia was revived in 2020 and there is no reason not to revive the Ms. International
The target audience is fans of female muscle. Trying to focus on groups that do not care or hate the women would be a waste. The whole point of running a business is to make sales and expand. Companies can have a great product and fail. The Sega Dreamcast was a great video game system, yet was crushed by Playstation and Nintendo. Marketing was done adequately. That was the last console Sega made. The statement released by James J. Lorimer shows that women’s opportunities to compete were removed to elevate men. The shocking part of this was that Lorimer had been an advocate of women’s sports. He was the founder of the Ohio Track Club women’s team and was on the US Olympic Committee for Women’s Sports. The fact James J. Lorimer did not fight to keep the Ms. International speaks volumes. One can create a platform to compete, but everyone does not have equal access. Lorimer passed away in 2022 at the age of 96 and obituaries praised his contribution to sports and fitness. While that cannot be underestimated his lack of concern for female competitors in the Arnold Classic was evident. The Arnold Classic is a multi-event competition. Reducing the number of events means less entertainment for spectators. Although it is one contest, it is still an iconic one. The Arnold Classic is as prestigious as the Olympia. Women being excluded from that erases their contributions. Women who were allowed to compete should be suspicious. There is a chance that all women’s classes could deleted from the Arnold Sports Festival. At one time there was not a wheel chair class at the Arnold Classic. Few would suggest omitting that class for being labeled ableist. The same line of thought is not applied to women. The hope is that women can get equal opportunity to compete in all classes and not just three. The Arnold Classic needs to update its business model, rather than punish women for economic downturn. Otherwise the Arnold Classic might not last much longer. The female presence on stage has been reduced over the years. Over time this could be reversed if economic and institutional concerns are addressed.
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