What Killed Women’s Bodybuilding? Who’s to Blame?
This article is going to both gain me some fans as well as have some people think I’m completely nuts. While I never paid much attention to the women’s side of the sport, I’m a little confused as to why the IFBB did away with it a few years ago. Let’s be honest, women’s bodybuilding was never as big as the bikini division is today – and I’m not talking about the fanbase. What I’m talking about are competitors. So, the time needed to get through the women’s bodybuilding division isn’t going to take a whole heck of a lot of time.
What frustrates me the most, is the fact that the IFBB doesn’t value women with muscles, yet they are fine promoting the male side of the sport where the circus freaks play. To me, it seems somewhat unfair.
The death of women’s bodybuilding
Sex sells. There’s no denying that fact. And while the fans would rather look at women with big boobs in bikinis, we have basically killed off a division that showcases the hard work and dedication that the women of the sport put in. Female bodybuilders go to great lengths to put on the quality size needed to compete. They don’t want to be bikini models. They don’t want to be toned and lean. They want to be big, muscular and shredded on stage. And who are we to tell them no?
There are a lot of skeletons in the closet of this industry with things that go on behind closed doors. Pushing away women with muscle to further pave the way for bikini, in my opinion, is poor form. For starters, while many people enjoy watching the bikini girls, many don’t take them seriously.
You will have people making comments that women bodybuilders are gross, nasty, look like men, etc. And while they have a right to their opinion, some things should just be kept to themselves. When you put the shoe on the other foot, you could have women saying the same thing about male bodybuilders being too big, cartoonish, have big cuts, are making up for a lack “of something” and other thoughts/opinions. So, you could say there’s just as much trash talking for the men as there is the women.
Related Article: This Chick Destroys Male IFBB Pro Bodybuilders!
Women bodybuilders do things that most women would never be willing to do. Likewise, male bodybuilders do things that other guys would never do. There truly is no difference here. Guys who don’t want to get that big end up in men’s physique or classic. If they ever wanted to put on more size, they could move up to the 212 or open. For women, where do they go next? What happens if you have a women’s physique competitor who wants to put on more size? With the added mass she would be too big for physique and would have nowhere to compete unless she decided to enter a Wings of Strength competition – which is currently the only true home for women’s bodybuilders these days.
Should we blame the IFBB?
I’m going to come right out and say it – absolutely! This was their (poor) decision. It’s almost as if they are discriminating against female bodybuilders. If you were to ask me to name five female bodybuilders, I simply couldn’t do it. Iris Kyle and Sherri Gray are the only competitors today who I could name off the top of my head, and Iris retired. Back in the day would have been Cory Everson, Bev Francis, and Lenda Murray who I only know due to at least having a little historical information in my brain about the women’s side of the sport.
Luckily for Iris, she had an amazing run of winning the Olympia title 10 times (nine in a row) before the IFBB did away with the division (at least from the Olympia stage). She was hands down the greatest female bodybuilder to ever live.
Where is women’s bodybuilding today?
For the most part, women’s bodybuilding is holding on by a thread thanks to the Wings of Strength. The unfortunate part is that the Olympia is still considered the Super Bowl of the industry. The exclusion of women’s bodybuilding from the Olympia just doesn’t seem fair if the IFBB is still looking to allow Wings of Strength to hold IFBB sanctioned events.
If it weren’t for the Wings of Strength founders, Jake and Kristal Wood, female bodybuilders would be extinct – they would have no place to compete. And as of the time writing this article, Wings of Strength only has 8 shows for women’s bodybuilding in 2018.
Personally, I would like to see women’s bodybuilding added back to the Olympia roster. If they are going to have divisions like bikini and men’s physique (not to mention men’s BODYBUILDING), then I feel that women’s bodybuilding should also have a home up on that stage.
I’m probably the minority here, and that’s ok. But, I like to see everyone have an equal opportunity and I feel women’s bodybuilding is being screwed out of the Olympia experience.
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