Forum
>
General / Nonfiction
>
Thread
Log in |
Register
Well, Luvsfitchicks, Content Creators are pretty much all about sex and titilation. That is where the money is and has always been.
Yea but I think it was always partially about that. but I think fbbs can just do upload videos of them performing feats of strength and go to body building competitions and that will be enough for most fans. but they will watch it because they think it's sexy so it could still be seen as a form of porn to shmoes. while being family friendly to most people
Then take ex big name athletes like Jennifer Scarpetta who has gone down hill since leaving the sport and going full porn star. We used to email back and forth regularly and I remember she was excited to study nursing then one day out of the blue she announces an OF page and changes her name. Now she looks in well let's say not so good shape.
To be fair, she might make more on OF than what she could be making as a nurse these days.
(I'm saying nurses are generally too underpaid for the hours they're putting in)
Yes. Duh. Male and female bodybuilders are going up on stage and posing practically naked. How is that not sexual? Now what's wrong with calling themselves "content creators"? Do they create content? If the answer is yes, then they are by definition a content creator.
Bodybuilding for women has stagnated and has become a niche category. The only people who watch women's bodybuilding are people with muscle fetishes. On the flip side, women's sports has increased viewership overall and women are more celebrated with muscle for the sports they compete in. The sport of bodybuilding is declining in popularity as a whole, but sports for men and women are increasing. At the end of the day, bodybuilding is expensive without any real compensation whereas sports like soccer, basketball, etc pay way more for the required athleticism.
Lastly, let's not forget how unhealthy bodybuilding is for their participants. They use a lot of drugs to get into ridiculous conditioning and starve themselves to get there. Everyday there is someone who passes away because of a drug related health condition.
Yea but I think it was always partially about that. but I think fbbs can just do upload videos of them performing feats of strength and go to body building competitions and that will be enough for most fans. but they will watch it because they think it's sexy so it could still be seen as a form of porn to shmoes. while being family friendly to most people
Quite true Yotv.
Honestly, why is downsizing and stepping away from competitive bodybuilding a bad thing? And dude, if you think current Jen Scarpetta is in "bad shape," you either live somewhere that is saturated with incredibly muscular women, or you have pretty warped expectations on what constitutes "good shape." If anything, her cutting back on the gear usage might actually mean that she's healthier now than she was in her mass monster and super lean competition says.
Competitions are eliminating Women's Bodybuilding divisions because that's where the majority of competitors are competing in along with where their interests lie. I have been to bodybuilding shows where the Bodybuilding and Physique divisions had a whopping two or three athletes, and there was one competition that only had ONE competitor (and those competitions had fully stacked Figure and Bikini rosters. You can't be surprised that organizations are eliminating those when there are such few women competing in them in the first place, if at all. As an example, take the most recent dominant female bodybuilder, Andrea Shaw. She has 133K followers on Instagram. That's a good number until you look at some of the male bodybuilders' followings. Derek Lunsford, the current Mr Olympia champion, has 1.3 MILLION followers. Past winner Phil Heath has 4.3 million followers. The deceased Shawn Rhoden currently has 1.6 million followers even though he has been dead for almost three years. Yeah, we like muscular women and some of us are interested in both bodybuilding as a sport and also as the subject of our attraction, but we represent such a small number compared to the men.
And honestly, there is nothing wrong with selling sex. If it's something that's between consenting adults, who cares? Nobody except the very, very, very top of the sport make a living from competitions or even sponsorships, so if they get into something that pays them well, can you really blame them?
Yea, the sport has become sexualized, but how else are some of these ladies going to amass a fan base. Just being big isn't enough, they need to keep the people interested. Why else would Andrea Shaw, Helle Trevino, Shantelle Renae, Maria Liberman, and Angela Yeo go full nude for a photographer?
You said "the industry is turning a blind eye to this." they are. It's not like the 80s where a competitor could be suspended for a year for posing nude in something like Playboy. Doing something that now would be bad for business, and the higher-ups need all the business they can get.
Jennifer Scarpetta and Sydney Thunder might've looked a certain way in the past, but they're making far more money now. The competitions weren't paying, so they went on a more profitable route (it may be "sex products", but it's keeping the lights on, and that's all they care about).
And I agree with Gatsby28, downsizing and stepping away from competitive bodybuilding is not a bad thing. If their lives are moving elsewhere (i.e. keeping themselves healthy and on this planet longer), stepping back from competition is a logical choice, not one to be judged or demonized.
I think the contrary - as in, the sport has taken away almost all traces of "sexuality" away. If you look at contests from the past decades, especially the routines, you could see the women tried to appeal, to seduce the audience / judges more. Some routines involved a lot of gymnastics, dancing and even bits of contortionism. Couple that with smaller bodies, and you get buff athletes / dancers performing for the camera.
Today competitions are almost entirely focused on musculature: size, definition, symmetry, have reached top levels, including all divisions, to the point that the women on each and every of them are esentially pure muscle. Even more, the "smaller" divisions have replaced individual posing routines for Quarter Turns, becoming borderline parades.
Women moving away and making OF-like content is the logical conclusion to all this "desexualization" of the sport: people who consume it don't care too much about the rigid sport parameters; they just want to see buff women in a less...extreme shape and conditioning.
It's weird to sexualize anyone doing something intellectual or business related or political or what have you. But if the thing is about the body itself (which this definitely is) then of course its going to be sexualized. Of course men and women are gonna be like "damn that's hot" or "yeah I'm not attracted to that." We all have different tastes, obviously. I'm not really into the massive roided out/beefcake look and I kinda smirk when I see a guy comment that a girl needs to keep growing or get bigger again. But it's all inherently sexual. None of us are going to live forever and (at least subconsciously) we all know that. Outside of the military, which I happen to be in, you're really working out to look hot.
A) As other have noted, this is in no way something new. I remember reading an interview with Juliette Bergmann where she criticized Denise Masino for trying to fetishize the sport. This was the early 2000s, when pay sites like WPW were just starting. A lot of FBBs had their own sites with member only content. OF is just the newest version of this.
B) Women's weightlifting in mainstream culture has always been about sex appeal. "Flex Appeal" with Kiana Tom in the 90s was a fitness show with woman in bikinis. Cory Everson guest starred on Hercules in a chainmail bra. Magazines prominently featured fitness models on covers. Men have a degree of mainstream appeal thanks to 80s action movies and WWF. But women have always been treated as eye candy.
C) A sport about nearly nude oiled bodies on display for crowds is inherently sexual. One can still appreciate the work and dedication it takes. But no one is paying to see athletes in jeans and polos. It should come as no surprise that a sexy sport ends up being about sex.
Hot take, bodybuilding is not a sport. It’s a beauty contest with different criteria. Its sexualization is an inevitable byproduct.
Hot take, bodybuilding is not a sport. It’s a beauty contest with different criteria. Its sexualization is an inevitable byproduct.
Absolutely true! The IFBB is promoting sex and the organizers, managers and judges are a cohort of horny old dudes. BBing is not taken seriously for that reason. At least CrossFitters are demonstrating physical abilities.
Hot take, bodybuilding is not a sport. It’s a beauty contest with different criteria. Its sexualization is an inevitable byproduct.
Yeah; agree with that. It has all the characteristics, no matter if some people want to go middle ground and call it a "discipline". I recall calling it an aesthetics pageant on The Other Forum.
I have been thinking for quite sometime about the evolution of the sport and industry as a whole over the years especially with BIG shows like the Arnold continually eliminating female divisions from his show while increasing the prize amount and competitors in the bikini and wellness divisions aka the "more feminine looking" women according to some.
Then take ex big name athletes like Jennifer Scarpetta who has gone down hill since leaving the sport and going full porn star. We used to email back and forth regularly and I remember she was excited to study nursing then one day out of the blue she announces an OF page and changes her name. Now she looks in well let's say not so good shape.
Another example is Sydney Thunder who was a super knockout when she was in shape and competing and now is a full blown porn star.
What makes me shake my head is that this women make excuses for their choices by calling themselves "content creators" when the make nothing but sex products.
I bring this up because many women I have talked to at shows/ conventions or events they mention they feel like they should walk away because of how sexual Al the sport has become and how the fans they seem to be attracting aren't bodybuilding fans but porn fans and they feel very uncomfortable. Many have told me that's why on IG they turned off the ability to mention them and DM them.
Some have said they feel like the industry is turning a blind eye to this and secretly encouraging it.
How do you feel/ what do you think?