Customer Reviews

The Women

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a female bodybuilder and I HATE the cheesecake photos of physique women I see in the bodybulding magazines. The pictures in The Women, on the other hand, are artistic and respectful of what these female bodybuilders have achieved. I think Bill Dobbins is to women with muscle what Ansel Adams was to Yosemite, and Dobbins' photos will be the ones people still look at 50 years from now. Okay, I guess I tipped my hand..I really like the book!

I found the photos in this book to be quite beautiful. The women are shown as exotic, beautiful bodybuilders - not gross overly muscular freaks, nor phony "Miss America" plastic beauty queens. And for those of you that are wondering, yes there are nudes in the book. Why that detail is always ignored in reviews is beyond me. I guess they want to make you buy it before that is disclosed.

"The women" here are unprecedented in history: women with much greater muscularity and strength than many men (including me). Until the 1980s, women did not have the chance to build this huge muscularity. Yet within a few years, massively muscular female bodybuilders (FBBs) were on the scene. Are these women (1) grotesque freaks or (2) a new kind of femininity? The author thinks it's #2 and presents these photos are proof.

None of "the women" here look like men in drag. All have elements of conventional femininity: stunning faces, luxurious coiffures, slender waists, and curvaceous hips. Some model seductive lingerie. But the also have massive biceps, shoulders, and backs, as well as hard, flat, strapping chests with virtually no bosom. (As part of their exercise regiment and diet, FBBs tend to increase their chest size while dramatically losing breast mass.)

So what are "the women": half man/half woman monsters or a new kind of "muscular femininity"--elements of traditional womanhood combined with a new look of strength and power? For me, it's a "new femininity." The elements of traditional womanhood are so seductively powerful in these women that I could never call them masculine. The best description for them is "titanic." The Titans in Greek mythology were a race of massively muscular men and women--the women far more muscular than an ordinary man. Yet the Titan women still had al the traditional elements of womanhood at the same time. And that's "the women."

Two concluding observations from reading this book. First, what we look for in a woman's body depends on what we expect from them. If we expect clinging fragility, we look for a weak, delicate body. But in the age of Xenia, "muscular femininity" no longer sounds like an oxymoron. Second, if a man regards these women as freaks, it may be because he is encountering (for the first time, perhaps) a woman who is more muscular than he, threatening his sense of masculinity. As a small, quite unmuscular man, I long ago realized that not all men are muscular, nor all women weak. Ladies such as "the women" teach us that muscle alone does not define either masculinity or femininity, and they make us more accepting of people who don't meet traditional stereotypes of womanhood or manhood.

In conclusion, this book is a MUST for any man (like me) who admires and is attracted to very strong, muscular, yet feminine women. People with negative stereotypes of FBBs will have them challenged. The photos themselves are creative, artistic, dramatic, and seductive.

My favorite photo: the cover shot of the massive Nikki Fuller in a perfect combination of demure femininity and regal muscularity. A true Amazon Queen!

I found this book, with its exquisite pictures, sexy and very entertaining. The women are lovely, sexy and strong, and as a gay woman, I truly appreciate that combination.

This book is a marvel. It portrays many of the world's leading female bodybuilders in challenging and alluring poses. The pictures of Sharon Bruneau are reason enough to buy the book. It has brightened up many a long night for me.

This book contains an outstanding collection of photographs of some of the most exquisite, stunning female bodybuilders in the world...a must have if you have a differing view of feminine beauty. Also includes an article about womens' bodybuilding, and about the sport's struggle against the prevailing standard of femininity

This book remained on my coffee table for years. I wanted others to see how beautiful feminine muscle could be. The pictures are just magnificent. They are of some of the top female bodybuilders of that time. Today, it seems the sport is taking a turn in a downward direction. The sport is constantly struggling to get the recognition & respect it deserves. This book is an excellent portrayal of "Female Beauty".

If you have ever wanted to see the true form of bodybuilding's greatest women competitors, this is the place to see them....stunning photography, and stunning women!!! A must for those who truly adore the well defined feminine form!!

This is the book is awesome. Bill Dobbins makes proves female bodybuilders are absolutely beautiful, especially Suzan Kaminga.

Raye Hollit and Lenda Murray are just great looking women based on the chiseled shaped definition of muscle tone and looks.