There is a campaign to get 10,000 likes and shares on Facebook for a documentary about one incredible athlete’s dream to reach the top of the bodybuilding profession. If I ask you to go to the site and like it you probably would because it’s a simple request and after all, you all have heard of Arnold Schwarzenegger (Terminator, Predator, Conan) and Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk). However, if I ask you to go do it for Bev Francis, Iris Kyle, and the late Kaye Baxter, would you know who I was writing about? Would you even care?
TOO BIG FOR THE WORLD is a documentary about Ms. Irene Andersen, an International Female Body Building professional, and she is one of the biggest female bodybuilders in muscularity in the world. She is in incredible shape. She has wanted to compete in the Ms. Olympia since she was eighteen years of age, that was thirty years ago. Ms. Andersen is a mother of three and an entrepreneur. She has a hotel and a gym. She has trained for decades with weights and Thai boxing. She did not compete until she was 36 years old, an age where many athletes have long retired. She earned her pro card in Sweden and eventually competed in the USA.
The documentary chronicles her life and career. You’ll see guest appearances from bodybuilders like, 8 time Ms. Olympia champion, Ms. Lenda Murray, and Ms. Olympia competitor, Helle Nielsen, as well as photographer, Bill Dobbins, who has phenomenally photographed the male and female physique. The film also shows her organizing with other female bodybuilders and supporters in an attempt to confront those who have been shutting down the female bodybuilding competitions. You read that right, there is a movement to end female bodybuilding competitions permanently. This year, the European Championship and the World Championship eliminated the female bodybuilding competition. The divisions no longer exist. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the name most attached to championship bodybuilding, has a bodybuilding competition named after him, “The Arnold Classic”. Unbelievably, The Arnold Classic itself has also closed its women’s division. It was dropped in favor of another professional men’s bodybuilding division.
Here’s a brief history : The first US Women’s championship was held in Canton, Ohio in 1978. It was the US Women’s National Physique Championship. In the 1980s, a health craze swept the country and it gave more exposure to the sport of women’s bodybuilding. 1980 saw the first of Ms. Olympia competition. The 1980s had such superstars as the late Kaye Baxter, Rachel McLish, Carla Dunlap, Kike Elomaa, and 6 time consecutive Ms. Olympia, Cory Everson, who holds the distinction of being the only woman to retire undefeated in the sport. These lovely ladies of muscle were seen in music videos, film, and television. Kike Elomaa even found further fame as a politician.
In the late 1980s however, the sport met some controversy. Competitor Tonya Knight, in the wake of evidence brought before her, had to admit that she had someone else take the mandatory drug test. She had to return her winnings from the 1988 Ms. Olympia and the 1989 Ms. International. Ms. Knight did redeem herself by returning to competition and winning fair and square. Along with bodybuilders Raye Hollitt and the late Shelly Beattie, Ms. Knight was a gladiator on the American game show, American Gladiators. In the 1990s, things got worse for the competitive sport. In 1991, Bev Francis, a power lifter turned bodybuilder lost at the last minute to defending champion, Lenda Murray, in a controversial decision. To add insult to injury, Bev Francis faced the insults and discrimination that is still facing the female bodybuilder today. She was called a Lesbian, a man, a transexual..some things that men in bodybuilding do not face.
Why the hypocrisy?
Ms. Francis questioned how muscles make a woman a lesbian; after all both sexes have the same muscles in them as part of their human physiques. She never got an intelligent response. In 1992, there was an attempt to “feminize” woman’s competitive bodybuilding. An attempt to feminize women. Does that sound like any sense to you? What is the definition of feminine? Fragile? Weak? A lady in distress, or Wonder Woman? In the 1980s Rachel McLish lost her title because she did not have enough muscularity. In 1991, Canada-born, Sharon Bruneau, a former fashion model, entered the sport and suddenly shortly after there was a call for more femininity and less muscularity.
Female bodybuilding contests found themselves pitted against the more glorified, more “feminine” female fitness competitions which seemed more like some voyeuristic show of cheerleaders on stage. It didn’t help female bodybuilding either when actor and comedian, Jim Carrey, mocked female bodybuilding with his “I want to be a buff neck” song. There is some justice. The women he mocked had won Ms. Olympia titles while he still has not won an Oscar. In 1992, the judges’ decisions in both the Ms. International and Ms. Olympia competitions were met with a chorus of boos from the fans. It was obvious that “the fix” was in and that politics were inplay instead of honest decisions. The 1990s also saw the emergence of Laura Creavalle, Laura Binetti, and Kim Chizevsky-Nicholls who beat Ms. Murray for her first Ms. Olympia title and went on to win three more titles consecutively. Ms. Chizevsky-Nicholls is the first lady to win both the Ms. International and Ms. Olympia in the same year.
In 1999, the economics almost ended the competition. The Ms. Olympia was cancelled just one month prior to the date of the competition because of low ticket sales. The popularity of the sport was down but public backlash from the fans emboldened some sponsors to step forward and Ms. Chizevsky-Nicholls won her final Olympia title. Then the worst happened in 2000. Judge Committee Chairman, Jim Manion, decreed that the women competitors would be judged by their femininity. Their face, makeup, and skin tone will be taken into account as well the muscularity of their physique which was not to be too muscular. Um…it’s a body building competition.
In the 2000 Ms. Olympia, there was no overall winner. Both Andrulla Blanchette and Valentia Chepiga won the title in their respective weight classes. In 2005, Manion struck again with another decree: that all female contestants lower their muscularity by 20%. In other words, he was telling these dedicated, hardworking women to take it easy and look more feminine, which one can rightly assume to mean look smaller, thinner, and weaker than the men who felt their masculinity threatened. What’s next? Should the women wear burqas and be covered from head to toe ? It’s a BODYBUILDING competition. That means muscle, mass. It’s in the definition of the word itself–BODY —BUILD. How much more explaining do they need?
According to the documentary, the producers and director have uncovered evidence of discrimination, prejudice, and downright hatred toward female bodybuilders of every color, size, and nationality. It is a woman’s issue but not to be overlooked by men. Seriously guys, your mother, grandmother, aunt, sisters, wives, daughters, female friends, girlfriends, and female cousins happen to be women in case you somehow overlooked that minor fact. While many find trouble with female bodybuilders, many others find female bodybuilders to be awesome. To them, the female bodybuilder exudes confidence, determination, and commitment to excellence, all of which they find to be sexy. Their dedication to their health and fitness is evident in their physiques and they still have the curves in the right places. They are still sexy, still feminine. If you are a male and have issues with their femininity then perhaps you have issues with your masculinity. Is the discrimination due to the current Ms. Olympia who has more wins than any man, including Ronnie Coleman and Arnold Schwarzenegger? Is there a push to turn Ms. Olympia into a glorified Miss America or Miss Universe beauty pageant?
Please help have this documentary made. It’s Ms. Anderson’s story and it’s history.
Americans can make a tax-deductible contribution through the sponsor, From The Heart Productions. The goal in this campaign is to raise $20,000 in funds to finish the documentary. At the time of this writing, they have received about $2,000. If ten thousand of you read this and send in two measly dollars (just 8 quarters), the producers will have enough money to complete this visual journey. Time is of the essence. They have just until August 22, 2014 to raise the cash or they will have to postpone production and the premiere itself which I plan on attending in the beginning of 2016.
If you cannot contribute, you can share their Facebook page and help get the word out through social media. There is a petition to save female bodybuilding on their Facebook page as well as a contest where you can win prizes in thanks of showing your support. Remember, the documentary is not just about Ms. Irene Andersen or her dream of competing in the Ms. Olympia. She faces tough competition. The defending champ is Ms. Iris Kyle who has won 8 consecutive Ms. Olympias. She has 9 wins overall. That’s more than any other women or man has ever won in the Olympia. Ms. Kyle also has a record of 7 Ms. International victories. Many of the female bodybuilders mentioned are still active because it is a lifestyle to them, not a fad that it was to many in the 1980s. Although these women are no longer competing, they have their own Facebook pages, so check them out as well.
TOO BIG FOR THE WORLD is a documentary about the survival of the Ms. Olympia itself. If it gets shut down like the other female competitive bodybuilding competitions, then female bodybuilding as a competitive sport will be just history.