9/16: The Body Builder: Discussion on Femininity
When watching Pumping Iron II, some things stuck out to me. The male dancer, husband to one of the competitors, played a character similar to that of a stripper. I noted that this role is typically given to women in movies and was therefore unconventional and did step outside gender boundary norms. Furthermore, his wife is attempting to financially rescue them by winning the Vegas body building competition. This scenario thus presents her as the breadwinner and him as somewhat of a wife. Again, interesting and somewhat revolutionary on how the directors set up this sub-plot.
What I also noticed is that Bev was clearly made to appear extremely masculine. Her makeup, jewelry and outfits paled in comparison to those of the other contestants in terms of womanliness. This contrast between the more feminine competitors and Bev was a clear critique of femininity and what truly defines femininity. To me, it appeared that the judges expected contestants to be ½ feminine (as in soft and girly) and ½ muscle tone; basically, the judges wanted the degree of muscle in the women competitors to only reach a certain level.
As discussed in class, some wanted these body builders to not look too masculine because the sport was meant to turn people on, not off. The judges scored lower at times if they felt that a contestant appeared to masculine/ was a turn-off. This idea of a feminine-muscular technique, to me, seems like an oxymoron and an appearance that is hardly easy to attain.
I was angry that Bev did not place well in the competition because this was not meant to be a beauty pageant. As a body building competition, scoring should have been based on the build of these women’s bodies and therefore, who had the most muscle.
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