Home Talk Live Lori Contests Nutrition Homegrown Training Galleries Muscle Scoop Die Welt About Us		THREE DIMENSIONAL WOMEN Reflections on the writings of Lisa Bavington "The following article represents the opinion of the author and not those of femalemuscle.com. Also, the facts as represented in this article have been reported by the author and femalemuscle.com does not warrant these facts to be true. As in all opinion articles, we welcome further dialogue, response, and presentation of opposing opinions and presentation of factual matters." Introduction About a year ago, I happened upon a gallery of photos of Female bodybuilder Lisa Bavington. Like many people, I was struck by her amazing physical development and radiant smile that, literally, jumped through my computer screen. Over the next two months, I e-mailed Lisa a series of training and conditioning questions. I'm sure some of my queries were trivial, but she was always gracious, generous, and very informative in all her replies. Recently, she took me by surprise again when a series of essays, authored by Bavington, appeared on the Femalemuscle website and established her as an "intellectual " powerhouse as well. In these essays, Bavington is challenging old notions, positively offering sound solutions and, quite possibly, redefining female bodybuilding for the 21st century. I would like to offer my thoughts on one article since I've taken the time to meditate on it's content and maybe open up the dialogue on the issues she's raised. Photo And Language Traps I will confine my remarks to her piece "Modern Amazons”, since her other article "Guilt by Association" is brilliant and there is nothing in it I would disagree with. Incidentally there a many more articles at her own website all worth reading and taking to heart. "Modern Amazons" is a kind of book review/tribute to the wonderful photographic artistry of Mr. Bill Dobbins. Bavington sees Dobbins' photography and two published books as doing the work of advocacy for female bodybuilding. No doubt in my mind that Dobbins treats the female physique with respect and care to the point that his work is in a league by itself. Whether they are nude, semi-nude or Levis and t-shirt, his camera work can, at times, be breathtaking. What I would caution a reader though is photos may well be a snare as well as a voice. By this I mean that, in an ultimate sense, mere photos can still leave the conclusion that female bodybuilding's main focus is sensuality. Bavington also quotes Dobbins in the article that part of the problem of perceptions of "FBB'S" is "cultural surroundings, as they tend to reflect our own biases due to strong societal opposition". The problem with that line of reasoning is it's as much a trap as photography is. One has to be totally outside the human experience in order to make that absolute judgment. At the risk of sounding crass, Mr. Dobbins is not an alien from another planet. When we say we're culturally conditioned, how could we ever be certain that statements like "culturally conditioned" wasn't also "culturally conditioned". Teenage Boys And Academics In Lisa Bavington's articles there is a thread that runs through out the writing, which is the exploitation and degradation of female bodybuilders within and outside the industry. In order to be fair though, we should mention that there are many professions and hobbies that are looked upon in a condescending manner. Check yourself the next time you speak to the gas station attendant or minimum-wager at the fast food counter. I've worn those hats in the past and, more often than not, you're treated like the scum-of-the earth...(but I digress) When I was in high school, I recall, several times, a little episode, which embarrasses me now. After school, me and my buddies would walk home and occasionally detour to a local convenience store. We’d buy some artery-clogging snacks and then check the magazine rack on our way out. If the new bodybuilding mags were in, we'd admire the men and laugh at the "freakazoid " women. I don't think, during that time, that my little mind ever thought in terms of human dignity. Those ladies were pages in a magazine and nothing more. In researching the public library for scholarly treatments on female bodybuilding, I discovered that academicians tended toward the same types of conclusions. If you can believe it, I read articles in journals, which said FBB's were secretly Marxists, or Freudian manifestations, militant feminist archetypes and possibly space aliens. I also read Leslie Howard's book "Bodymakers" which frankly told us more about Ms. Howard than female bodybuilding. Sadly, I found that whether a pimple-faced high schooler or someone sitting in an intellectual think tank, we continue to categorize these women one-dimensionally. A Change Of Heart For the last 18 years, I've been a letter carrier with the U.S. Postal service. I've worked in offices in Southern California and Portland Oregon. During these years I've become acquainted with four pro and semi-pro female bodybuilders. Three of them were residents on my routes and one was a co-worker and I've seen qualities in these ladies that (pardon the expression) converted me to a simple truth... female bodybuilders are real, flesh and bone, people. First of all I observed these women were all remarkably positive and up beat. I never knew them to be negative; they always made the best of bad situations and seemed to be optimistic. Secondly I found out they were amazingly well educated. They could converse on a number of subjects very intelligently, some had college degrees (or were working toward one) and I was always impressed with the latest book they were reading. Thirdly, They always came across as generous (like Lisa Bavington) with training information and even nice, thoughtful Christmas gifts for the mailman. Fourthly, there was a real courage in these ladies to continue in something that they were harassed by friends and family for. Their patience, reserve and grace were something to behold. Finally one cannot deny the beauty these women shared. Not the photographic, make up and lighting beauty, but the aura of presence they carried, which I’ve found out, is spelled c-o-n-f-i-d-e-n-c-e. Again, It seems simplistic but it dawned on me one day that, like me, female bodybuilders agonize over balancing a check book, like me, they probably enjoy a gorgeous sunset, Like me, they, no doubt, like to kick out the" Friday blues" and go out dancing, and like me they were emotionally drained on 9/11/01. Parting Shots Thousands of years ago, king Solomon in the books of Proverbs made a very interesting comment about women:" She girds herself with strength and strengthens her arms" Proverbs 31:17. In this chapter on describing a woman of virtue, Solomon, I believe is mentioning the intuitive nature women alone have about their bodies. Their strength is first inner and then becomes an outer manifestation, which enhances their beauty. This certainly verifies what I’ve come to know about these special ladies. All of them need to be viewed as individuals who desire to accomplish something in their life that is tangible and memorable. NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS. To all those in the FBB, let these women flourish and grant them the self-respect you give the men. The women pose no threat to your or my masculinity; they are pursuing a sport NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS. King Solomon once again weighs in on this subject when he address the women's fruit of labor should "let her own works praise her in the gates" Proverbs 31:31 I would have to say Lori Braun at her website and Lisa Bavington in her articles are honoring and praising these women in a manner that is worthy of the fruit of their labor. Teri Tucker