Image Removed Copyright Violation

"Image Removed Copy Right Violation" Did you have trouble because of that????? asked a concerned reader just before Christmas, commenting on a post from April 2013, Sarah and Me: At Home With Sarah II, after he noticed all the images originally posted there had been replaced by the copyright violation message.



Did I have trouble because of it?

Well, in the sense it was meant, no. I wasn't contacted by anyone. I wasn't warned or threatened for the use of copyrighted material. The images were there one day and gone the next, removed, I assume, by the image host I had used to upload them.

However, there is a story to it. A story that might be called:
What Happens When People Who Shouldn't Read My Blog Read My Blog.



The story begins at the end of March last year with yours truly posting a week-long tribute to one of my all-time favourite female bodybuilders, Sarah Dunlap. Two of the posts were confessional, explaining how certain images of Sarah had served to trigger a particular fantasy in my imagination, and the specific post At Home With Sarah II placed this fantasy within the context of my fantasies about female bodybuilders in general, and my own personal experience of muscle worship with a martial artist while I was living in Italy in the 1990s.

It's one of my most personal posts, and it is also one of the pieces of writing I am most proud of. As well as that, it's also one my favourites because the feedback I've received about it from readers suggests that it is something that some, if not all, female muscle fans can relate to, and its enduring popularity seems to confirm that.



About a week after it was posted, the number of hits it received went through the roof.

On a normal day, the blog will get about 1,500-2,000 page views. Suddenly, that post alone was getting 500+ hits an hour, and my 'blogger dashboard' told me the source of the hits was a (regular, not a fans of female) bodybuilding forum.

I followed the link back to the forum, where I found a discussion thread about Sarah on which my fantasy woman herself was engaging in the conversation.



At first, I was excited at the thought that Sarah had read the post, perhaps all the posts about her that week. But this excitement quickly turned to horror.

The link to FMS had been posted with a question:

What's the deal with your shmoe's story ??

Eh?

And Sarah had replied: Who is THIS [writing about me]? WHO are they talking about? I have no shmoe story, except for the one where I laugh...

And it got worse when one of the forum members put up the whole post there.

Sarah: You know what is funny about this? Those photos were taken by Land of Venus. I got put up in a resort in Phoenix for two days, made $2,000 for the shoot (only about 4 hours of photo shoot, but they will never go away!) and now somebody says they were there?

Now I've read and re-read it as a result of this experience, and for the life of me I simply cannot understand why ANYONE whose first language is English (and anyone else with a reasonable command of English) could POSSIBLY think that I was claiming to have had a muscle worship experience with Sarah herself - that I was actually 'there'. But this is what it was clear she (and others) thought I was saying...

Sarah: This is why I never did another shoot for pay like that again. I signed off on it... One shoot in my life I lose rights to, and look what happens? Thanks for the information, will have to send my manager there to flag the content... it's just wrong.

And then the images disappeared to be replaced by...



A few days after the images disappeared I considered deleting the whole post. I even considered deleting the entire blog, albeit briefly. I'm glad I didn't.

In one sense, Sarah was quite right. It is wrong. I often post photos I have no right to post. It's amazing that in the two and a half years FMS has existed that this is the one and only instance of anyone objecting to the use of the images.

On top of that, nor do I have any right to complain that something I wrote and posted on the internet has been misconstrued. I fully understand that he who lives by the blog runs the risk of dying by the blog, as it were!

Perhaps I shouldn't be so sensitive about it. One bad review and look at me, taking up your time moaning away about how misunderstood I am. But you did ask!

I'd like to think I've never had any complaints from the hundreds of other women I've written about, or from the photographers whose work I have praised or used to illustrate my writing, because they understand that FMS is my way of showing my appreciation to them, and that is the spirit in which they take it. I've never been contacted by a photographer directly, and on the rare occasions these wonderful women have got in touch, or mentioned the blog elsewhere, comments have been universally positive, and I am extremely grateful for that.

But most of all, I'm grateful for the fact that creating this blog has put me in touch with other female muscle fans. People I have never met (nor am I likely to ever meet) but who care enough to actually be concerned that I might have got myself into trouble.

People who should read the blog.

Abs Week: Muscular Abs in Motion

Today, a personal selection of gifs with abs from the genius that is responsible for Muscular Girls in Motion on Tumblr.

WARNING! Some of these are just a little bit naughty, so you might not want to scroll down too far if you are at work or another place where you're not completely at ease with images of sexy muscular women showing off their sexy six-packs wearing nothing but the skin they're in.

Firstly, let us never forget that hot abs are the results of hard work.

Next up, Patricia Houston takes a breath that takes my breath away. 

Among other things.

Sara Butler takes her abs seriously...

... but Katka K. and Sarah D. can't stop smiling.

And who can blame them? 

Don't worry, it's not getting naughty just yet.

Now, how about a little wiggle?

You like? I thought you would. 

I'm pretty sure you'll like this too.

And I'm pretty sure this is abs legend Karen Zaremba.

I always find it's best to get oily before you get naughty, don't you?

And there's no one I'd rather get oily with than Oana.

NAUGHTINESS STARTS HERE

If it's Autumn, it's probably naughty...

Gosh that exercise looks like fun!

How does Victoria Dominguez aka Mistress Treasure 

spend her evenings do you think? Like this, probably. 

And finally, the climax of today's post.

Perfection.

Why not drop by Muscular Girls in Motion and give this man (I assume it's a man, anyway) some appreciation and love. He works hard for our viewing pleasure!

Enjoy!

Sarah And Me: Jan Tana 2007

After winning her pro card in 2002, at the age of only 22, it took Sarah five hard years to reach her peak as a pro. There were promising results in 2005, when she finished 3rd in the IFBB Charlotte Pro behind Jitka Harazimova and Betty Pariso, and 4th in the New York Pro, with only Riveccio, Foster and Calo ahead of her.

But a year later at the Europa, she came in 13th, albeit in a very competitive field. I had so much going on in my life and so many distractions. I didn’t give it 100% and I know that. Then on top of that, I get there and everyone who I depended on to help me with the last minute touches like color, meals and even a ride from the airport just totally bailed on me last minute. That show was… forget it. I don’t even want to think about it, she said in an interview the following year.

Her next show was to be the 2007 Jan Tana. A chance to revive her fortunes and to qualify for the Miss Olympia for the first time, which she was desperate to do. She had trained as hard as ever, and the fact that the show was taking place on her birthday seemed to be a good omen.

In 2007, I couldn’t imagine what a live stream of a female bodybuilding show was, nor was I aware of the sort of play-by-play commentary you get these days on forums like Bodybuilding.com. But the Jan Tana that year was the first contest I remember ‘following’, anticipating the day, scouring the internet for news and for the results.




Sarah was in the best shape of her life, but, in a field of only four lightweights, she was up against two of the best: Dena Westerfield and Marja Lehtonen.



While Sarah had struggled at the Europa in 2006, Dena Westerfield had been runner-up there, been to the Olympia, and had already finished 4th behind Mah-Ann Mendoza, Debbie Bramwell and Debi Laszewski at the 2007 Europa. Marja Lehtonen had been competing since the early ‘90s, was a Miss Olympia and Jan Tana veteran with years of top 3 finishes behind her.









So after a crowd-pleasing routine, had she done enough to win?





She’d done more than enough. Sarah had won every round, and having beaten Dena and Marja, she also took the Overall title, defeating Heavyweight winner Stephanie Kessler. Sarah had won her first (and so far only, pro title).





My Muscle Queen had been crowned. Well, she’d got a tiara and a bunch of flowers. So, there it was, a female bodybuilding contest with the result I wanted. Little did I suspect what a rare occurrence that would be...



Hope you have enjoyed my trip down memory lane with one of my very favourite female bodybuilders.

See Sarah on you tube
Purchase Sarah on Clips for Sale
Follow her on Tumblr
Treat her to something from her wishlist on Amazon

Sarah And Me: Her Biceps 2007

2007 was something of an annus mirabilis for Sarah, as she reached her peak as a pro bodybuilder with her first and only contest win, and, in a series of photo sets for HerBiceps.com, made me (and I'm sure I'm not the only one) a very happy man!




I've chosen some of my favourites from those sets for this penultimate post of Sarah and Me Week. They show Sarah at her most beautiful and most muscular. As ever, the camera loves her. She never looked better.




As with other women who moved from the asymmetric bars to the barbells (Natalia Murnikoviene and Gillian Kovack come to mind straight away), Sarah never had 'weak' legs, and used her gymnastics to enliven in her routines. It'll take a better man than me to put into words exactly what that 'something' is, but there's definitely something about ex-gymnasts who turn to bodybuilding, isn't there?




One of the photo sets (and as I recall, some accompanying clips) show Sarah with 'Samantha', a non-bodybuilder who nevertheless seems to have some fitness credentials. I loved (and still love) the juxtaposition of the two women. It's almost like looking at two different species. And Sarah is without doubt the superior of the two!





Enjoy!

Sarah and Me Week finishes tomorrow with Sarah at the 2007 Jan Tana.

Sarah And Me: At Home With Sarah II

There are some female muscle fans for whom the whole attraction of muscle women is their ability to dominate. These guys’ idea of heaven is having the crap beaten out of them, or being choked into unconsciousness between a pair of muscular thighs etc etc. There are some who want to be dominated on a wrestling mat, forced to submit and then worship, others more into the Robert Crumb lift and carry thing. For me, it’s never been about this.



Maybe I’m not your typical female muscle fan!



In my fantasies about female bodybuilders (and actual experience with muscular non-FBBs) muscle worship is like the foreplay. Not that I would object to (nor have I objected to) a bit of flexing during sex (or before, or after for that matter!) But I have no interest in being battered, dominated or ‘forced’ to do anything. I’d rather see a woman showing off her strength, flexibility or muscularity.



More specifically, I can say that the single greatest chat-up line that was ever thrown my way was by a martial artist (kung fu to be exact). After a minimum of preliminaries, she simply asked ‘How do you feel about women with muscle?’ and before I could say anything, she flexed her leg. My hand was already on its way to her thigh (she was wearing a long skirt so I couldn’t see her muscles) by the time she’d indicated with her eyes that I was to touch.



In the short time I knew her (we met abroad while I was visiting a different city to where I was based), I experienced for the first time, and really the only time, a woman who wanted her body appreciated in almost the exact way I’d always dreamed about appreciating a muscular woman’s body. Having her muscles ‘worshipped’ was how she warmed up for sex. It sometimes involved her doing her kung fu moves in varying states of undress while I watched and told her how sexy she looked and how turned on I was getting, and then moved onto me touching her. Or we would skip the first bit and get straight to the kissing, stroking and oiling. But this was all a prelude to the sexual act, not the be all and end all itself.



Some female bodybuilders spend more time being photographed naked than clothed, and I have absolutely no problem with that, absolutely no problem at all. Others never go nude, and again, there's nothing wrong with that. It's her body, her decision. The cherry on the cream on the cake though, as far as I'm concerned, anyway, is when your favourite muscle woman goes nude for the first time. So when these images of Sarah first went up on Land of Venus, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.




It's almost as if the photographer had read my mind. As I wrote about in At Home With Sarah I, imagining domestic life with her almost became my favourite hobby for a while (the doctor cleared me by the way). And though I'd never seen Sarah in her altogether before, I'd certainly imagined it. But I'd also imagined the scenario - watching her shower, towelling her off, oiling her muscles, etc. etc. It was uncanny how close these images were to my muscle worship preferences, and to my ultimate Sarah fantasy. This was no doubt because it was just such a predictable fantasy, but nevertheless, there it was, right before my eyes.