Marsh In The USA

If you thought Jodie Marsh had got into bodybuilding just to milk one last reality TV show out of her less than illustrious TV career, think again. Jodie Marsh won the title of Women's Fit Body Champion at the International Natural Bodybuilding Federation Natural North American Championships in Washington DC last week. And what is more, 'The Marsh Effect' (a phrase we have adopted here at Female Muscle Slave to describe the softening of the attitude of the mainstream media in the UK to women with muscle as a direct result of Jodie's bodybuilding adventure) has not gone away. In fact, it has taken on a new dimension altogether.



If you aren't familiar with Jodie's pre-bodybuilding career, her first contest and its aftermath, or what exactly 'The Marsh Effect' is, it might be a good idea to check out the previous posts on the subject here and here before reading on.



Jodie has been Stateside for a while now, and was picked up by the media here back in May being trained on Muscle Beach in California with UK female bodybuilder Carmen Knights. It's all in aid of her latest show for DMAX called Jodie Marsh: Brawn in the USA, which premieres in the UK on Wednesday (June 20th).



It came as no surprise to me that Jodie had decided to continue bodybuilding after the first show on  DMAX because not only had she expressed quite clearly that building a muscular physique had made her feel good about herself for the first time in her life, but also because as a result of that, she had received positive media, also for the first time in her life. Yes, of course there were detractors, the usual 'Yuk, she looks like a man' stuff, but they were drowned out by the congratulations and support.




And if she was happy then, after finishing fifth in a local pro-am contest in the UK, she is, quite rightly, over the moon now. In only her second show, she's a winner, tweeting I sincerely apologise if I get boring today but all day I am going to be saying. I'm the INBF CHAMPION!! Haha. Never been happier :-) As noted before on this blog, what comes across more than anything is the huge amount of personal satisfaction Jodie has gained from bodybuilding, and the consequent boost to her self-esteem that it has provided.




But for fans of female muscle like you and me, best of all has been 'The Marsh Effect'. Back in January Female Muscle Slave drew attention to the fact there had been at least one woman directly inspired by Jodie to take up bodybuilding. And guess what? That woman had also discovered that being strong and muscular had made her feel better than ever, both inside and out. Well, now 'The Marsh Effect' has taken another twist.



In an article posted on #socialvoices on MSN, a well-respected commentator on social issues, the marvellously-named Periwinkle Jones, asked Why is it still ok to body-shame muscular women? It was written mainly as a response to the negativity aimed at Jodie's new body from certain quarters.



In my opinion, this article is very very significant, whether five people read it or five million. I've read it, and as far as I can see it is the first time that someone from outside the world of female bodybuilding has equated the criticism of muscular women with criticism of other break-from-the-norm looks. The issue is that it is just another type of body (and one that, in Ms Jones' eyes anyway, is preferable to everybody conforming to the willowy, smooth-limbed ‘ideal’anyway. For the author, it's not a case of whether you like the look of a female bodybuilder or not. It's a case of the woman in question having the right to look any way she wants without being subjected to abuse.



Also significant is the phrasing of the question at the beginning of the article. Look again. Why is it still ok to body-shame muscular women? What this question suggests is not only that it shouldn't be OK, but also the still suggests that, like other looks that were once considered worthy of ridicule but have since become quite acceptable to many societies, one day, it will not 'be OK' to ridicule a muscular woman, regardless of any aesthetic consideration.



So, 'The Marsh Effect' marches on. If she keeps going at this rate, when they come to write the history of female bodybuilding a hundred years from now, Jodie may get a whole chapter to herself, not so much for her physique (although I must say she is looking particularly fine in these promo shots for her new supplement range) but for the way she is making people look at women with muscles in a very very different light.

Congratulations Jodie!