The Look of Love: Mirror Mirror

Yesterday's musings about how it feels to be the hottest, most lusted after physique competitor in the world and then going up on stage and showing it all off while your fans are going wild... Well, it's had me thinking all sorts of things about the FBB and their body image. Or to put it another way, I've been delving in the FMS archives for images of musclelicious self-admiration. FBBs looking at themselves, looking at their own beautiful muscles, with what can only be described as "The Look of Love".



It's easy to imagine that Marja is thinking what a stone cold alpha muscle goddess she is. She's saying to herself, It's so sexy that my bicep is as big as my head. She's perhaps wondering if she should maybe tone it down a shade or two on the tan next time, but that all in all, she's feeling somewhat enamoured of her own amazing body.



And it's also easy to imagine Joanna getting all turned on by her own reflection. After all, it's a very arousing reflection, so naturally I'd assume she's arousing herself by looking at it. Joanna's clearly taking her time drinking it all in. Each muscle flexed and appreciated in turn until she can't bear it anymore and just rips off her top and starts to hit most muscular and abs and thigh poses till she collapses, panting for breath.




FBBs are always looking at themselves in the mirror. I reckon Denise Rodrigues likes what she sees when she looks in the mirror at the gym. Nathalie Foreau isn't about to miss an opportunity to check out how cut and sexy she is when there's a mirror in the lift. Denise has barely got in the door and she's ripping off her clothes and flexing in front of one of her (many many) mirrors. And meanwhile back at the gym, they've switched off most of the lights and shut up the office, but none of the weary staff are about to ask Eva Lagerhorn Blum if she'd like to call it a night on the mirror posing.



Obviously, my imaginings are my own fantasy of what a muscle woman sees and feels when she flexes for herself in the mirror. I was curious to see if there was anything out there written by the women themselves. In time-honoured research tradition here at FMS, I typed a few words into Google. And I found this on Tumblr...



I love my sport. But with it comes a negative side. Just like anything. The distortion you get of your own body is crazy. Please know that when I say I feel like a fat cow I’m serious. I mean it for myself and myself only. I have no expectations on anyone else and how they look. Being insanely lean and depleted of all water is very unhealthy and I realize that. However, the image that sticks in a competitors head is that day or two before the show. I realize that I’m not fat on anyone else’s terms. But for me and the way I see myself I feel like a size 16 when in reality I’m a 4.

Clearly my imaginings were not 100% on the nail. But, hey, it's not ALL bad news. Granted, it is a bit of a shame that this particular NPC competitor can suffer from the kind of insecurities about body image that can afflict anyone, but on the other hand, she does imply that around contest time she is going to be lovin' her muscular body in the mirror all over again. And thankfully, most of the mirror-posing photo shoots Swell found in the FMS archive just happened to have been taken with the women getting into, in, or post-contest shape, so we can all just go back to the fantasy.

With added definition!



Figure turned pro physique competitor Cydney Gillon admires herself - her contest-ready self - backstage during her amateur days. Perhaps she is thinking what sensational genetics she has been blessed with, that she has the potential to be really big, big like Lenda. Or perhaps she is just thinking that with this much muscle already she had better start planning for a career in the physique division now. She might be wishing that the NPC would allow her to pose in a thong, that it's a damn shame all that work she has put into getting her glutes so very tight isn't going to be fully appreciated by the judges or the crowd. But I think she's looking at her baseball biceps. I think she's loving how they peak when she twists her wrists inwards. I think she's been there twisting those wrists back and forth for a while, hypnotised by her own strong body, utterly lost in admiration of her own hard, pumped muscles...

Oooof! Got a bit lost myself there.



And if I start imagining what a glistening, rippling, and self-admiring Nicole Ball (and when she was still a bodybuilder to boot!) is thinking about here, then I may get myself so lost I may never be able to find my way back to reality again. So you will have to imagine this one for yourselves. I'm sure, dear reader, you are more than capable.

Enjoy!

Dani Gets Chills in Orlando

Towards the end of March, FMS brought you news of Danielle Reardon's sensational showing at the St. Louis Pro (see WOW! Dani Reardon in St. Louis). Her package of stunning beauty and ripped, defined muscularity got the attention of the whole female muscle lovin' world - by giving it a good hard slap in the mush and saying 'look at me'.

Suddenly all those 'physique is not for me' purists were saying they had believed physique was a good idea all along, citing the delicious Dani as proof. FMS reported at the time that an ecstatic post-contest Lil Monstar had confessed I can't wait to do it again on her Facebook page. Well, exactly 34 days after St. Louis, Danielle was doing it again in her home state of Florida at the Europa Show of Champions in Orlando.



34 days. That's a fair old time to maintain your body in peak condition. Surely she couldn't bring the same razor-sharp conditioning to Orlando... But if anything, the Orlando package improved on the perfection of St. Louis, as Dani took to the stage so shredded that we had an even better view at all her juicy muscles this time.



If it'd been a fan vote, Dani could have walked out in sack cloth and taken home the winner's cheque, but, you know, it was an IFBB show, so there were judges and stuff. In a high quality field (more about them real soon) Dani was awarded 4th place.



And the verdict is... 4th place!!!! posted a far from disappointed-sounding Dani on her Instagram. Finally a top five finish in my home town! And two more points towards the Olympia. I just want to let everyone know that I heard you all screaming for me! It not only gave me chills on stage, the fact that so many people were there to support me and cheer me on meant more to me than any placing...



Well, here here! And she must know what a tither she's getting us all into. Dani is a goddess, says one fan on the forum whose first rule is you do not talk about it. Yes. What a goddess!!!! another replies. She is perfectly built for physique, with perfectly developed legs and arms, reads another post. Yes, says I, and her back, her shoulders, her hard striated pecs and her insanely lickable abs aren't too shabby either.



And it's not just us guys. On her Facebook page there is tribute after tribute from her girl fans. Your physique is amazing, I'm working on getting mine like yours, I love it! confesses one DaniGrl. I saw you compete at the Europa! writes another. Such a beautiful physique! I look up to you so much. I mean she MUST know.



She did say I heard you all screaming for me, didn't she? She KNOWS. She knows she is admired by women and lusted over by men (and probably most of the women who admire her too). She knows she is an object of female muscle desire. She knows and when she's on that stage showing that most desirable body off, it gives her "chills".



Now I'm not the most up on American English these days, but all the references to "chills" in US popular culture that I know are definitely not about feeling cold. It's an onerous task, but take a good look at these images of Dani in Orlando at her best, at her most goddess yet. See if you can spot when exactly she is feeling those "chills". I'm not saying I know the answer, but I am saying it is a fun game to play.



Or better yet, watch her whole routine. I reckon she gets that feeling at about 1.04ish, just after the back flip, when her posing definitely gets a bit, well, frenetic.



Enjoy!

Favourites Fortnight

Shannon Courtney Selfie (This Week!)



OHHHH YESSSSS!!! How many weeks to go till we see Shannon wearing the tan, oil and bikini and hitting a rear lat spread like this on stage at the new Omaha Pro?

TOO many, that's how many.

Follow Shannon on Instagram as the countdown continues.

Hope you enjoyed some of my favourite things. Normal service resumes tomorrow.

Favourites Fortnight

Ever FBB

Choosing your favourite ever FBB is, as I'm sure many of you know, a bit of a hiding to nothing, but I have been asked this question a handful of times since I started the blog, so at least I do have an answer I made earlier on this one. So here goes...

I've been a female muscle head for over 25 years now. At first, this meant I bought mainstream muscle magazines to satisfy my cravings. I have my favourites from these years: Anja Langer, Michelle Andrea, Diana Dennis, Denise Rutkowski and even a young (ie. pre-surgery) Melissa Coates among them. But if I had to choose one woman from this period, it'd be Dorothy Herndon.



I can still recall the purchase of that issue of Muscle Training Illustrated which introduced Dorothy to me. The sight of her on the cover and suddenly I was dry-mouthed, trembling with excitement, frantically turning pages to see more of this vision of heart-stopping muscular beauty. Once bought, this magazine remained at or near the top of the pile for many many years after, treasured not least because there was very little of Dorothy that appeared anywhere else.



Little more has come to light since the advent of the internet, but thanks to those heroic scanners of muscle magazines, you can see pretty much all of Dorothy there ever was all at once. But better still, Dorothy's video work with WPW can now be enjoyed by all, as well as this guest posing clip from 1988. And I found that she moved like I always imagined she would - with the graceful power of a lioness.

Dorothy isn't my favourite ever, but she was pretty much my favourite of that era of female muscle lovin'. When mainstream muscle magazines gave way to Women's Physique World, there were suddenly so many more women in many different outfits (albeit only every few months - remember the torture of that wait?!), and among them were women who belong on the same level of my female muscle pantheon as Dorothy.




And then came the internet. All of those past favourites to be seen anew, and on top of that there was a whole new generation of female muscle talent available for our collective and individual viewing pleasure. More images than ever before, more videos than ever before, and it was all easier to access than ever before.




Yet more women for the pantheon.

And in that era, more or less, I first met my two all-time favourites.

GINA DAVIS



It's been a while, but FMS did pay tribute to Gina back in February 2012 (Treasures from the Archive: Gina Davis), pointing out, among other things, how much fun it is to say that your dream woman is Gina Davis and have everyone around you (secret female muscle heads excepted) assume you are talking about Geena Davis.



We also noted that Gina's relatively short competitive career left me (and many others) wanting more, and wondered if perhaps this was the secret of her enduring appeal.



And around that time, news that Gina was posting pictures of herself on social media led me to fall in love with her all over again. No longer was she the huge, ripped bodybuilder Gina, but she still has that brilliant smile, and all those years of pumping serious iron have left her with mouth-watering muscular curves.




DENISE HOSHOR



Her WPW and Ray Martin videos are still the all-time best sellers, so I doubt that I'm alone in my adoration of this Californian female muscle legend. I reckon I first saw Denise Hoshor in the WPW pic above, just one of the many unforgettable images of her of course, but especially cherished because it was the first.



As far as I'm concerned, everything she did as a bodybuilder was magic, but two stand out. First, Denise in Hawaii, posing in a purple bikini and white heels in public. She is in incredible shape. Huge and defined from head to toe, but unmistakably feminine. As the crowd (of men) watching her grows, the more provocative and sexier her posing gets. Second, in a tiny segment of a GMV video (can't remember which, I bought it and threw it out so long ago now, and have never found the exact clip). She's at an Expo, strutting through the crowd in a tight black dress. The GMV camera person asks her to flex, and when she does - biceps, shoulders, pecs, biceps again - camera person is rendered speechless. She flexes one magnificent bicep again and looks beyond the camera. Good? she asks. There's no reply. She smiles, and struts away.



For me, Denise is all about arrogance. There's the way she looks at herself in the mirror as she flexes in the pump room. And then the measured posing you can see in her routines - slow, showing every muscle in glorious detail, looking like she's loving every single second she's on that stage displaying her beautiful strong body. And then there's her knowing smile... You know I could go on and on and on...




So there you are. Gina and Denise. Denise and Gina.

Not the most original of choices, but to me that just shows I'm not alone in ranking (I said 'ranking'!) these two ultimate goddesses highly. They appear at or near the top of most all-time lists I've seen. There must be something about them...

But wait! I hear you cry. What about Alina? Shannon? Oana? Aleesha?

Well, call me old-fashioned, but I feel that if you are talking ever, all-time favourites, then you should apply a little caution when it comes to active female bodybuilders. Case in point: if you'd asked me for a top 30 all-time a couple of years ago, Fabiola Boulanger would definitely have featured. And looked what happened next.

I don't think Alina, Oana or Aleesha are about to downsize - Shannon I'm not convinced about, though it doesn't seem she'll be giving up 'bodybuilding' imminently either - but I'd rather let their careers come to their conclusions before finding them their place in the pantheon if it's all the same to you.




Final faves of the fortnight tomorrow...