From iron maiden to superwoman: The stochastic art of self-transformation and the deviant female sporting body

Abstract

This paper develops a theoretically grounded account of one extraordinary individual’s journey from female bodybuilder to Strongwoman. It is set against the challenges socially marginalised sportswomen confront in seeking to forge a coherent identity amidst the competing demands of the social, practical and embodied environments that invariably impinge upon such quests. Highlighting the complexities and ambiguities of the regimes to which Sarah and other ‘gender outlaws’ dedicate themselves, we begin by suggesting that these sporting vocations constitute stochastic arts; the practical indeterminacies of which are exacerbated by both the ultimate frailty of the physical body and the social inequalities women confront in pursuing such activities. Focusing upon Sarah’s life-narrative, we then explore within this framework the pleasures and problems she encountered when participating in and switching from bodybuilding to Strongwoman competitions, and identify what is at stake in this sporting route to self-transformation.

Keywords:

• strongwomen
• female bodybuilding
• embodiment
• stochastic arts
• life-narratives
• health/pain/injury

Acknowledgements

We are extremely grateful to Sarah for her involvement in Tanya’s research, and would also like to thank the referees who engaged so constructively with our arguments.

Notes

1. Another reason for distinguishing analytically the bodily, practical and social environments is that they can be seen as emergent phenomena possessed of their own properties. Thus, irrespective of the linkages, transactions and commonalities that exist between them, there are real differences between the fleshy, physiological and neurologically complex embodied whole that provides the context for our existence, the practical ‘order’ of material objects we act upon, and which in turn shape our actions, and the sui generis patterns of social relationships, norms and expectations forged between people (Archer 2000, Shilling 2005). For more on modes of embodied self-transformation in the contemporary era of global modernity, see Mellor and Shilling (2014).

2. For more discussion regarding the insights and limitations associated with this type of research see, for example, Atkinson (1998); Denzin and Lincoln (2011), Bunsell (2013).

3. For other factors that motivate women to begin bodybuilding see Bunsell (2013).

4. Founded and organised by Louise William Blades, BIGSIS stands for the British International Global Sisters.

5. Ostentatiously displayed female muscle in bodybuilding may provoke more disgust among those possessed of hetero-normative tastes, but heavyweight Strongwomen are usually little closer to fitting stereotypical conceptions of what feminine bodies should look like (Brace-Govan 2002). The muscular bulk of Strongwomen, for example, can be misinterpreted as excess weight, and may result in the same kind of prejudice being directed against Strongwomen as those considered overweight (Monaghan et al. 2013, Monaghan and Malson 2013). In this context, it is interesting that Sarah suggests that the overall ‘look’ in Strongwoman is changing. Whilst traditionally the ideology around being strong was associated with ‘being big’, there is now more pressure to embody a more toned muscular appearance representing strength and power.