Bodybuilders and looks

Not all of them are pleasant but they’re likelier to be more preoccupied with their appearance than most men do, though that’s true for other athletes (if bodybuilders are considered as such) to some extent. In the sense that they do a lot to seek physical perfection as well as figure out ways of reducing injuries (including boils) which hinder their attempts at exercising and the like.

There’s got to be a reason why they’re attractive or interesting, compared to other men they at least bother to actually look after themselves a lot. This goes right down into the sort of foods they eat and routines they’re expected to do. It’s not going to be easy and it’s not always glamourous (there are bodybuilders who’ve died or did drugs). But there has to be a reason why they’re interesting.

In a world where men aren’t expected to care about their appearances, there’s always the appeal of a man who does and he’s almost always going to be athletic. (And why the Chad meme persists.)

Gluttony

I don’t think it’s really that tolerated. Though it’s likelier to be intolerated in women than in men for certain reasons. I suspect what makes it sexist is that it tends to excuse men to eat more, even when at times it’s just not healthy in the long run. Not to mention there are sports that require men to restrain their diet and even motivate them to eating healthy. Not just football (I think) but also and especially bodybuilding.

I’m not saying you should become a bodybuilder but that the tendency to tolerate gluttony in men seems like an easy excuse for certain sexisms. (Sports and especially bodybuilding and football aren’t any less sexist either.) But that there’s no point in expecting women to be thin if men are unwilling to slim down either. (I do know somebody who struggled with these stereotypes and expectations.)

It’s not that we should fat shame but the other side of the coin’s that for some reason women tend to be pressured into healthy eating to fulfill a stereotype but people go lax on men. Not that we should be bodybuilders but that in bodybuilding it requires a substantial discipline in what to eat. (There’s a reason why some women like fit men.)

She got no chest

I actually think it’s really not at all surprising especially for most women who aren’t naturally that buxom, whether if they’re really thin or if they work out often. Not that naturally buxom buff women don’t exist but then again the likes of Rasa von Werder are outliers so expect most female bodybuilders to be somewhat flat-chested. I think that’s something some cartoonists don’t really realise.

Never mind it happens anyways. I mean I don’t think Captain Marvel (especially as currently portrayed in the comics) didn’t go back to being a woman as much as she just grew her hair long again. At least canon-wise and it’s not at all new to depict Carol as buff. Same with making her dress more modestly and this has happened before too.

But I suspect though this is currently changing for the better, it’s somewhat rare for cartoonists to depict women with more muscle mass often, especially if they’re not skinny-framed or something. Let alone not be outliers and to be fair, this happened before and I’ve seen a really buff Supergirl. (Admittedly, I even imagine Stephanie to be really buff.)

But it’s really rare to depict most muscular women with flatter chests if because most of them aren’t built like Rasa and to be fair, I’ve seen images of a somewhat flat-chested Power Girl before so there’s that. It’s not that there aren’t any men who’re attracted or interested in buff women.

But that it’s rare to see most buff women be as flat-chested as they are in reality as not everybody can be Rasa von Werder/Kellie Everts.

She’s got muscles

Not necessarily rare (though it can be argued it does show up in certain stories that demand it like the ones involving superheroes or athletes). But I suspect another factor isn’t just the size or build but also amount of body fat. Kate Moss and a certain female athlete could have the same body fat percentage even if the former’s relatively less muscular. (Logically, Rasa von Werder might have as much body fat as a relatively stouter woman but that’s because she’s buxom.)

Certain activities also demand how much body fat that person should have. I remember studies on African Pygmies where the commonly reported amount of body fat most women have is between 20 and 24 % or something. (Like I said, hunting’s not any easier than farming but it does enable you to take more breaks whenever something’s just not readily available.) Maybe somewhat less.

But it does explain certain things like say having enough body fat to save yourself in the future from hunger or something. As for von Werder, she’s really one of the very few naturally buxom female athletes. If fat decreases with exercise and dieting, logically most female athletes would be flat-chested and those who remain consistently and relatively chesty are going to be this rare.

Whenever Frank Cho, Ed Benes and their ilk draw muscular women it’s like von Werder’s their only point of reference but it’s also not helped by that bodybuilding contests increasingly demand breast implants. Ironically those surgeries reinforce just how rare buxom muscle women are.

Wait a minute, bub

Harrison11106
7 hours ago (edited)
I’ve heard off & on that Iger has been eyeing politics, particularly since the election of Trump as president (as has Bloomberg TBH). If he DOES leave due to this flick being Misneys flop, would that mean that KK is “in the clear” on Lucasfilms side?

She Hulk* should’ve been Marvels 1st female character, it could’ve worked if it were to be done in the way of the John Byrne run of yesteryear, where she constantly broke that 4th wall (would be great as an action-comedy). The problem there is that the Deadpool movie beat her to it, & people who don’t know comics would see it as her ripping off what was done in his movie.

*Another problem’s that She-Hulk’s derivative of Hulk, as she’s created to keep certain studios from making their own version with Marvel having the full rights to her. (That and realising Shulkie’s popular with men who have a big thing for muscular women but that’s my opinion.)

She’s Big Barda, silly

As soon as Caitlin Snow turns into an evil werewolf, Patty Spivot becomes Big Barda and when she does get big, expect her to put on a lot of weight. Not because she got fat but because she got muscular, like she’ll take up a lot of bodybuilding and weightlifting big time. To my knowledge and memory, Big Barda seems fit but generally not too muscular. Something like 20-23 % body fat and definitely in the toned category when you think about it.

Logically most female bodybuilders, sans implants, would be less than that (I bet that Rasa von Werder, in her Kellie Everts days, would be around 20-28% but because she’s naturally buxom like how sumo wrestlers and Butterbean are really buff as they’re fat). An actually muscular Big Barda may’ve occurred but this might be the first time we’ve seen a genuinely more muscular version in live action (thanks in part due to the actress doing bodybuilding and weightlifting a lot more).

Patty Spivot becomes Swole Barda. Not just in having bigger muscles but also way less body fat though it remains to be seen if fans are ever to take Booty Spivot having bigger muscles than Barry does.

Whingeing about non-feminine characters

That’s the vibe I’m getting from Alt-Right bloggers like Diversity and Comics and Yellow Flash, ditto that they might be half-wrong about it. It’s like they crap on female superheroines for not being feminine looking even if that’s not always exactly the case before (Yvonne Craig’s Batgirl’s not as buxom as Ed Benes’s take on the same). Even today some cartoonists draw women with less exaggerated proportions and for every Kellie Everts, there’s yet another flat-chested female bodybuilder.

The pressure to look exaggeratedly female has some female bodybuilders take chest implants. The Kellie Everts standard’s possible but also statistically unfair for most female bodybuilders and even most female athletes. Breasts inevitably shrink to some degree (whatever degree) if somebody exercises fairly often. It’s like how some of these goons willfully equate larger breasts with femininity, the very thing female bodybuilders and athletes barring Kellie Everts (and some weightlifters) struggle with.

I suspect these goons just have ridiculously high standards for women, not realising that Kellie Everts is the exception that proves the rule.

Have you seen them without implants?

That’s not to say naturally buxom female athletes and bodybuilders like Kellie Everts are nonexistent. They do exist, the major problem is that the Kellie Everts shape’s the default one for most superheroines (even those that are supposed to swim against the tide) though lately some cartoonists are de-emphasising chest size. Most other female bodybuilders, especially those that never took plastic surgery, often tend to be less chesty. If breasts are composed of body fat, some degree of shrinking will occur with exercising.

(Not to mention their breasts are quite square in shape.)

That might be dependent on genetics but for every Kellie Everts, there’s yet another flat-chested female bodybuilder made to take surgery. That’s what you get from looking at pictures of pre-21st century female bodybuilders. Something that latter cartoonsits are getting it right but not without some flack from the likes of Diversity and Comics (who’s very Alt-Right). Ditto the likes of Rachel McLish (who aren’t as stacked as Kellie’s).

How buff should Wondy be?

Actually how buff should any superheroine be. I think it’s really more up to the individual than as a whole to be really specific. You could exercise fairly often (especially with chores and playing folk games) and still eat junk food. In the case of hunter-gatherers, they certainly are fit but not so overly muscular given how hard it is to find food the next day.

(Bodybuilders, sumo wrestlers and sometimes weightlifters do the opposite by eating a lot.)

Though it’s also got to do with how fat they are. Hunter-gatherers are undoubtedly fit but also need some fat to survive as they have to endure from trying to find the right food. Given Tigra and Caitlin’s predatory inclinations (tiger-woman and wolf woman respectively), they’d lean closer towards hunter-gatherers given their diets.

Cats are obligate carnivores and dingo–type dogs can’t process starch any further. Tigra and Caitlin are doomed in a sense. Actually in the recent Wonder Woman comics, Cheetah’s doomed to consume human flesh. Though part of a supernatural curse, it makes sense that a half-carnivore would’ve this dilemma.

To be fair, growing numbers of cartoonists are adding muscle tone to superheroines (and any athletic female character in general). Makes sense that the newer generation’s more desensitised to muscular women (for whatever reason) and/or strive for more reality. In the sense of making them as fit as they should be since they barely so sedentary.

Then again there are fit fat people (weightlifters, sumo wrestlers) where whatever far they have’s stored right under the skin to any degree. I’m not saying that Caitlin and Tigra should be fat but given their diets and lifestyles, they’d be closer to hunter-gatherers (fit but generally not that ripped).

Wonder Woman, Supergirl and their ilk by contrast don’t have those dietary restrictions (though it could be up to personal preferences) and can afford to have a more developed physique. Again it’s like differences between bodybuilders and hunter-gatherers.

Both of them are fit yet the latter can’t afford to find more quality food and have to endure in order to wait for something. (Actually the same can be said of any fairly fit person who can’t always afford certain foods.) The former has access to it even if it’s not always in top shape.

(Though I get the impression that most bodybuilders, even when off-season, seem bigger than most hunter-gatherers but because the latter’s muscular only when necessary and the same can be said of people who do chores and folk games. Or rather any other sport.)

Hulk then and now

I suppose the best-known portrayal of Hulk (some bloke who becomes a mass monster whenever he gets angry) to many is through the 1970s telly series. Having never watched it (only the 1990s cartoons to be honest) and with a passing knowledge of Hulk lore, it’s hard to tell whether if it’s faithful or not but that the Hulk persona was played by a bodybuilder (who’s also a comics reader if I’m not mistaken).

She-Hulk, if you believe others, was there to keep producers from introducing a character that’ll resemble the Bionic Woman (herself based on the Million Dollar Man) and according to Julian Perez, her adventures also resembled Bionic Woman. Now as for the original Hulk, ever since Ang Lee’s 2003 production though it didn’t go well with audiences it at least set a precedent for later Hulks. That’s being CGI.