Female beauty and muscular physique.

Since the inception of female bodybuilding, the issue of femininity has been hotly contested. Bodybuilding prizes musculature, but musculature is considered a masculine attribute, so with female bodybuilding, the question has been: How do we reconcile female beauty and muscular physique?

Now, many of Asia’s female bodybuilders are trying to educate a traditional populace about the beauty of bodybuilding.

Anna Christianne Ho, a 50-year-old bodybuilder from Hong Kong, told Forbes that.

“Looking good goes far beyond skin deep. All that spending on expensive clothing and make-up, means we pay least attention to the most important element: a fit and able body.”

Ho began bodybuilding after birthing two children, and says as a mother she often faced comments like “So ugly… do you think you are a man?… why bother?…,” when she mentioned her physical pursuits to others.

Jayne Lo is another Hong Kong native. She grew up as an athlete, and now represents Britain in the IFBB. Lo joined bodybuilding after being inspired by female competitors on Instagram:

“I feel social media is the biggest player in shaping what is accepted and what isn’t, especially since Instagram is so prominently used worldwide.”

Lo believes that female bodybuilding faces a particularly steep battle in ceratin eastern countries. For instance, in January, a female Iranian bodybuilder was arrested for posting pictures of her physique on Instagram.

“I definitely do feel weight training is looked down upon more in Asia, where the ideals of beauty are soft with no muscle, or “skinny fat” as I would call it. For anyone to then look curvier would not be deemed ideal.”

Despite the stigma, female bodybuilding is growing faster than ever. One advantage is that it does not take years of dedication to compete well in women’s bodybuilding. Within nine months of training, Lo won first in bikini short class in a local show.
And Ho believes that it’s only natural that bodybuilding become popular among women.

“Women want to be capable in every way possible. They don’t want to limit themselves to only the household and their children. They want to be assertive outdoors; kick that football, and lift those barbells.”

For more news and updates, follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.