January 26, 1996
Web posted at: 3:10 p.m EST
From Correspondent Jeanne Moos
NEW YORK (CNN) -- It used to be when someone said a woman was "built," it meant she was curvy. These days, it means something entirely different.
An exhibit on display in New York called "Relative Beauty" features photos of women body builders who know no bounds when it comes to building their muscles.
"I always found it such a foreign thing, such a bizarre phenomenon. Why would anyone want to look like this?" said photographer Bjorg Arnarsdottir, who usually shoots home interiors or runway models. She is one of three photographers who collaborated on the exhibit now showing at the Elsa Mott Ives Gallery at New York's YWCA.
The exhibit draws strong reactions from viewers, some who like what they see, and others who are repulsed.
"This kind of body is distorted," said a woman viewing the photos.
"I think it's a beautiful thing," said a man at the exhibit.
"It's grotesque to me," offered another woman.
"I happen to like it, and I think the bigger the better," said Laurie Fierstein, the body builder who organized "The Celebration of the Most Awesome Female Muscle in the World," the 1993 event documented by the black and white photo exhibit. (88K AIFF sound or 88K WAV sound)
Fierstein organized the event because some female body builders perceived a bias against particularly muscled women. This was their chance to let it all hang out in a venue where bigger is better.
"We basically invited a whole number of women from around the world, the biggest women, most muscular women, the strongest women, and we said, 'Get up and do whatever you want to do,'" explained Fierstein.
The women did just that strutting their stuff on the stage. One woman wore a black leather bikini with silver studs and cracked a heavy chain on the stage. Other women painted their bodies with white or gold and flexed their shiny, limbs and torsos to the music in theatrical displays.
"I was really close up, really looking to do body parts which you'll see, is what I did once you look at the pictures," said Sarah Van Ouwerkerk, one of the photographers.
The body builder photos build up the hopes of some gallery- goers.
"I've thought about doing it myself. Sure, why not?" said one woman.
Female body builders build muscle to feel strong, to transform their bodies, explained Fierstein, adding it gives the women "something indescribably thrilling."
Perhaps the most inspiring body builder in the exhibit is Linda Wood Hoyte, a grandmother in her 50s,
"I wanted to be queen for a day," said Hoyte who played Cleopatra in the show. Cleopatra's job in real life? A customer service representative for Sprint.
"She's gonna be someone's great, great grandmother. She's gonna live forever. Look at her," said one admirer looking at photos of Hoyte displaying her muscles.
So what if it takes polished fingernails to tell the boy arm from the girl arm? After all, beauty is only skin deep, even if this kind of beauty gets deep under some people's skin.
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