Pumping up the Pomp: An Exploration of Femininity and Female Bodybuilding

The female body, over the course of recent decades, has had a turbulent relationship with societal expectations of femininity and beauty. Confined within rigid boundaries of body perfection, women are reduced to naturalized notions of femininity. This paper addresses the issue of normalizing gender roles and femininity in a contemporary framework by focusing specifically on female competitive bodybuilding. Through an examination of the history of bodybuilding and the patriarchal parameters under which this sport operates, the argument is made that, while bodybuilding may represent aspects of social resistance to the gendered norms of femininity, the competitive regulations of this sport enforce compliance to societal expectations of womanhood