Venus with Biceps : A Pictorial History of Muscular Women

by Chapman, David L.

• ISBN13: 9781551523705
• ISBN10: 1551523701
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-01-11
• Publisher: Consortium Book Sales & Dist

Summary

Over the last 100 years, the image of the physically strong, confident, muscular woman hasbeen the object of derision, fascination, anderotic fantasy; she is often portrayed, in bothphotography and illustration, as a sexy dominatrix,sexless mannequin, or sideshow freak.In this fascinating collection of rare archivalimages from the late 19th to the mid-20th century,authors David L. Chapman and PatriciaVertinsky trace the peculiar yet fascinating historyof muscular women in popular culture.One of the battlefields in this cultural conflictappeared in popular imagery: posters, advertisements, comic books, magazine illustrations, and (most particularly) photography all offered outlets of expression for many muscular women. Until quite recently, however, such femaleswere packaged for the general public as physicalmonstrosities, lesbian man-haters, kinky sex objects, or beautiful living statues. At the same time, many women, including those in the emerging female bodybuilder community, havehad to fight hard to reclaim the image of femalemuscularity as their own.Featuring some 200 full-color and black andwhite illustrations, many never before published,Venus with Bicepsis a beautiful and historicallysignificant book about gender, image, socialexpectations, and female power.