Women, Sport, and Film Course

The director chose certain visual shots, scripted dialogue and personal interactions to convey a message about your character. (Rachel, Bev, Lori, Carla or the judges) What is the director attempting to "say" about your character?

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The camera men chosse to show shots of Bev mainly when she was preparing for the competition. There were many shots of her in the gym training, as opposed to the other competitors who are shown lounging around the pool and in the bedroom. I think that the shots of Bev training were used as a comparison to show the difference between how she trains and how the other women train. One of the things I noticed was that the camera men zoomed in on a lot of the other women while they were working out. When they did this you were able to see all the make-up they were wearing, and when they zoomed in on Bev, you didn't see any make-up on her at all. The director does show Bev outside of the gym, but it seems like she is always preparing for the competition in some way. To me, this made Bev seem like the more determined athlete. I thought she seemed a lot more focused than the other women because she was not concerned about her appearance at all.
I thought the way the directors protrayed Bev in terms of her dialogue between others made her appear to the the gracious and polite competitor. Throughout the film, there was the constant battle about Bev's body compared to the other women's bodies. There were acusations that Bev was not femanine enough. And many of the other women made snide comments behind her back. I thought that Bev handled the question from Rachel about, "what is feminity to you?", by acknowledging Rachel's answer, "to look like a Barbie", but then saying that she believes that she has taken that to the next level. That gave Rachel very little to argue with. When Bev placed last amoung the eight finalists, she was very gracious and polite when she accepted her award, where as Rachel pouted off stage when she placed second.

Define --as your assigned character would define them, and you may
use examples--
Sexuality - I think of sexuality as any attempt at sex appeal. I don't think that Bev really paid any attention to this aspect of the sport. She was there to prove that she had the best body, not that she could seduce the judges. Because she didn't make any attempt to be sexual, I think that people began to question her sexuality.
Sensuality - I think of sensuality as being anything that appeals to the senses. I think that this is less blatent than sexuality. I don't think that Bev was concered about this either, and I don't think that she would be seen as very sensual in most women's eyes. Some men may have been impressed with her body though, and maybe she came across as visually sensual to them??
Feminity - I think that Bev made an attempt at being feminine, but it didn't work out so well for her. During her optional routine, I thought that she made an attempt at dancing the way the other women were, but on her it just looked awkward. I think Bev would say that she is feminine, but has surpassed the level of feminity that most people are familiar with.

Bev beleived herself to be feminine. Although her physical appearance was not that of a "typical" woman, Bev knew that feminity could take many different forms, a fact reinforced by her many assertions that she is a woman.
In terms of sexuality and sensuality, Bev attributed these traits to a select number of women. When she looked at Rachael and the other women competing, she did not seem to respect them as comperable athletes. While she acknowledged that their priorities were different, (they were not training to be the most well-defined) she associated their attention to outer appearences and accesories as trivial and purely sexual. She realized that these other women were appealing to the male judges and the audience, rather than competing on a muscular level.

I believe that being a woman for Bev encompassed a different set of standards than it did for the other members of the pageant and particularly the judges. The fact that she was a woman was incidental for her, and she only worried about it in so much as she wanted to do well in the competition and knew that others perceptions of her would affect the outcome. Bev knew she was a woman because she had the proper organs, she didn't need to prove it by adhering to what other people thought a woman should be. I agree with a previous post that stated that sensuality has to do with the senses. For a woman in particular, sensuality has to do with appealing to another person's senses, which Bev was not concerned about. She simply wanted to be the best at what she did.

I've seen most of Pumping Iron II, though not all. The most interesting thing to me in this forum, is that people have commented
on Bev's femininity or lack therof, but only one person offered a definition.

Sussanah said that she was upset that the bodybuilding contest was more of a beauty pageant. Lelani said that she thought
bodybuilding and femininity don't go together. What do we expect from bodybuilding? Is it impossible to be muscular and
beautiful at the same time? Is it really impossible to be feminine and muscular as the same time? Why are the two in conflict with
each other? (muscular vs. feminine and beautiful) And should we assume that feminine and beautiful are the same thing?

Dasen, Kelly, and Katie offered that Bev redefined femininity. She is gracious, graceful, kind, and Dasen and Co. suggested
that these are feminine qualities that Bev has although she doesn't *look* feminine. Everyone on the post agreed that Bev
*looked* masculine, but if she really challenges our definition of femininity, I don't believe that she challenges us to define it as a
way of acting, regardless of look, I think she challenges it all around. Sarah Johnson posted that the way the judges were
portrayed challenged us to think about how we judge bodies in sport. I think it goes farther. The combination of Bev's actions
and *look* that she desired, along with the way the judges were portrayed, challenge how we look at bodies in general, and
how we define feminine and masculine physical qualities.

Several times in the movie, people commented that Bev looked like a man. If she was obviously a woman, how can she look
like anything other than herself? Just by the nature of her existence, she *had* to *look* feminine. She is s female. Maybe it's
something for all of us to think about next time we look at a man or a woman and say that they look like the opposite gender.
Maybe it's time we redefine femininity and masculinity on a physical and more uncomfortable level.

Thanks,
Monica

In terms of Sexuality, Sensuality, and Femininity, Bev would probably say those are elements which really should not, but evidently are a part of bodybuilding. I'm sure Bev's own sexuality was questioned, due to the fact she was very athletic, muscular, and not traditionally pretty. Being a girl from the country she wasn't overtly fussy with the hair and make-up, but like any other woman we saw that she was feeling insecure, concerned, nervous, and preoccupied. I think those moment of vulnerability brought the audience back to the fact that Bev Francis is a woman through and through.