Above – Paula Bircumshaw more muscular than Anja Schreiner got robbed of a title – but this was the Weider-Arnold monopoly – they fixed every contest

Forthcoming Documentary on Female Body Building for Netflix

Letter from a producer: Hi Rasa, 

Happy Halloween! Hope you’re feeling a little better. I’ll do my best to answer some of your questions here. For starters, yes, I’ve been doing quite a bit of homework! I’m currently reading half a dozen books about female bodybuilding, including yours, and taking tons of notes to help me retain it all. I’m also still processing and thinking about our call last week and about all the really tough, awful situations you’ve been in and all the ways you’ve managed to cope and survive and reinvent yourself despite such difficult circumstances. I’m in awe of your confidence and bravery, even as a teen girl willing to take big risks in the hopes of escaping your abuser(s). I still can hardly believe you were just 16 when you caught a flight with a stranger to Los Angeles! And what a life you’ve lived since, charting your own path and forging ahead, even when others doubted you or didn’t understand your vision. 

Above Kellie Everts, 1975 & 1981

In terms of my beliefs and what I advocate for, I advocate for women, for independence, for equality. I believe women should do whatever they need to do to be able to escape bad situations and to seek out their own freedom and liberation, on their own terms, as you have done so many times. More generally, I think people should do whatever they’d like to do, as long as they’re not hurting anyone else. As cheesy as it might sound, I love to see people following their dreams, taking unusual paths, and not being afraid to be utterly themselves, and I think that’s one reason I’m drawn to you and your story. 

In terms of the audio documentary, I think it needs to tell your life story — including the chapters of your younger years, your weight-lifting journey, your calling as a stripper and preacher, your spirituality and founding of a church, your “cougar” experiences, and your life now — while also telling the story of female bodybuilding more broadly, with you framed as an early pioneer of the sport. I think this podcast series needs to explain why you were so influential — for example, you brought weightlifting into mainstream popular culture with your photoshoots — while also unpacking why some in the bodybuilding field may not know your name today. It’s a shame, in my opinion, and I hope that this podcast will change that. I hope it will also explore the tension and problems that existed (and still exist) in women’s bodybuilding, wherein many of the men who run the competitions and are generally in positions of power are wary of women building “too much” muscle or not looking “feminine” enough. 

It strikes me that there’s also an economic imbalance, where many women do not make much money in bodybuilding (especially considering the financial investment involved in training and competing) and there are few avenues for mainstream success. I think about how some of your contemporaries from the 1970s, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, and Franco Columbu, for example, have been afforded lengthy careers, including in Hollywood and even politics, whereas I don’t know that any women were able to make that transition from the gym to movie screens, (through no fault of their own). I’d be very curious to hear your take on this, of course. In any case, I completely agree with you that this project would need to look at the history of female bodybuilding, and I absolutely hope to interview women who competed alongside you in Ms. Olympia, for example, as well as contemporary bodybuilders working today (to see how or if the industry has changed when it comes to women, which it doesn’t sound like it has, unfortunately, from some of the reading I’ve been doing). 

I’d love to connect with Rachel McLish, Bev Francis, and Iris Kyle, whom you mentioned on our call. And yes, I’m definitely interested in asking them about their awareness of you and your contributions to female bodybuilding. I’m also planning to reach out to Randy Roach and Carlos Cassano, as you’ve suggested, as well as other relevant writers and historians, including Bill Dobbins. Did you ever cross paths with him? I really like how you describe this process as putting together pieces of a puzzle, which is so often what reporting feels like, and what draws me to doing it. I’m a real research nerd and I really love going deep on subjects. I think my ambition is for as many people as possible to hear this documentary and to better understand — or be moved in some way, or ideally think differently about — female bodybuilding. I want them to know your name and your story above all, and to contextualize your life within late 20th Century American history, especially as it relates to women’s rights.

On our call you had asked me how I heard about you, and I mentioned it was through my friend Michael. He and I recently had a chance to chat and we are very much on the same page in terms of our interests and how we are thinking about this story. He’s got a really strong background in audio storytelling, and because this particular project is going to be so comprehensive and research-intensive, we’re going to work together to bring it to life. I’d love to intro you both at some point if you’re open to it. We’ll be working independently, but we hope to be able to partner with a major network to distribute it on all podcast platforms (iTunes, Spotify, etc). We’ll of course keep you posted as we continue production, as we don’t yet know where it will land once we’re finished. That said, if we need to distribute and market the podcast ourselves, we will. I’m confident it will find an audience. Our priority is to stay true to the story and to do so with integrity, creativity, and rigor. 

Let me know if you might have time for another call next week, and as I mentioned, my goal is to hopefully come visit you in New York so we can talk in person, which is always preferred — not just for audio quality, but also, because it will give me a better sense of you and your story. 

Have a great weekend, and hope to talk soon,

Jenn 

From Rasa to Jenn,

Here is some relevant data to prove my case – Joe Weider & his partner Arnold were shysters. Weider owned IFBB, Arnold owned Weider They decided 99% of the contests who would win who would not. Just according to what they wanted – nothing to do with fair play.

          Now as far as research, it won’t be easy to interview these people because I have tried – Carlos Cassano has tried – & if you do find their addresses, they don’t answer!  Randy Roach MIGHT have ways to contact some of these people. As far as Cory Everson, he spoke to her  husband – never to her They have made themselves scarce. Do you wonder why? Below: Kim Chizevsky late 1990’s

Ask Kim Chizevsky Nicholls why did they CHANGE THE RULES after she blew everyone away with her muscles – told her her career was over except to enter fitness contests. Ask her WHY.

“Kim Chizevsky-Nicholls gave up much of her muscle gains and began competing in fitness competitions in 2001, but with only limited success.”

Above: Auby Paulick in 1980

The 1980 Miss Olympia. Ask Auby Paulick why they screwed her out of the title – she was the MOST MUSCULAR by far – striations on top of striations {I was there} But they chose Rachel McLish because they liked her looks to promote her in the magazines. These men were SHYSTERS – this is NOT legitimate sport, it was business for money in their pockets, nothing else.   The 1980 Ms. Olympia contest was an International Federation of Bodybuilders Professional Division (IFBB Pro Division) professional female bodybuilding contest. It was the first Ms. Olympia contest held.

Below: Bev Frances around 1983

Ask Bev Francis – why did they screw her out of this title? Because she was the MOST MUSCULAR.  Joe Weider sent a note to the judges to NOT allow her to win.

“Pumping Iron – the Women” movie released in 1985 -Judges and bodybuilders (Rachel McLish, Bev Francis, Carla Dunlap) try to define femininity at the 1983 world championship, Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.

In this contest Claudia was the MORE MUSCULAR but they awarded the title to Lisa Lyon because of her POSING. They screwed Claudia. Ask her about his – Why? {And Lisa Lyon’s entire body building career was fouded on this ONE WIN. – She never entered another contest.}

Below, Claudia Wilbourn in 1979

“One of the leading figures in the early days of women’s bodybuilding, Wilbourn began heavy training in 1971. She competed in the first Women’s World Bodybuilding Championships in June 1979, finishing second to Lisa Lyon. 

Ask Paula about this – “Did they screw you  out of this title? Why?” They say because of Anja’s BEAUTY they chose her. But Paula was also beautiful. But they choose which kind of beauty they prefer, etc. Nothing to do with fairness. They pushed her out because of her MUSCLES.

Below Paula Bircumshaw was as beautiful as Anja Schreiner but the crooked monopoly put her EIGHTH & she had 30 lbs more of muscle than Anja! Please understand these contests were de facto publicity stunts for the IFBB or other shyster businesses to sell things – it had NOTHING to do with FAIR COMPETITION

There has been some controversy at the 1992 Ms. International. Anja Schreiner and Paula Bircumshaw both had the same body height, however, Paula had much more muscle and weight (162 lbs). The judges relegated her to eighth place and did not, as custom, called out the top ten competitors on stage before announcing the winners. Instead, they only announced the top six competitors on stage in order to prevent Paula back on stage. The audience rioted over this decision,^{[citation needed]} and changed Paula’s name. Paula did come back on stage only to give the judges the middle finger. Because of this, she was given a year’s suspension. In 1996, Kim Chizevsky-Nicholls became the first to win both Ms. International and Ms. Olympia in the same year.

NOW female body building, in the professional phase – like the IFBB stage – is all drugs. And they’re getting as muscular as humanly possible, but it’s no longer mainstream, no longer promoted, no longer a novelty to the press. It was gone into the subculture. When Weider sold out to AMI Dave Pecker said {seeing a female like Iris Kyle} “I will not let a woman like that on my stage.” They were then demoted to another stage in Vegas – where you didn’t even pay admission – no longer with the male stars – & their prize money went from the $50k it had reached to $8K. While the men’s prizes DOUBLED- $100k plus a rolex watch & a Hummer {vehicle.}