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Pictured in two centuries of images, the hypermuscular and physically strong woman is studied here for
the first time as a major player in popular culture and contemporary art. Using the bodybuilder as prototype, a rich variety of authors
engage with her particular physicality, and how it resonates with social issues such as female pleasure and gender stereotypes. From the
sublime to the gritty, this volume presents modern amazons as a culture with a history, a dazzling and transgressive current phenomenon,
and avatars of the future.
Packed with illustrations, Picturing the Modern Amazon investigates the representation of hypermuscular women in a range of visual
sources. Historical images and archival materials dating from the late 1700s through the present century illustrate older notions of female
strength, providing a solid base of comparison for the modern materials. Contemporary art explores a diversity of issues surrounding the
physically strong woman; artists represented include Matthew Barney, Louise Bourgeois, Nicole Eisenman, Annie Leibovitz, Alison Saar,
Andre Serrano, Cindy Sherman, and Nancy Spero. Comic artists address the amazon through comic strips, comic books, and unique art
works that focus on muscular female characters and superheros; artists include Robert Crumb, Diane DiMassa, Roberta Gregory, John
Howard, and Turtel Onli. Photographs of some of today's top bodybuilding competitors capture the stunning strength and definition of the
hypermuscular woman.
Co-edited by Joanna Frueh, Laurie Fierstein, and Judith Stein, the volume's contributors are Michael Cunningham, Nathalie Gassel, Leslie
Heywood, Irving Lavin, Maxine Sheets-Johnstone, Al Thomas, Jan Todd, Steve Wennerstrom, and Carla Williams. Interviews with
noted bodybuilders-both the sport's pioneers and today's top competitors-provide a personal perspective.

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