Super freak

I saw the freakiest doco on telly last night - "Super Size She". It was about a woman named Joanna Thomas, a Brit based in LA [I think], who has devoted her life to bodybuilding with the end goal of winning the Olympia world title and retiring 'at the top of my game'. I don't know how old she was [she started at 15], but she had lost nearly all resemblance to any woman I have ever seen - if it wasn't for the huge breast implants and the frizzy blonde hair, I dare anyone to take a glance and say she wasn't a man. She had such HUGE bulging muscles that even in repose she was busting out of her clothes like the Incredible Hulkess. Seeing her totter around in high heels - calf muscles popping - was freaky enough but even her deep voice and facial features were very masculine. She layered on the makeup and slipped into a tiny sequinned number when doing shows and managed to look like a pretty good drag queen. The worst bit I reckon was that to finance her 'sport' she ran a personal website which people paid to enter and request poses of her [including pretty provocative ones] and chatted with her too. I don't think she had time for a job. The other women she hung out with at the gym were just like her - all drag queens in the making, except they were apparently female.
It was described as a 'sub-culture' by the narrator. This may be true, but OMG it was the weirdest lifestyle I have seen in a while. She had no life beyond bodybuilding and when she managed to qualify for the Olympia event she ended up 7th out of the 9 women who made it to the finals. She found out that she didn't win because her top and bottom halves weren't symmetrical. Hmmm, there's got to be more to life surely. Her body fat measured 2.6% - the recommended minimum for women to maintain fertility and adequate hormone levels is 10%. Just watching them measure her fat [desperately trying to pinch something on her back] was a joke. Her skin was spotty and she was described as malnourished and dehydrated - this was in the days prior to the Olympia competition in an attempt to define the muscles even more. Then the women stuff themselves with sugary food just before going onstage to strut and pose - this was to make the veins pump up. Ooooh.

I couldn't change the channel though - like watching a train wreck maybe: I just couldn't look away.