My rant (please delete as necessary).

[anglicanbeachparty]

I don't usually like to be negative, but several things have been weighing on my mind (all loosely related to the Arnold), and it will make me feel better to write them out. Sioux, if you think that this post is too negative, feel free to delete it. I'm sure that just typing it out will provide the catharsis I needed, and I'll be able to move back to positive things.

(1) Okay, this first one is just "people being people" I guess, and maybe in retrospect, more humorous than anything else. Walking down the most crowded of aisles in the Arnold Expo, I am stuck for 15-20 minutes next to a guy who kept talking about his testicles. He was complaining loudly, to all and sundry, of certain adverse effects that were being perpetrated on his privates, which he blamed on the the girls working at the various booths. He went on and on about it.

My advice: Dear sir, Too Much Information. Please keep your thoughts about the dire straits of your "twins" to yourself. Besides, it is like doing shots and then complaining of a buzz. You are ridiculous.

(2) This guy was a buffoon. He was sitting against the wall of the Expo, just to the right of the entrance as you walk in. He was accosting nearly every attractive female that walked by with his ... ummm ... "male witticisms", all of which involved sexual fantasies of his own conconction, and involving them. His particular target was any lady with a name tag. To them, he shouted out: Hey Shelly! or Hey Tricia! ... All of them, being nice people, turned around patiently to deal with what they must have thought was another adoring fan. And then, after they turned around, he would say, "Nice a$$" or some such thing. He thought he was quite clever.

My advice: Get a clue. Or, just go away.

(3) This was a group of several females, who seemed to be related to one another, and who seemed to be big fans of Fitness. They were standing on the other side of me from Buffoon #2. At some point in their excited chat, the matriarch of the bunch offered this inquiry to the rest of her team: And what's with all these "blacks" coming into (female) bodybuilding??

My advice: Excuse me? First of all, "black" is an adjective. Try "black competitors" as a better wording. Second: You need to buy several clues! This is not a new phenomenon. Have you ever heard of Carla Dunlap or Nancy Lewis, or Lenda Murray, or ... ??? Third: Take your racist crap elsewhere.

(4) Buddies from my car club. I posted a couple of pictures I took on a car club forum I belong to. One featured a couple of fitness competitor, and another featured a female bodybuilder. The reactions from the guys who posted infuriated me. They immediately had to get someone to post up a couple of soft-porn images of "soft" women ... so they could feel like men again. One guy even stated that these ladies intimidated him. Maybe that is the case, but if so ...

My advice: Get your blubbery but into the gym and work out. If you need to perpetually keep images of weak women before your eyes to feel like a real man ... guess what ... you're not.

< / rant >

Whew! I feel better now. About the only downside to a supportive forum like this is that it makes me forget what the mainstream of the "real world" is like.

ps ... My Arnold experience was, overall, 99.99% postive!

[Mercury Girl]

I'm going to chime in here for a second. :)

First, I've been wondering ever since I became interested in FBB, Figure, etc., how the women involved in this sport deal with guys like Doofus #2. I don't know if they can shrug it off, or if it gets to them. I think it would get to me if I put in the years of hard work at the gym and on my diet and was really working like any other athlete to achieve my goals, only to have someone yell, "Hey you, nice ass." :rolleyes:

Second, the things you're talking about bug me, too. Sometimes I'm really tempted to ask people: "Did you eat lead paint chips as a child? Is that why you're so screwed up now?" :nuts: :LOLOL: You'd think that as a society we'd be past all those stupid negative comments about someone's race or heritage or the stereotypes of what women are supposed to look like - its 2008, for crying out loud, not 1958! But, I guess not. I guess all we can do is keep working at it and moving forward and try to change peoples' minds one by one.

Anyhoo - I hear what you're saying and I get why you're frustrated. Just keep setting the example, ABP, and hope others follow your lead. :D

Oh, and this is for Doofus #1 whose "twins" were bugging him: :nutsk: :LOLOL: :D

[Shelly]

it is fine to rant!! we can talk about good and bad on here! :)


One thing i have learned in my short 25 years of life... is that where there is good, always comes bad. its the yin and yang of life.


people will always be ignorant, arrogant, and straight up disrepsectful. They will feel inferior to others, and act out in inappropriate manners.

in these instances i like to TUNE such idiots OUT... and move on.... :D

[dallas3]

Wow, those people are losers in the truest form of the word especially #3 and #4. Complaining about race in a niche area like bodybuilding and fitness or in general shows the lack of class, repect, and intelligence they have.:mad::.

Those car club guys need to grow a pair and :STFU:. It's 2008 not 1958, if a man is really confident in himself and knows he's a man, a woman with muscles should be the least of his problems. It's about the cars anyways, isn't it?:rolleyes:

[dvsness]

I actually find your complaint to be a breath of fresh air. It's reassuring when others can see and respect the frustrations we face.

[Siouxcountry]

I hate the lack of respect shown to women. On the boards I see it often (not here though). At MD I could do very little about those comments outside of the women's forums.

[Bernie]

i would have slapped assclown #1
read the riot act to jackhole #2
i dont know what to say to #3....other then, WOW...
and the guys on #4....:nuts:

[Quadrablue]

ok don't hate me but I found your rant kinda funny Paul. I don't know, maybe it's because I've been around jackasses for so long that their remarks don't even phase me anymore. Mind you, catch me on a bad day and watch out. Jackass #2 would have been choking on my name tag! lol I find the best way to deal with them is to be more clever than they are which isn't hard. Most of them are just ignorant. Kinda reminds me of my supervisor at work who told me I was 'trying' to be a guy by weight training, etc. I told him it was in his best interest to just walk away. Don't apologize, just walk away dude. It's either that or I crush you like a fly and lose my job because YOU are an idiot lol

[Mercury Girl]

ok don't hate me but I found your rant kinda funny Paul. I don't know, maybe it's because I've been around jackasses for so long that their remarks don't even phase me anymore. Mind you, catch me on a bad day and watch out. Jackass #2 would have been choking on my name tag! lol I find the best way to deal with them is to be more clever than they are which isn't hard. Most of them are just ignorant. Kinda reminds me of my supervisor at work who told me I was 'trying' to be a guy by weight training, etc. I told him it was in his best interest to just walk away. Don't apologize, just walk away dude. It's either that or I crush you like a fly and lose my job because YOU are an idiot lol

Now, that's funny! :respect:

[MsGuns]

lmao lmao lmao lmao

Please walk away...no violence please...

ok don't hate me but I found your rant kinda funny Paul. I don't know, maybe it's because I've been around jackasses for so long that their remarks don't even phase me anymore. Mind you, catch me on a bad day and watch out. Jackass #2 would have been choking on my name tag! lol I find the best way to deal with them is to be more clever than they are which isn't hard. Most of them are just ignorant. Kinda reminds me of my supervisor at work who told me I was 'trying' to be a guy by weight training, etc. I told him it was in his best interest to just walk away. Don't apologize, just walk away dude. It's either that or I crush you like a fly and lose my job because YOU are an idiot lol

[ibarramedia]

I'm going to chime in here for a second. :)

First, I've been wondering ever since I became interested in FBB, Figure, etc., how the women involved in this sport deal with guys like Doofus #2. I don't know if they can shrug it off, or if it gets to them. I think it would get to me if I put in the years of hard work at the gym and on my diet and was really working like any other athlete to achieve my goals, only to have someone yell, "Hey you, nice ass." :rolleyes:

Second, the things you're talking about bug me, too. Sometimes I'm really tempted to ask people: "Did you eat lead paint chips as a child? Is that why you're so screwed up now?" :nuts: :LOLOL: You'd think that as a society we'd be past all those stupid negative comments about someone's race or heritage or the stereotypes of what women are supposed to look like - its 2008, for crying out loud, not 1958! But, I guess not. I guess all we can do is keep working at it and moving forward and try to change peoples' minds one by one.

Anyhoo - I hear what you're saying and I get why you're frustrated. Just keep setting the example, ABP, and hope others follow your lead. :D

Oh, and this is for Doofus #1 whose "twins" were bugging him: :nutsk: :LOLOL: :D

Venting your frustrations is good for the soul. I kind of suspected there would be characters lie #1 and #2.... i don't think that place would be insulated from numnuts.... i mean there are numnuts at the gym too...
#3 i'm just shaking my head.... #4 is the most interesting. They are your carboys from your forum. The only thing i can think of saying is they should respect you or that maybe they are not ready for that kind of thing. In a perfect world everyone will be accepting of female muscle. I guess it was kind of hard mixing the 2 worlds.

When I was much younger, I almost got into fights a few times because in the magazine section of the bookstore looking at flex magazine with FBBs, some guysmade some wise ass comments and I turned around and gave them the stare of death and asked what the hell they said. They got scared and said "nothing man. it's all cool". When I was even much younger than that, I actually knocked somebody out then i quickly left the store. Nothing happened to me though....

[ibarramedia]

ok don't hate me but I found your rant kinda funny Paul. I don't know, maybe it's because I've been around jackasses for so long that their remarks don't even phase me anymore. Mind you, catch me on a bad day and watch out. Jackass #2 would have been choking on my name tag! lol I find the best way to deal with them is to be more clever than they are which isn't hard. Most of them are just ignorant. Kinda reminds me of my supervisor at work who told me I was 'trying' to be a guy by weight training, etc. I told him it was in his best interest to just walk away. Don't apologize, just walk away dude. It's either that or I crush you like a fly and lose my job because YOU are an idiot lol


I don't know how you could work with a supervisor like that. If i was there, I might have knocked him out. Quadra Do you still work with him ?

[Quadrablue]

I don't know how you could work with a supervisor like that. If i was there, I might have knocked him out. Quadra Do you still work with him ?

Yep we're still both alive and working together. He has actually become a pretty good friend, more so to my bf, but we do get along. I still think he's a big of a jackass and definitely has some issues but he doesn't dare make that mistake again lol

[xena]

You all wrote really valid rants and they all made me laugh really hard. The most disturbing is the comment about "blacks" participating in bodybuilding, fitness etc. That really bothers me.

I guess the more I hear and see things like that going on, it makes me enjoy hanging out with my husband and four dogs all the more.