IFBB Women’s Bodybuilding Rep: “Moving in the Right Direction with a Positive Message”

IFBB Women’s Bodybuilding Represenatative, Betty Pariso issued a statement today, regarding the Women’s Physique Division. The details of the new division are still be ironed out but the interwebs have been all a buzz about the new division. It’s said to be for women who aren’t muscular enough to be competitive in bodybuilding but too muscular for figure. The division is still be explored and official word from the NPC/IFBB has yet to be released.

Betty Pariso with her FLEX award at the 2010 Olympia.
Photo by Ron Avidan / Getbig.com

Betty recently retired from competitive bodybuilding but she is very active in promoting shows with her husband Ed. Betty shared, “First let me say that Ed & I have added a 2nd Pro Women’s Contest to our Event Schedule in 2011. We will be bringing FIBO / Europa to the USA and we have included Pro Women Bodybuilding to the line-up of events. It will be held in Chicago – September 30, 2 weeks after the 2011 Olympia.”

Betty had this to share today…

MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION WITH A POSITIVE MESSAGE

TIME LINE:

April 2007
In 2007 I had created a overall program called Women’s Physique Division , and presented it to the IFBB Committee, and at that time it was rejected. I felt at the time, and still do that there is a big niche that we are missing…women that want to train and build some muscle.  Currently, we are missing a huge market, somewhere between the current level of Women’s Bodybuilding and Figure. Women that want muscle, just not to the excess…that is what I keep hearing from so many Women that they want. The progression of Women’s Bodybuilding over the years may have discouraged many from competition in our sport.

April 2010
I made the decision one month after the Arnold to retire from Women’s Bodybuilding. I was not tired of Women’s Bodybuilding, Competing or Training, but had decided I would not do what it takes to compete at that level of muscularity. Ed knew competing for me was so much of who I am…so we looked around and the only thing left out there for me was Figure. Although Figure is smaller than I wanted to be, I was excited with this new challenge, and it became a fun new goal for me that kept me motivated to change my body. I dropped 30 pounds in 3 months and of course loved the clothes I could fit into !

August 2010
Bob (Bob Chicherillo, the IFBB Pro Athlete’s Rep) contacts me and ask me to join and support a somewhat similar proposal that he too named “Women’s Physique Division”. I was happy to be involved and will lend my support and hopefully be able to give some ideas and direction. At this time the exact criteria is not known. You have heard directly from Steve Weinberger that Women’s Bodybuilding is not going anywhere.

MY THOUGHTS:
As a woman…I do feel in my heart it is the right direction and message regardless. I am always about being inclusive. I know some of you will not fit into this new category, but as it currently stands, many do not fit in either Figure or Pro Women’s Bodybuilding. So we have left out a huge group of women that will now have somewhere to go.

As I get older, and hopefully wiser I have always been concerned about the message we are sending to the young women coming up in the sport of female bodybuilding. The image that is winning at the highest level is a body image that is causing many women to make very difficult choices or drop out of the sport of Bodybuilding. For a lot of Women, some muscle on a woman is very beautiful…no question, but we are way over on the muscularity end of what many female bodybuilders originally liked about the sport and wanted for themselves.  If this new division proves to be successful in the NPC, then these women will now have the Women’s Physique Division in which to compete.

Women’s Bodybuilding has evolved to the highest level of muscularity, and it has created a huge void between Figure and Women’s Bodybuilding. Hopefully I will have some input in
developing the criteria and this new division lands somewhere in the middle.

Sincerely,
Betty Pariso
IFBB Women’s Bodybuilding Rep
IFBB Promoter

For more information on the FIBO / Europa contest visit, www.visionstarinc.com.