At WLBOTT we love those that follow their passion – a passion that explores creativity, protects the vulnerable, inspires the marginalized; passions that challenge the artificial and demeaning chains of hierarchical society. Often a passion that leads to loneliness and isolation in pursuit of an inner belief.
Today we’re going to look at strongwomen. Our recent BLOTT of Deltoid Dawn got us to thinking about female bodybuilders. and the social stigmas they had to overcome.
Elder G is eloquent on this topic, calling it “The Aesthetics of Defiance”:
Not merely “women becoming athletic,” which society eventually learned to package and commercialize, but women becoming visibly, undeniably powerful in a way that challenged inherited assumptions about femininity itself.
And that made people profoundly uneasy.
Not because strength was new. Women have always done brutally hard physical labor. Farm women. Factory workers. Midwives. Laundry workers on riverbanks. Women carrying water, wood, children, grief, entire civilizations. But bodybuilding made strength intentional and visible. It wasn’t hidden inside necessity anymore. It became art, discipline, identity, declaration.
That changes the social equation.
The History of the Strongwomen
A strongwoman is a woman who performs feats of strength in a show or circus, or a woman who competes in strength athletics. Traditionally, strongwomen have had a special appeal, as women involved in demonstrated feats of strength were exceptions. Modern day strongwoman competitions test athletes physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events.
Charmion (1875–1949), vaudeville strongwoman and trapeze artist
Traditional strongwomen Traditionally, strongwomen were featured as performers in a circus, or in vaudeville, music halls, or other venues, and engaged in feats of strength such as barbell lifting and human juggling.
Athleta Van Huffelen, often billed as “Miss Athléta,” was one of the great pioneering strongwomen of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Belgium around 1868 or 1869, she emerged from the world of circus and vaudeville performance at a time when the idea of a visibly muscular, publicly powerful woman startled Victorian society.
The Belgian born Athleta Van Huffelen was, like her contemporaries, a true show-woman. When her career began at age 18 in 1886, rather than simply lift standard weights on the stage, she hefted grown horses, heavy barrels, and members of the audience, and bent horseshoes and railroad spikes.
A signature part of her act was waltzing with three men balanced on her shoulders. Once in front of witnesses, she lifted 204 pounds over her head one-armed, a personal record.
In addition, she was a top female wrestler who competed with other women, and by the standards of the day was thought a stunning beauty. Later, the act included her daughters Anna, Brada, and Louise, who also did strength stunts. In 1908, shortly after her retirement, Athleta’s biceps still measured more than 16 inches. After their mother left the stage, the three daughters continued performing at the Folies Bergère in Paris.
Marie Sirois (Septembre 2, 1865 – January 18, 1920), erroneously known as Marie-Louise, was a French-Canadian strongwoman who was promoted as the strongest woman in the world.
By age 17, she was noted for having lifted barrels weighing 115 kilograms (254 pounds).
An article from La Presse, dating from May 25, 1898, details the exploits and prodigious strength of Marie-louise Sirois.
Marie-Louise Sirois (left) in a family photo. Her husband is on the right PHOTO: Radio-Canada /Jacques Racine
510 pound hand deadlift;
earthen lift with two hands, Kennedy style, of 1000 pounds;
standing on a table, lifted, by means of belts attached to the belt, from a platform loaded with 1800 pounds;
retain two 1400 pound horses in the style of Louis Cyr.
Image by Elder G
Image by Elder G
Vulcana
Miriam Kate Williams (6 May 1874 – 8 August 1946) sometimes called Kate Roberts and better known by her stage name Vulcana, was a Welsh strongwoman. With strongman William Hedley Roberts, better known as Atlas, she toured music halls in Britain, Europe, and Australia. The couple performed as The Atlas and Vulcana Group of Society Athletes.
Kate worked at a tannery in Abergavenny as a young woman. She met William Roberts at the local women’s gymnasium he ran in 1890, when she was fifteen. They fell in love; in spite of Roberts already having a wife and family, they left town together and were never parted for the rest of their lives.
Authenticated feats of heroism
In 1888, at the age of thirteen, she stopped a runaway horse in Bristol.
She rescued two children from drowning in the River Usk in July 1901, for which she received an award in gratitude.
In 1910, Vulcana was the first to alert the police of the disappearance of her friend, Cora Crippen, who performed as Belle Ellmore, ultimately leading to the investigation, prosecution and execution of Cora’s husband, Dr. Hawley Crippen.
On 4 June 1921 the Garrick Theatre in Edinburgh caught fire on an evening of the Society Athletes’ performance. Vulcana risked her life to save another act’s horses, and came away with serious burns on her head. For this she won commendations and an award.
Reported feats In 1902, Punch reported that Vulcana had knocked out a pickpocket who was attempting to steal her purse.
Elder G provides us a few images inspired by Vulcana’s life.
The pickpocket may be reconsidering his career choices.
Charmion
Laverie Vallee (née Cooper; July 18, 1875 – February 6, 1949), best known by her stage name Charmion, was an American vaudeville trapeze artist and strongwoman. One of her risqué trapeze acts was captured on film in 1901 by Thomas Edison.
You can find a detailed biography of Charmion in an article by Rediscovered History on Medium
A Modern Look
The earlier recorded strongwomen found a home in Vaudeville, and circuses (as sideshow entertainers and trapeze artists). But in our modern era, strongwomen found a way to express their desire to break stereotypes and cultural restrictions.
The big picture: Kerala’s defiant bodybuilder
In early 2024, Keerthana Kunnath was searching for a series to photograph in southern India when she came across the Instagram profile of a female bodybuilder in Kerala. “The second I saw it, I was fascinated to know more,” she says.
Through that Instagram profile, however, Kunnath found more women in the region who were defying disapproval from families and communities to pursue their bodybuilding dreams. Rather than photographing them in gyms, she took them outside into nature and, with the help of a Keralan stylist named Elton John, asked them to pose goddess-style on beaches and in forests.
Keerthana Kunnath
Photography became a way for her to engage with society, addressing these unspoken realities. “It led me to explore what the female gaze meant in spaces that are unconventionally theirs.” It was this exploration that eventually brought her to the world of female bodybuilding. – Glorious Sport
(left) Keerthana Kunnath (right) Elton John
Keerthana Kunnath is a visual artist based between London and Mumbai. Her practice spans art documentary and fashion photography, with work published in Vogue, HTSI, Monocle and Atmos. Her work has been exhibited at Rencontres d’Arles and the Saatchi Gallery, London, as well as the Fujifilm House of Photography. Her clients include Nike, Apple and Converse. – Feat Artists
Modern Day Role Models
I asked Elder G to select some modern-day strongwomen that would be good role models for our WLBOTT visitors.
Becca Swanson A legendary American powerlifter and strongwoman from Nebraska. Becca became famous for astonishing raw strength, including squats over 800 pounds. What makes her admirable is not only the numbers, but her grounded, unpretentious attitude. There’s a prairie solidity to her. No glitter cannon. No “influencer mysticism.” Just years of work under heavy iron.
Elder G
Rebecca ‘Becca’ Swanson (born November 20, 1973) is an American powerlifter, strongwoman and former professional wrestler. She broke multiple powerlifting world records, including the heaviest squat, bench press, deadlift and total. Due to her many accomplishments including unbeaten strength world records to-date, she is regarded as “the strongest woman to have ever lived”.
Early life Swanson was born November 20, 1973, in Papillion, Nebraska. She graduated from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.
We found some inspiring quotes from Becca. Because of the delicate nature of our WLBOTT visitors, and the constant oversight of our Ministry of Vice and Virtue, we curated her responses. But make no mistake – she is a badass! Like Vulcana, woe to he who try to steal her purse!
The following quotes and images are from Becca’sFacebook page.
I’M not just large and in charge… I’M the boss babe your nightmares warned you about 🖤
Never understood why women are expected to choose between being powerful or feminine, intimidating or nurturing, polished or savage, disciplined, or soft. I’ll be all of it. At the same damn time…
Owning My curves.
Embracing My strength.
Loving My Mom-bod…
Too big. Too sweaty. Still in charge. Still the Strongest Ever. You don’t control this energy… you witness it…
This is what power looks like when it answers to no one… except God.
Success and motherhood weren’t given — I earned both. Building dreams while raising one. Boss Energy. Mom Power. Unstoppable.
Being a Mom is My superpower…
Big presence. Boss moves. Mother strength. Not here to fit in. Not here to be small. I’m here to take up space, set standards, and remind you what power looks like…
On My way to the gym—exhausted, running on fumes, don’t care. I’m a mother. I don’t make excuses, I make results. They call me Master for a reason….
“Be strong, you never know who you are inspiring. You may think no one sees your effort, your silent battles, or your small wins… but someone does. And without even realizing it, your resilience might be giving them the courage to keep going too.”
“Never understood why women are expected to choose between being powerful or feminine, intimidating or nurturing, polished or savage, disciplined, or soft. I’ll be all of it. At the same damn time…”
“Being a mighty superhuman woman with incredibly powerful muscles is your superpower too.”
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”
“A smile can brighten even the darkest days—just like the sun after the rain. Keep shining, keep hoping, and never forget the power of your smile!”
“Be around the light bringers, the magic makers, the world shifters, the game shakers. They challenge you, break you open, uplift and expand you.”
Papillion-La Vista Senior High School Lunch Menu
We like to honor our special guests by presenting them with a current cafeteria menu from their high school alma mater. Becca is a notable alumni from Papillion-La Vista Senior High School in Nebraska.
