{"id":66274,"date":"2026-05-13T13:29:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T18:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=66274"},"modified":"2026-05-13T13:48:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T18:48:37","slug":"strong-women-and-strongwomen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=66274","title":{"rendered":"Strong Women and Strongwomen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At WLBOTT<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today we’re going to look at strongwomen. Our recent BLOTT of Deltoid Dawn<\/strong> got us to thinking about female bodybuilders. and the social stigmas they had to overcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elder G<\/strong> is eloquent on this topic, calling it “The Aesthetics of Defiance”:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Not merely \u201cwomen becoming athletic,\u201d which society eventually learned to package and commercialize, but women becoming visibly, undeniably powerful<\/em> in a way that challenged inherited assumptions about femininity itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that made people profoundly uneasy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/em> and visible<\/em>. It wasn\u2019t hidden inside necessity anymore. It became art, discipline, identity, declaration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That changes the social equation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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The History of the Strongwomen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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A strongwoman <\/strong>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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Charmion (1875\u20131949), vaudeville strongwoman and trapeze artist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Traditional strongwomen<\/strong>
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.<\/p>\nWikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Some Early Strongwomen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Miss Athl\u00e9ta<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Athleta Van Huffelen<\/strong>, often billed as \u201cMiss Athl\u00e9ta,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Belgian born Athleta Van Huffelen<\/strong> 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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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. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s biceps still measured more than 16 inches. After their mother left the stage, the three daughters continued performing at the Folies Berg\u00e8re in Paris.<\/p>\nFitOcracy<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Marie Sirois<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Marie Sirois<\/strong> (Septembre 2, 1865 \u2013 January 18, 1920), erroneously known as Marie-Louise, was a French-Canadian strongwoman who was promoted as the strongest woman in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By age 17, she was noted for having lifted barrels weighing 115 kilograms (254 pounds).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\nWikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

From Radio Canada<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An article from La Presse, dating from May 25, 1898, details the exploits and prodigious strength of Marie-louise Sirois.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Marie-Louise Sirois (left) in a family photo. Her husband is on the right
PHOTO: Radio-Canada \/Jacques Racine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n