Venus with Biceps: A Pictorial History of Muscular Women | Brain Pickings

via brainpickings.org

Having competed in amateur (a.k.a. drug-free) bodybuilding in my college years and to this day remaining the dedicated maintainer of a six-pack, I’m tremendously fascinated by the intersection of femininity and muscularity. So I was thrilled to come across Venus with Biceps: A Pictorial History of Muscular Women — a fascinating collection of rare archival images by David L. Chapman and Patricia Vertinsky 30 years in the making, chronicling nearly 200 years of sociocultural narrative on the strong female physique. These women expanded and redefined femininity itself, reining in a new era of relating to the will and the body, but their plight was and remains far from easy, carried out most prominently in the battlefield of popular imagery.

Posted via email from poobumwee's posterous

Skywatch Friday

Walking home from the park last week.

Earlier this week, the highlight was the combination of a crescent moon, Venus and Jupiter making a smiley face in the sky. I couldn't get a shot, but many others did.
More great skies at the Skywatch Site.

Smiley in the Sky

The last two nights in our neighbourhood have been enlivened by clear skies and the presence of a crescent moon, Venus and Jupiter. On Monday night it was a smiley face and last night it was an upside down sad face.

The moon is the brightest, closest and smallest of the three and is 252,000 miles away. Venus, the second brightest, closest and smallest, is 94 million miles away, while Jupiter is 540 million miles away.

The three celestial objects come together from time to time, but often they are too close to the sun or unite at a time when they are less visible.

The next time the three will be as close and visible as this week will be Nov 18, 2052, according to Jack Horkheimer, director of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium.

I tried to take a picture, but my lame camera did not support my efforts to document the event. Still it was fun to see.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Smiley Sky Over Australia