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No, it's considerably less popular than most people here think. Obviously, a social media profile of someone who is athletic and/or fit is going to specifically attract people who are into that look. It's hardly representative of the average person.
Honestly I think generally there's pretty much more acceptance for muscular girls. I mean, it seems to me that the average feeling is that they are not seen anymore as freaks as a few years ago.
Btw I'm not talking about heavy bodybuilders, kinda Miss Olympia style.
I simply mean that seeing girls in the gym lifting heavy things was very rare in the past years, they were in aerobic classes or tapis roulant, just slim fit but not with visible outstanding muscles.
I'm seeing more and more girls with visible muscles, meaning, more built than in the past, not looking huge but physically stronger than they used to be. It seems pretty much visually accepted if you ask me.
Then, if muscular girls are a thing for guys, like a turn on, I think is still just something for a niche of people.
Btw, that's just my 2 humble cents
No it's not very popular .if a muscular woman posts stuff on the internet all the shmoes will find her page quickly. and they will be 99% of her viewers .
i noticed most fbb related videos peak at 100k views on YouTube with mostly positive comments. seems like a lot but that is a small amount on the modern internet.
sometimes they get more views at 1 million views around half of the comments are negative .at 10 million views the majority of the comments will be hating on her .you start getting comments from religious people.
It's DEFINITELY gotten a lot more acceptance... even in popular media you're starting to see it more and more, gradually. Natalie Portman CGI arm muscles in Thor being one example (yes, I know she bulked up, but they added the definition). Zack Snyder's Justice League had all the amazons. The upcoming Street Fighter 6 has a female fighter with huge muscles and has garnered a lot of positive attention. There's definitely a lot more positivity around it, overall. Just like anything that goes against the status quo, there will still be a bunch of haters, but who cares...
I think female musculature is becoming more popular in public, and it also goes to show why more and more girls want to lift heavy weights in the gym. And accordingly build and show more visible muscle. But what continues to be rejected is the exaggerated and monstrously constructed body. These include excessive intake of build-up preparations, drugs, as well as ridiculous display of plastic surgery (watermelon boobs/lips/basketball ass etc) and tattoos. Anything related to natural muscle building and sport is perfectly fine.
Guys.
Stop thinking that social media is the real world.
You shouldn’t be surprised that a reel of an athletic and muscular woman is going to be filled with admiration and requests to flex. Algorithms insure that people who are into that will be shown videos of that content. Your interpretation of “they get lots of flex requests!” Is confirmation bias and not reflective of the masses.
I think that even if it isn’t ‘mainstream’ it’s definitely more popular than it ever has been before, it seems like there’s been a sudden explosion in the amount of women getting into weightlifting over the past couple years and general sentiments toward muscular women seem to be reversing as well.
I’ve watched depictions in media go predominantly from “played off as a joke or freakshow” to being treated with legitimacy and becoming much more widespread. Take for example Overwatch, The Last of Us, Cyberpunk, Dorohedoro, Encanto (I even remember reading that Luisa merch and toys outsold every other character's), Street Fighter, Killer Sally, that A24 film about a romance between an FBB and Kristen Stewart coming out this year, the list goes on. Also, even if social media isn’t real life, it’s still used by real people and it still has an impact, it might seem a lot bigger than it actually is if you’re on it all the time, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t there at all either. Not to mention I remember that even on social media the attitude toward women building muscle used to be a lot different and a lot more negative than it is now.
But still, even in real life I’ve been seeing more women getting into it, not huge bodybuilders or anything, but definitely more girls who aren’t afraid to hit arms. I think the tide has been turning the past couple of years and whether it will continue to the point of muscular women being normalized is anyone’s guess, but I'm more optimistic about it than a lot of people on this site seem to be. Back in high school, the idea of anyone finding out I was into this was like, my absolute worst nightmare, but now it seems almost ridiculous that it was ever a major concern for me, several of the friends I’ve told about this have even reciprocated the sentiment, even ones who aren’t on social media at all. So yeah, I at least think so.
I think we are still confusing big, almost contest shape, almost roided up - even just lil bit (even most bikinis) - kinda body fitness, body builders, etc, with "normal" girls not afraid anymore to hit the weight room. I'm not talking about socials now, but just the fkn real daily thing and real life. Girls have definitely been changing, they are more independent, from the financial point of view, to their life's attitude. There's more singles, they care more about themselves, and there's more girls/women who like to be and see themselves stronger, healthier. Don't confuse this with the idea of muscular girls we have on this site. There's a general vision of more acceptance for stronger women than ever before, doesn't mean juiced and jacked or roided, but it's considered also respectable if they care about their bodies, they are strong, and even if they can have some visible muscles. And flexing some nice biceps is not that gross anymore. But I'm talking about "normal" women who will don't give a damn about competing, getting shredded, and taking stuff, so they'll never look like most of the GWM you see on here. Still, it's a thing. A good one. Been talking about the real life I see in an European Country were fitness women are a rarity, not that magic area in between LA and Vegas where muscular girls are just around every corner.
Lol this is a good one, you won :))) But u got what I mean. But seriously, the times I've been there I've seen more muscular girls/women in two weeks than in my whole life in the whole Europe
Yeah, I get it. 😉
I think anecdotal evidence is the best we'll get. However, if we compile all of our anecdotal experiences then maybe we'll be able to confirm what most of us seem to believe.
Indeed, considering socials and internet we'll keep seeing what we are supposed to be willing to watch. Algorithms magic. I think we all are self conscious about that, and muscle girls stuff is a niche thing. Still i think something is changing. In any case, it seems we are having different opinions and perceptions, respectable. But trust me, if you were 20 when I was in that age (30yrs ago) girls were... Well they are pretty much better now lol (just talking about physical shape) I know it might be sounding weird, but the difference is truly objectively huge.
Yeah, I get it. 😉
I think anecdotal evidence is the best we'll get. However, if we compile all of our anecdotal experiences then maybe we'll be able to confirm what most of us seem to believe.
You know, even 20 years ago in Cali I sow girls reaching gym during night (or super early morning) into those 24/7 24h open gyms while in Europe still most gym are not open at night and barely 24/7 lol
If you want objectivity... go out into the real world and see for yourself. Do you see a significantly higher number of muscular women around than before?
If you want subjectivity... continue getting all of your information from the internet.
Out in the real world I see many more fit, nicely muscled women, they had to work hard to get and keep that look. Not FBB muscle, but fit certainly well trained muscle, and they are more than willing to show it off. A woman like that strolls into a sports bar she always gets plenty of looks and attention, positive attention. That's what I see.
Yes but no. I think we need to define "female muscle".
If we mean muscle mass and definition of competitive bodybuilders, of any weight class, the answer is a definite no. The general public has not become more accepting. People struggle with anything that challenges gender norms. It has nothing to do with weightlifting and it is not likely change.
What has changed are two things, body positivity and fitness.
Western culture (at least in the US) is in the process of becoming more accepting and loving of women with different body types. This is a reaction to the unrealistic image of beauty created by the media and porn. With this there has been some recognition of athletic body types as a way to celebrate all body types. I would not conflate this with becoming more popular, just less taboo.
What has become more popular is fitness in general. Being healthy and maintaining your body has definitely become mainstream. Part that is also a recognition of the work and dedication it takes. Yoga, Crossfit, Tough Mudder, Spartan Race, various cardio programs and diets, have exploded in the last couple of decades. Being strong in the sense of being resilient and dedicated is definitely popular. A degree of muscle development, call it "toned" or "firm", that results from it is seen as good thing.
To put it one way, there are levels to this shit. Many people like abs on a man or a woman. Not everyone, in fact very few, would enjoy the kind of ripped veiny six or eight packs you see on this site.
I think female muscle is definitely more popular than many people realise.
I am a big follower of tennis and one particular tennis player (Maria Sakkari) is absolutely ripped compared to all the other female players. Whenever a photo or video of her is posted on YouTube, Reddit, Facebook and the likes, there are shitloads of comments from people admiring her muscles, expressing jealousy, and so on. I imagine many of those people would not dare to express such feelings in public, but it's much easier to be open online.
I ask because every time I've come across a video of a girl who has visible muscle there's always someone in the comments asking her to flex (usually multiple people) and the comment usually get multiple upvotes. I'm not even talking about videos of FBB's where they're likely to have a big schmoe following, I'm seeing this on instagram livestreams or tiktok/youtube videos with athletes (track, gymnastics, pole vault, soccer etc) or just regular women who are fit. At this point I find it hard to believe that they're just schmoes because these women have nothing to do with bodybuilding but the flex comments are always there among a viewer base of regular people and they don't even get called out for being weird or anything.