In defense of women's bodybuilding (at the pro level), I have to disagree with alot of you. Athletics and sports are about performance & outcome/winning. Speed isn't masculine or feminine. A point scored in soccor isn't either. A perfect round-off back handspring in gymnastics knows no gender either. The sport of bodybuilding revolves around muscular hypertrophy to it's genetic potential and beyond... without sacrificing symmetry and other non-gender related qualities, not by how masculine or feminine the muscles looks or how "pleasing to the eye" it may be. And if increasing its size makes the athlete more masculine; so be it. You don't see people bashing male long distance runners for having near runway model size bodies.
I don't think female bodybuilders are apologetic to the majority of people for feeling threatened by their willingness to deviate from stereotypical femininity. They're hated as much as dyke-type lesbians... because they're not feminine. That's enough unrightful punishment already. If we can respect male bodybuilders for looking like freaks, then we should show that same respect for the women even if they look like men; not try or agree to eradicate their share of the sport
I thought the answer to this dilemma was the creation of women's figure category, but yet so many still bash women's bodybuilding for just existing. So what if it's not pleasing to your eyes? If you don't like the way they look, don't look at their pictures or buy a ticket to their shows. Ultimately, what could honestly end the sport for women is if NOBODY shows up for the shows and companies find it a waste of money to be associated with them. But guess what... that is not the case.
I'm sure many will profoundly disagree with me. Not that I'd ever consider to become a full out pro bodybuilder (I'm way too lazy to eat that much protein for 8 months, then eat next to nothing for 2)
But I do respect female bodybuilders for their hard work and take no BS from the world mentality. I don't feel it's a womans obligation to please the eyes of every man who looks her way.