Women Bodybuilding Contest in China 1986

Time Magazine December 15, 1986: China’s Fear of the Bikini For the judges, muscle definition and mass symmetry were everything. But for most of the Chinese spectators who jammed the sports coliseum in Shenzhen recently to see 46 female body builders compete, the appeal was far simpler: the ever so brief costumes that showed off more of the feminine form than the Chinese have ever before seen in public. The bikini has arrived in the People’s Republic. After a year of competing in demure, one-piece suits, the country’s female body builders are creating a sensation with their new sports uniforms. The first blow for navel liberation was struck in September by four competitors at a provincial contest. “A sudden hail of deafening screams and whistles broke out,“ reported the biweekly Shenzhen Youth Herald. “The four girls trembled at the center of the stage and slowly lowered their heads.“ When the hall finally quieted and the athletes raised their heads to strik