It was the early 80,s and my local national newspaper The Daily Record ran an article on Mary Scott,one of the first UK competing fbbs,like now a guys dreamgirl was supposed to be blonde,skinny with big hooters but Mary was dark,permed and had muscletone.i thought "wot a bod & what a sweet smile". she appeared on a few progs & came across like Lorrainne Kelly (warm,smiley & friendly) she was a mum who ran a gym & came from Dunfermline,practically up the road from where I lived. & I thought "some lucky basket comes home to this? Mary would barely make bikini nowadays & as fbbs got bigger ,she kinda faded from the scene.
A few weeks later,the same paper ran an article on Carolyn Cheshire ,& the scot in me thought "wow,these English girls aint so bad" lol.This poor schmoe also thought my little island was brimming with fbbs,as I found out this has never been the case.
At least these articles were positive.In following years,not so.It was always about the time when NABBA ran their wbb contest in southport,interviews would appear,.Once,same paper,on Donna Hartley with what became a familiar title in such articles."Why would a woman wanna look like this" its either that or ""she cant find a fella" bloody cheek,same newspapers campaign against anorexia & size zero models.
Until you plucked up the courage to go into John Menzies (newsagents,pre internet) for the ms o issue,sightings of your fav ladies were scant & infuriating..Either on uk tvs latest attempt at doing Oprah,where like Andrulla or Julia Abell would have to sit & listen to an audience of fat ugly cows & douchebags tell her ShE,s not feminine.or some daytime prog where Kimberley Anne Jones or Loretta Loma stand & grin as the host flexes his puny muscles under a suit & says without fail "shake my hand,ooh me fingers har har!"
Schmoes cant really explain why they love fbbs.At the start they were an alternative to the glamour models we were forced fed to by the media.& you liked them as much as.but as I get older,I prefer a fit,muscular,inteligent woman who I admire for dedicating her life to how she looks to the skinny,dyed hair,airbagged z list celebrity models (tweak tweak) who,re afraid of eating.that are comparatively meant to be the norm!