Denise Rutkowski

[marvin]

We should try to remember the good qualities Denise processed as well, her beauty, athleticism, the charisma she brought to the stage and from the pictures below she seems to have a tremendous compassion. All this makes the struggles she faces now all the more tragic.

Of course, the media preys on misfortune and controversy but it might be better, and less misguided, to portray Denise's name in a way that is not evocative of plainly contemptible things i.e. meth, transgenderism and juice. As they say: a picture is worth a thousand words, shape your own opinion about the pic below.

[marvin]

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[DRF]

This woman certainly ran the whole gamut of bodybuilding,
Competed, dazzled and dominated at the top level;
Wrestled;
Participated in strength shows;
Featured shortly in a series and was a guest on live TV;
things were looking up for her in 1993, even bearing in mind her runner-up placing at the Ms O, had she stayed on and maintained the previous 2 years' momentum she would've easily been the Cory Everson of a much more muscular generation of FBBing...hell she was destined for the 1994 Ms O but I guess thats when the bill was due for administering so much juice throughout her career which is commonplace in bodybuilding for the uninitiated.  Her 2015 image looked promising, hopefully those around her are looking after her and keeping her away from whatever and whoever got her or assisted in getting her into this maelstrom. 

We should try to remember the good qualities Denise processed as well, her beauty, athleticism, the charisma she brought to the stage and from the pictures below she seems to have a tremendous compassion. All this makes the struggles she faces now all the more tragic.

[DRF]

[alison brundage]

Her entire package involved a ton of hard work and dedication ( Lots of hard lifting, posing practice ...the whole nine yards).   It was not something she achieved from merely popping a pill and bingo...stardom.   Ok so the muscle-making medication was no doubt in there......BUT ...her achievements took a lot out of her no doubt.  It gave her some years of glory as well.  For me it's hard to balance it in my head for the price she paid.  Bodybuilding competition ( any competition actually ) can swallow a person up if you are not ready for everything that must be sacrificed...and endured.  My hat is off to her for what she achieved in the sport.  LOT'S of blood sweat and tears as well....

ALISON

[marvin]

Alison, you make two vary good points. It was more than taking performance enhancing drugs that got her physique to an elite level. Who knows if the price she had to pay was worth the cost. Guess Denise is the only one who can truly answer that question.

Her entire package involved a ton of hard work and dedication ( Lots of hard lifting, posing practice ...the whole nine yards).   It was not something she achieved from merely popping a pill and bingo...stardom.   Ok so the muscle-making medication was no doubt in there......BUT ...her achievements took a lot out of her no doubt.  It gave her some years of glory as well.  For me it's hard to balance it in my head for the price she paid.  Bodybuilding competition ( any competition actually ) can swallow a person up if you are not ready for everything that must be sacrificed...and endured.  My hat is off to her for what she achieved in the sport.  LOT'S of blood sweat and tears as well....

ALISON

[alison brundage]

Alison, you make two vary good points. It was more than taking performance enhancing drugs that got her physique to an elite level. Who knows if the price she had to pay was worth the cost. Guess Denise is the only one who can truly answer that question.

Her entire package involved a ton of hard work and dedication ( Lots of hard lifting, posing practice ...the whole nine yards).   It was not something she achieved from merely popping a pill and bingo...stardom.   Ok so the muscle-making medication was no doubt in there......BUT ...her achievements took a lot out of her no doubt.  It gave her some years of glory as well.  For me it's hard to balance it in my head for the price she paid.  Bodybuilding competition ( any competition actually ) can swallow a person up if you are not ready for everything that must be sacrificed...and endured.  My hat is off to her for what she achieved in the sport.  LOT'S of blood sweat and tears as well....

ALISON

Well listen, there' s a ton of difference in the training in the limelight in the mecca of FBB and us ordinary gals, training in  our small hometown and backyards..  For those of us who trained outside of the limelight we had focus on weights,diet and the sport.  For the gals training in the limelight...the Venice gals etc... training becomes augmented by muscle lusters, magazine crew, fans and fans with money....muscle drug influence...an entire myriad of flack you either dodge ...or not.  You wish to please, you enjoy the accolades, you see the gains with PEDs.....and it's an avelanche that's out to get you...or not.  It takes ENORMOUS restraint not to succumb.

[DRF]

Alison, you make two vary good points. It was more than taking performance enhancing drugs that got her physique to an elite level. Who knows if the price she had to pay was worth the cost. Guess Denise is the only one who can truly answer that question.

Her entire package involved a ton of hard work and dedication ( Lots of hard lifting, posing practice ...the whole nine yards).   It was not something she achieved from merely popping a pill and bingo...stardom.   Ok so the muscle-making medication was no doubt in there......BUT ...her achievements took a lot out of her no doubt.  It gave her some years of glory as well.  For me it's hard to balance it in my head for the price she paid.  Bodybuilding competition ( any competition actually ) can swallow a person up if you are not ready for everything that must be sacrificed...and endured.  My hat is off to her for what she achieved in the sport.  LOT'S of blood sweat and tears as well....

ALISON

Well listen, there' s a ton of difference in the training in the limelight in the mecca of FBB and us ordinary gals, training in  our small hometown and backyards..  For those of us who trained outside of the limelight we had focus on weights,diet and the sport.  For the gals training in the limelight...the Venice gals etc... training becomes augmented by muscle lusters, magazine crew, fans and fans with money....muscle drug influence...an entire myriad of flack you either dodge ...or not.  You wish to please, you enjoy the accolades, you see the gains with PEDs.....and it's an avelanche that's out to get you...or not.  It takes ENORMOUS restraint not to succumb.

Well said, Alison. I guess being in the mecca of bodybuilding entails many pitfalls. I always like to quote Denise for saying this: "If you can't beat me in the gym, you can't beat me on stage" and she definitely put a lot of effort into her physique...however, 1993 was where I think she succumbed, after coming in at 3rd at the 1992 NPC, to the temptation of possibly resorting to or just overdoing it with the "muscle-enhancing drugs". look at the GIFs below of all of Denise 1993 contests, she got massive to the point where commentators starting comparing her back to that of Flex Wheeler and those from the men department, its no coincidence that 1993 turned out to be her last year competing as I reckon thats when she started to feel the brunt of the juice she was on, even in a TV show in 1994 Goodmorning or goodnight America can't recall, her voice was just so deep, not sure if thats from the roids or just from growling in the gym for a decade but it was a bit surprising. Anyway, for me, she remains the best ever, genetically she was a godsend to the sport!







Guess Valentina Chepiga is also a fan of Denise

[DRF]

 

[alison brundage]

The unfortunate fallacy was the bigger you get the higher up on hill of fame and fortune you climb.   The unfortunate truths are that the driving forces ( the ones that steered the ship) were commercial entities.   Once women grew beyond their wildest expectations the contest rules suddenly changed.  OOPS...no we don't want contestants too too big...so what was it ...the 10 % rule I forget.  Such a shame to invest soo much of ones personal self to come to the point were you sort of implode from the external pressure of it all.   .....and so it went

[DRF]

The unfortunate fallacy was the bigger you get the higher up on hill of fame and fortune you climb.   The unfortunate truths are that the driving forces ( the ones that steered the ship) were commercial entities.   Once women grew beyond their wildest expectations the contest rules suddenly changed.  OOPS...no we don't want contestants too too big...so what was it ...the 10 % rule I forget.  Such a shame to invest soo much of ones personal self to come to the point were you sort of implode from the external pressure of it all.   .....and so it went

Alison,
Unfortunately, that "fallacy" is underpinned by a lot of truth, I mean this was surely something Denise would attest to: she had her worst placing in the 1992 NPC championships when she came in 3rd but miraculously 1993  and whatever she supplement with pursuant to that year sure as hell paid off. Jan tana, first place BY A MILE, NPC, FIRST PLACE AND BY A MILE and the grandest of them all the MS OLYMPIA, SHE LET LENDA SCRAP IT BY THE SKIN OF HER TEETH! Her rise was exponential and as the saying goes "what goes up, must come down" the year after saw her spiralling downfall but what is to say that this was from steroid use?


Personally, I see Kim Chizevsky as a textbook example of someone who went overboard with the juice and escaped rather unscathed and concurring with your point Alison, during an interview at the 1993 Ms O Kathy Unger even stated that she competed without using 'substances' [referring to other contestants] even if this drastically lessens the likelihood of winning so yeah its no secret that this is what makes or [sometimes and] breaks competitors of this sport. Nevertheless, even if Denise Rutkowski had stayed on, "The Bigger the Better" was the thrust of and driving force behind women's bodybuilding well into the early 2000s I would say, so that would've only placed additional strain on her body had she decided to conform and succumb further to steroid usage. Alot of women used drugs in the sport and none had managed to put together the package that she was able to deliver, irrespective of drug usage had she stayed on and competed for as long as Lenda, Kim or Cory did, it is unquestionable what she could have amassed but yeah, politicisation might have played a role and denise was an ex-stripper so that might've not played in her favour and could've possibly even stigmatised her from the outset in regards to trying to meet judges' external prejudicial preferences, basically what fits the mould of their envisioned ideal representative of the sport and Organisation. Interested to know your opinion on the iFBB, ALISON. cheers.

[DRF]

[alison brundage]

The unfortunate fallacy was the bigger you get the higher up on hill of fame and fortune you climb.   The unfortunate truths are that the driving forces ( the ones that steered the ship) were commercial entities.   Once women grew beyond their wildest expectations the contest rules suddenly changed.  OOPS...no we don't want contestants too too big...so what was it ...the 10 % rule I forget.  Such a shame to invest soo much of ones personal self to come to the point were you sort of implode from the external pressure of it all.   .....and so it went

Alison,
Unfortunately, that "fallacy" is underpinned by a lot of truth, I mean this was surely something Denise would attest to: she had her worst placing in the 1992 NPC championships when she came in 3rd but miraculously 1993  and whatever she supplement with pursuant to that year sure as hell paid off. Jan tana, first place BY A MILE, NPC, FIRST PLACE AND BY A MILE and the grandest of them all the MS OLYMPIA, SHE LET LENDA SCRAP IT BY THE SKIN OF HER TEETH! Her rise was exponential and as the saying goes "what goes up, must come down" the year after saw her spiralling downfall but what is to say that this was from steroid use?


Personally, I see Kim Chizevsky as a textbook example of someone who went overboard with the juice and escaped rather unscathed and concurring with your point Alison, during an interview at the 1993 Ms O Kathy Unger even stated that she competed without using 'substances' [referring to other contestants] even if this drastically lessens the likelihood of winning so yeah its no secret that this is what makes or [sometimes and] breaks competitors of this sport. Nevertheless, even if Denise Rutkowski had stayed on, "The Bigger the Better" was the thrust of and driving force behind women's bodybuilding well into the early 2000s I would say, so that would've only placed additional strain on her body had she decided to conform and succumb further to steroid usage. Alot of women used drugs in the sport and none had managed to put together the package that she was able to deliver, irrespective of drug usage had she stayed on and competed for as long as Lenda, Kim or Cory did, it is unquestionable what she could have amassed but yeah, politicisation might have played a role and denise was an ex-stripper so that might've not played in her favour and could've possibly even stigmatised her from the outset in regards to trying to meet judges' external prejudicial preferences, basically what fits the mould of their envisioned ideal representative of the sport and Organisation. Interested to know your opinion on the iFBB, ALISON. cheers.

Well I've been out for a long long time and have not been in the loop...and never was really.  If I ventured a guess on IFBB it would be just a guess.   I think you pretty much have hit the nail on the head however.  Ever read the book Mr America by  John D. Fair?  It's an excellent documentation of body building and the contest scene.   Very interesting !   There's another I think you would really like also called Mr America by Mark Adams.  That one is the story of how bodybuilding competition came into being right alongside magazines that promoted physical fitness.  It's the story of Bernarr McFadden who would have been the Weider-like empire of the early 1900's. His magazine was called Physical Culture
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A LOT of the pitfalls of the bodybuilding industry become clear reading these two books. 
ALISON

[DRF]

Well I've been out for a long long time and have not been in the loop...and never was really.  If I ventured a guess on IFBB it would be just a guess.   I think you pretty much have hit the nail on the head however.  Ever read the book Mr America by  John D. Fair?  It's an excellent documentation of body building and the contest scene.   Very interesting !   There's another I think you would really like also called Mr America by Mark Adams.  That one is the story of how bodybuilding competition came into being right alongside magazines that promoted physical fitness.  It's the story of Bernarr McFadden who would have been the Weider-like empire of the early 1900's. His magazine was called Physical Culture
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
A LOT of the pitfalls of the bodybuilding industry become clear reading these two books. 
ALISON

Alison,
I haven't really come across these books tbh but I will at least try to grab hold of and complete one within the coming days, might actually place me on a better footing to more competently put together a comprehensive biographical video of Denise. Although I browsed through the internet for them, I came across snippets and abstracts of the books, all of which sort of alerted me to bear in mind a certain caveat which posits that the female bodybuilding landscape and the male bodybuilding landscape aren't necessarily perfectly reconcilable. For instance, male BBing is more socially acceptable or at least not as socially stigmatising as the often polarising nature of women's BBing. Of course this has a cascading effect because men are given more leeway to grow, elicit more commercial interest which makes their careers more worthwhile and are often simply immortalised in women's BBing ever-changing sentiment is omnipresent, as evidenced by Denise's case any misfortune means they are mercilessly defamed and in general going against the stereotypical femininity mould by displaying masculinity under women's attire leads many to disgust and to spew hateful, homophobic and vitriolic insults. If you attempted to defend these women's inalienable god given right to alter, shape and mould their bodies to whatever way they desire, you are simply labelled a deluded Schmoe. Anyway, its futile to even contemplate changing things..

Back to Denise, over the years I have come across endless accounts that are astronomically sensationalist which portrayed Denise as a character straight out of Marvel's roster. Denise herself stated- based on an interview published in the January 1994 edition of WPW magazine- she was punched and assaulted at a highway rest stop prior to the 1993 Jan Tana, ironically enough this still happens today on the internet , she even discussed how she broke her wrist while bike riding severly hindering her training capability prior to the jan tana and finally she was sidelined for a week prior to the jan tana with a sever flu. It is miraculous how she managed to win the title with all of these roadblocks, begs the question of how much better could she have looked like if all things went perfectly for her because on that show and in that year she was perfect. For verification purposes a snapshot of the 1994 wpw magazine article has been included just so that no one thinks i'm blowing hot air up their 'faces'.

[DRF]

If you post anyhting, please ensure the arrest is removed. It was not Denise.

Hate to burst your bubble but it might be prudent to step back and ask this question: what is the likelihood or probability of finding another convicted Denise Rutkowski with exactly the first, middle and last names, who bears great resemblance to the denise we know from the BBing years and even shares the exact same birthdate, oh, did I mention that they also live within the same vicinity? There is a higher chance of lightening striking 10 times at exactly the same spot than that not to be Denise Rutkowski! We all sympathise with her plight, no doubt but what happened, happened. BTW those mugshots were from late 2012, early 2013...the latest image of her uploaded in 2015 stands as a great testament to how she has well recuperated from that period, insofar as we're drawing conclusions solely on visual characteristics. 99% of what im trying to cover is relevant to her bodybuilding days, hopefully that might hint at where she ended up afterwards in chronological order.   

[alison brundage]

Golden Panther
I bought the books on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login used. 
I do believe that the history of Bernarr MacFadden at the turn of the century (1900's) and his empire of magazines and physique contests and demonstrations will enlighten you as to the initial link between men and women's bodybuilding which then was called physical culture.    John Fair who wrote Mr America is as well a very well known historian of the sport.  He sheds light on the next decade of mostly men but as well women in the bodybuilding sport.   You must read them both for a real feel of the evolution of bodybuilding.

Being such a fan of Denise I know you will present her as the person she was in the sport of bodybuilding....one of the all-time greats.   Sports competition of all kinds has swallowed up competitors ....depressions, suicides, overdoses, deaths due to PEDs ...you name it.   Add to that for the gals in FBB the degrading of their sense of self when they sell their self for an hour to some luster for money....that then turns into the funding of the necessities for their sport.   So why the necessities?...because every other competitor in the top ranks needs the necessities.......sponsors, publicity, supplements, TV promos, and PEDS along with medical supervision which costs.  In the scope of it all...where's the NORMAL life in this?  Years of it HAS to tweak a person.

Just my take

ALISON