Olympics
Something light to comment on… The Olympics.
I have to admit I got a little into the competition yesterday but there was one thing to me that was drop dead funny. Right before NBC went to commercial one time Bob Costas says in a real dramatic fashion “…and when we return more exciting action of WOMEN’s gymnastic.” Accompanying Costas’ words was a dramatic shot of the American team walking onto the gym floor carrying their gym bags and they were obviously little kids. The oldest one looked 15. Any rational person would call this “girls gymnastic” since they are considered over the hill at 21.
Richard Cohen of the Washington Post put it best I believe in a column from the last Olympic Games. He said watching “women’s gymnastics” is a lot like watching trained animals in a circus. At first you think the various tricks being performed are pretty amazing or cute but after awhile you start to see the hours of torture and abuse that went into the performer’s “training” and you realize that you are guilty.
Why after any of these events where a “woman” gymnast messes up in some way that quite frankly, as a lay person, I don’t understand, does it end up with a little girl balling her eyes out? Why are these kids, except maybe the one who wins, being taught to feel nothing but pain and disgrace? Isn’t the competition supposed to be the thing?
This is just a small corner of a much larger problem in our culture where little girls are “trained” to behave in a certain way and if they deviate from the course of obedience, self loathing and…Wait a minute, I wanted to keep this light.
THEY ain’t going to stop until YOU stop believing
Sixth Army
I have to admit I got a little into the competition yesterday but there was one thing to me that was drop dead funny. Right before NBC went to commercial one time Bob Costas says in a real dramatic fashion “…and when we return more exciting action of WOMEN’s gymnastic.” Accompanying Costas’ words was a dramatic shot of the American team walking onto the gym floor carrying their gym bags and they were obviously little kids. The oldest one looked 15. Any rational person would call this “girls gymnastic” since they are considered over the hill at 21.
Richard Cohen of the Washington Post put it best I believe in a column from the last Olympic Games. He said watching “women’s gymnastics” is a lot like watching trained animals in a circus. At first you think the various tricks being performed are pretty amazing or cute but after awhile you start to see the hours of torture and abuse that went into the performer’s “training” and you realize that you are guilty.
Why after any of these events where a “woman” gymnast messes up in some way that quite frankly, as a lay person, I don’t understand, does it end up with a little girl balling her eyes out? Why are these kids, except maybe the one who wins, being taught to feel nothing but pain and disgrace? Isn’t the competition supposed to be the thing?
This is just a small corner of a much larger problem in our culture where little girls are “trained” to behave in a certain way and if they deviate from the course of obedience, self loathing and…Wait a minute, I wanted to keep this light.
THEY ain’t going to stop until YOU stop believing
Sixth Army
posted by Larry B | 12:09 PM
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