First letter:
Sexism in the Olympics
Whatever happened to equal treatment? Are we still in the stone age? It was a great shock to me when I found out that there are Olympic sports that women are not allowed to compete in.
A perfect example is bobsledding. In the two-man bobsled race, our women got us a gold and a silver medal. Our men crashed. Despite this, women are not allowed to compete in the four-man bobsled race. Why?
Another example is ski jumping. The general excuse for no women's ski jumping is that they are not strong enough. Who can see Christine Nesbitt win gold in the ladies 1,000 metre speed skating race, and say that women are weak? In fact, women have won most of our medals. We have missed out on possible medals for Canada, and other countries around the world. There is no good explanation for letting men compete in a sport, and not women. We should stop this.
Mary Hamilton
Whitby
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Second letter in response to the first:
True equality would see males and females competing together
To the editor:
Regarding the letter from Mary Hamilton regarding sexism in the Olympics, March 11.
Women's ski jump wasn't included at these Games because they lobbied the International Olympic Committee roughly two years before the Vancouver Games. Like any bureaucracy, it takes a decade to get into the Games. They lobbied for inclusion too late.
Women's bobsled brought amazing results but this is their second Olympics. When they have the same amount of Olympic Games behind them that men's bobsled has, we will see how easy the medal winning will be.
In my opinion, if you want to be truly equal, women and men would be competing together, not separately in their own gender groups. Sadly, then you would see fewer females making the qualification to compete at the Games and a lot fewer with a podium finish. Would that type of equality be fair in our politically correct North American society?
Akos Sandor
Whitby
Posts
15 comments:
Yep. They don't really want equality. What they want to do is make the minor leagues equal to the major leagues.
One on the all-time best Saturday Night Live bits involved Martin Short & Harry Shearer as would-be men's Olympic synchronized swimmers, along with Christopher Guest as their coach/choreographer.
One of the multiple "punch-lines" of this was, of course, that there is NO men's synchronized swimming in the Olympics. It was the utter absurdity of two guys dedicating their lives to the pursuit of something that didn't exist, and since one one else cared, was never going to exist.
The are some sports that simply have never had enough interest from one gender or the other to have advanced to the level of consideration for inclusion in the Olympics. I'd have to look for the source, but I recall reading that the reason that women's ski jumping had only recently been considered for the Olympics has been the historically low interest amongst women.
For certain gender-feminists to now be decrying the apparent sexism of not having a women's analogue to each and every men's sport is not only ludicrous, but it also beg the question first suggested by SNL in 1984 - What about men's synchronized swimming?
Hey, they want equality -- let's do it. End this sex apartheid at the Olympics and have men and women compete for the same spots. Same with colleges.
Weirdest Olympic Events
Live pigeon shooting (1900) At the 1900 Paris Games, over 300 pigeons were slaughtered in an orgy of blood and feathers. Though it's dispute as to whether the event was sanctioned by the Olympic council, there's no disputing that Parisian sidewalks were cleaner for a brief period at the turn of the century.
Rope climb (1896, 1904, 1906, 1924, 1932) Rudimentary gym skills were all it took to win Olympic gold in the early 20th century, as this event basically consisted of shimmying up a rope. (Though without an insane gym teacher barking orders at you.)
Pistol Dueling (1906) No, it wasn't a recreation of Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. Instead, contestants would fire at mannequins dressed in frock coats and bull's-eyes. We imagine contestants got into the right mindset by imagining the mannequins said something most foul about their dear sainted mothers.
Solo Synchronized Swimming (1992) As we've mentioned, we find synchronized swimming odd. But at least we get the principle that at least two swimmers are needed to be in sync. The idea behind this inane event was for the swimmer to be in sync with music (i.e. dancing alone in the water). Great.
Club Swinging (1904, 1932) This consisted of swinging a club festooned with ribbons around your body and head. Even worse, it was once called "Indian Club Swinging," which makes it both boring and racist.
Tug-of-War (1900-1920) Yes, once upon a time, the game enjoyed by schoolchildren and corporate retreat-goers everywhere was actually considered an Olympic event. We hear competitive tug-of-war gave way to two other short lived events, 40 meter three-legged race and synchronized trust falls.
All-around dumbbell contest (1904) There's nothing wrong with weightlifting competitions, per se. But no doubt if you won the curling champs would snicker when you walked by, twirling their old-timey mustaches. "There goes the all-around dumbbell champ!," they'd all say. "What a prat he is! Let's give him a good flogging and then take in a moving picture show."
Motor Boating (1908) This one-time boat race was a disaster. The average speeds hit a pitiful 19 mph, the action was so far of the coast that no one could see it, and the rainy weather made it a total wash-out. And to add insult to injury, the name henceforth inspired snickering from schoolboys the world over.
Running Deer Single Shot (1906-1936) While not as inhumane as the pigeon shoot (contestants fired at moving paper targets), it's also about as exciting as watching your buddy play Big Buck Hunter on a slow bar night.
Long Jump For Horses Not to knock equestrians, but shouldn't the horses be getting the medal? After all, they're the ones performing the long jump. But yet you never see the horses standing up on the winner's podium or beaming proudly from the Wheaties box.
There has also been knitting, poetry reading, etc etc
AoFR - "All-around dumbbell contest"
Hey, hey, hey! Careful there AoFR, let's not be cracking on the ladies of "The View". It's only fair to let women have some television shows.
also
Standing high jump (1900-1912): Same as the traditional high jump, only without a run-up. Considering the early Olympics were a bunch of white British guys, the world record stood at 3 inches in 1912.
Standing broad jump (1900-1912): The long jump without a run-up.
Standing triple jump (1900-1904): Also known as the hop, step and jump; started from a stationary position.
Underwater swimming (1900): Swimmers were awarded points for how far they went and how long they stayed under water. You probably did this all summer as a kid, but then you never got a medal for it.
Swimming obstacle race (1900): Racers had to swim through the River Seine, climb up and down a pole, then go over and under several boats. You were also required to surrender whatever medal you won immediately, in typical French fashion.
56-pound weight throw (1904, 1920): A 56-pound weight affixed with a handle that's thrown over a pole vault bar. It also went by the not so politically correct name "midget tossing."
Plunge diving (1904): From a standing position, divers see how far they can go without taking a stroke. Again, something you did at the pool when you were 4.
Jeu de paume (1908): Similar to squash, only competitors use their hands instead of a racket to strike the ball.
Plain high diving (1912-24): Divers were not allowed to do any acrobatic moves; they just dove straight into the water. This was perhaps the most boring event in the history of mankind.
Here's one that I'd consider watching:
Pole dancing could be recognized as a sport and headed to the Olympics
But, only the ladies event. I know I'm being terrible sexist, but I just don't want to see guy's in thongs pole dancing.
Even more sexism from the Olympics - No Men's Rhythmic gymnastics, although, as the Wikipedia entry tells us, "As of 2002, there were 1000 men's rhythmic gymnasts in Japan"
I'm just waiting for the Olympic peeing contest.
Who would win that competition, I wonder?
Anonymous - "Who would win that competition, I wonder?"
I was going to suggest that it would be Jeff Foxworthy's aunt, but I doubt many would get the reference.
I hate to bust into the light-heartedness here, but we just posted one of the worst false rape stories in a long time directly above this post. It is so awful, it is sickening.
Maybe women aren't allowed to compete in every event because woman athletes are just boring in comparison to the men. Maybe we should stop having seperate competitions so that the women won't be wiped out by the men.
Archivist said...
I hate to bust into the light-heartedness here, but we just posted one of the worst false rape stories in a long time directly above this post. It is so awful, it is sickening.
Beg to differ. What you actually have "directly above" is a RAPE story. Ask the actual victim how false the rape was.
Thank you, Gwallan. You are correct.
@Archivist...
Check out Sarah and the "girl who cried rape myth".
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/sexist/2010/03/18/cat-calling-bystander-sexism-and-how-sexual-harassment-hurts-men/#comment-49099
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