recommended reading

[seventhe]

Female Olympians fight back against shamers and haters

The Olympics may have provided us with a global exhibition of some seriously retrograde ideas about athletes and femininity, but they have also provided us with something even more important, and that’s the sight of female athletes fighting back.

This entire article and all of its accompanying links makes me want to cheer and weep at the same time.

Comments

[temples]

All I could think when reading this: A man competing in the Olympics would never have to deal with this.

(I don't actually know if that's true? I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to topical media and haven't actually watched the Olympics at all, so it could be a judgment claim I'm pulling out of my ass. I just can't personally imagine a situation where a man would be personally scrutinised for how much he fit some unnecessary, impossible-to-reach standard of attractiveness when he's winning gold/silver/pewter medals for his country. /disclaimer.)

[temples]

Zoe Smith's blog had this comment that made me sigh:

I confronted one guy that said “we’re probably all lesbians and look like blokes”, purely to explain the fact that his opinion is invalid cause he’s a moron. And wrong. He came up with the original comeback that I should get back in the kitchen. I laughed.

Really, humankind? Really? I mean, good for her for not giving some asshole's comments any weight, but the fact that this mindset is still prevalent in this day and age kind of makes my skin crawl.

I'm done now. Really.

Thanks for sharing this! It was a really interesting read.

[seventhe]

I know, right??? Every time I start to think we've made progress, something like this comes up and makes me want to weep for humanity.

[temples]

I also contest the whole "get back in the kitchen" thing for a completely different reason: as someone who watches more Food Network than is probably healthy, I think cooking is fucking badass. And you can't convince me otherwise.

[seventhe]

Uhhhhh, in total agreement here. I absolutely LOVE cooking for other people. And it's not just because I'm a ladytype. It's like that line from Sunshine where she talks about the feeding-people gene.

[temples]

I need to re-read Sunshine, clearly.

I can barely make grilled cheese sandwiches for myself so people who can cook get so much respect from me!

[seventhe]

I wouldn't say I'm an amazing cook, but I'm pretty good at it, and I love cooking stuff for other people. Which is why Becky is a great roomie; she'll eat almost anything I throw at her.

[temples]

I have fond memories of the cupcakes you made for the one superbowl party I went to! I think I ate like. Nine.

[seventhe]

CUPCAKES ARE THE BOMB. SIMPLE TRUTH.

[lindorie]

Ugh, pretty much what you said: I want to cheer! But at the same time, I want to weep for humanity.

There's a sixteen year old lady swimmer from China who has just done marvelously this Olympics. People keep ripping on her for looking all manly and for being fast in the first place - because she raced faster in the last 50m of the 400 IM faster than Ryan Lochte did in his respective race, therefore she must be doping! But she's been drug tested over and over again and come clean each time - the Olympic committee is definitely much harsher about drug testing this year.

I don't think she would be on the receiving end of this much crap if she wasn't a) Chinese and b) female. Because obviously the USA has a clean doping record (right). And obviously men will always be the shit (ugh).

I am amazed and wonderfully happy that this girl can make Ryan Lochte look bad! It's possible! That's fantastic! But I want to weep for humanity because of all the sexist implications that come with it. KSDJFL;AKJDSF;LKASJDF;LKSAJ;LKFAJS

[whitemage]

I already wanted to slug some evolutionary biologists over their comments. This is so ridic.

I'm glad we're starting to see backlash--but those women shouldn't have to.

[deadcellredux]

Wow, that was depressing.

Not that I'm surprised or anything-- I experienced this firsthand last Friday night at a bar. The Olympics were on the TV, and I was treated to all sorts of LOVELY commentary about the appearance of the female athletes. Ummm not gonna lie, it made me so viciously angry that it actually contributed to ruining my night (my night was ALREADY downhill because a friend of mine got really drunk and started ranting about how this girl at the party we were at was a "whore" for fucked up reasons, but I digress-- TWAS A GREAT NIGHT FOR WOMAN-HATING APPARENTLY).

It's probably a bad attitude to have, but I can't help feeling that no matter HOW much women "fight back", it's never going to matter. I'm constantly shocked by the misogyny and ignorance of people around me, even people whom I thought would never possibly think that way. Even people in my FAMILY! Perhaps MOST unfortunate is the amount of OTHER WOMEN who hold these same attitudes and bash other women because of internalized misogyny.

I see a lot of good things happening on the feminist front, and positive steps being made, and maybe it's just very negative and defeatist of me, but it's so easy to feel like none of that is worth it (even though I know it is. I know it's making a difference SOMEWHERE, to SOMEONE, and even if it changes one person's opinion, that's progress). But it's just so easy to get discouraged, especially dealing with something as simple as getting sexually harassed on the street almost every fucking day because I have a female body. And I'm not even exaggerating. Every. Fucking. Day.

Whooooops I could ramble about this forever and I already got way off topic SO I'LL STOP BEFORE I GET CRAY but yeah. Yeah.

[deadcellredux]

......WHOOPS NOT DONE RAMBLING

and part of this bullshit (which I just thought of because of the sexual harassment issue) is that men feel like they have a right to comment on and criticize women's bodies, as if our bodies exist solely *FOR THEM*. To men like that, we are nothing but objects that are supposed to be filling certain roles. But you already know that I'm sure. ONCE AGAIN-- MEN HAVING A RIGHT TO WOMEN'S BODIES-- HERE'S ANOTHER STORY FROM DCR! This happens to me all the time, but today for example-- I was walking home from the subway and some fucking douche barks like a neanderthal in my general direction "HEY SWEETIE LET ME SEE YOUR TATTOO!" I ignored him and kept walking... but like... what the fuck is that... no... NO... I AM NOT OBLIGATED TO OBEY YOU AND SPEAK TO YOU AND SHOW YOU MY BODY FOR YOU TO OGLE AND JUDGE BECAUSE I AM A WOMAN

SEE I'M GETTING CRAZY GONNA STOP NOW LOL

[seventhe]

EXACTLY. It's so awesome to see it, and then it makes me want to cry. There have been so many amazing Olympic performances this year by ladies, and there's been so much bullshit around it.

[seventhe]

It makes me really sad how even in fucking 2012 it's just common to continue to comment on ladies differently than dudes. There was some interview with the female beach volleyball team (?? I think??) where they got asked about celebrity crushes. celebrity crushes. CELEBRITY FUCKING CRUSHES, ARE YOU SERIOUS, THESE GALS ARE IN THE MOTHER FUCKING GODDAMNED OLYMPICS AND----------

*DEEP BREATH*

It's hard to listen to. It's hard for any lady to listen to. It's especially hard for me to listen to because I also work out, I run, I lift, and I do so for my own personal set of reasons, and every time I hear a man go "Ugh! muscles!" I'm filled with this weird combination of rage/shame/furious anger/defensiveness, and my reactions vary between "Muscles are hot!" and "Fuck you, I don't care what you think I should look like" and frothing-at-the-mouth rage.

[seventhe]

DUDE PEOPLE COMMENT ON MY FUCKING HAIR ALL THE TIME AT WORK NOW. I have ~short hair!~ now and I can style it in a couple different awesome ways but it's like everyone fucking comments when I do something differently because obviously I am only here to be looked at and talked about and judged

FFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

TUMBLR HOLD ME

[novel_machinist]

OH NO HOW DARE WOMEN NOT BE ALL CONSUMED WITH FITTING INTO A BEAUTY STANDARD AND DO THINGS THAT THEY WANT TO DO WITH THEIR LIVES!!! HOW CAN I FUCKING LIVE WITHOUT THE ALLPOWERFUL MALE OPINION ON MY BODY/HAIR/SEX LIFE/SEXUAL ORIENTATION/INTELLECT/ABILITY TO WORK

[seventhe]

SHUT IT, COFFEE POT