Men's horse riding--
Options
jetscreaminagain
Posts: 1,130 Member
in Chit-Chat
Would you let yourself get this short and light and wear funny clothes even if it meant that you could have a show on Animal Planet and you could maybe win the Triple Crown?
I mean, some of these guys are tiny and they wear clothes called "silks".
Gosh, did that post seem *****y of me? Ridiculing men who are short and light and wear pink clothes? It isn't like they can help being short and besides it takes athleticism to ride a horse for less than 2 minutes in an oval.
You're right, that would be a *****y post on my part.
However for the same reasons that this post seems wrong -- criticizing someones appearance, pointing out the ways they don't follow norms of their gender, criticizing them for not meeting the Western ideal of tallness in men, being dismissive of their accomplishments -- are done on a daily basis with women athletes (and politicians and business women but I digress) in popular media and on MFP *all the time* and we don't even notice it because we are so used to women being their for the gaze of men.
There are very accomplished weightlifters who have been criticized for their appearance during this Olympiad. One in the lightweight division and one in the super heavy weight division. (plus some swimmers, and gymnast and untold others, I've missed). The discussion on the one in the super heavyweight division is sadly on MFP and is discussing, in part, how unhealthy her level of weight/fat is. Some folks have pointed out that to lose the fat risks losing strength so to some extent, yes, the fat helps her lift. I'm certain the OP of that thread did not realize and did not intend the gender bias in that thread. I'm certain he is a stand up guy. I just wish it was a bit more common for ALL of us to question our assumptions.
But here's the thing: why are we commenting on her body? We are not commenting on the bodies of the male super heavyweight division. We aren't commenting on the health risks of the extremely thin marathoners. We are commenting on how her body looks on a site populated with people attempting to lose weight.
She is not a model. She did not go out there for the purpose of inviting others to comment on her body. She is out there to lift ungodly amounts of weight over her head. THAT is what is worth commenting on.
If we want to talk about the relative health of athletic endeavor, we need to talk about overuse injuries, decalcifying bones among girls at an age they should be building stores of calcium, about head injuries in soccer and the NFL and we need to talk about the risk of anorexia among the colleagues of the nice chaps above. What we don't need to do is to put up a picture of a woman and invite judgment of her based on her appearance on a fitness site primarily used for weightloss.
If what I'm saying pisses you off, do me a favor, blast me that's fine, but also pay attention to Olympic coverage, and also other news. Notice how many times there's a comment on Hillary's pants suits from the campaign 3 years ago, or comments on Sarah Palin's hair. Notice the discussion of hair and stature and spritliness or nails or whatever when they are covering an accomplished woman and then ask yourself, would this comment be made about a man? No one (rightly) talked about the pen Bob Dole carried all the time. Or that he always wore a blue suit and a red tie. Always. Or heck, that Barrack Obama was always wearing pants suits too. No one's talking about Michael Phelps' appearance.
I mean, some of these guys are tiny and they wear clothes called "silks".
Gosh, did that post seem *****y of me? Ridiculing men who are short and light and wear pink clothes? It isn't like they can help being short and besides it takes athleticism to ride a horse for less than 2 minutes in an oval.
You're right, that would be a *****y post on my part.
However for the same reasons that this post seems wrong -- criticizing someones appearance, pointing out the ways they don't follow norms of their gender, criticizing them for not meeting the Western ideal of tallness in men, being dismissive of their accomplishments -- are done on a daily basis with women athletes (and politicians and business women but I digress) in popular media and on MFP *all the time* and we don't even notice it because we are so used to women being their for the gaze of men.
There are very accomplished weightlifters who have been criticized for their appearance during this Olympiad. One in the lightweight division and one in the super heavy weight division. (plus some swimmers, and gymnast and untold others, I've missed). The discussion on the one in the super heavyweight division is sadly on MFP and is discussing, in part, how unhealthy her level of weight/fat is. Some folks have pointed out that to lose the fat risks losing strength so to some extent, yes, the fat helps her lift. I'm certain the OP of that thread did not realize and did not intend the gender bias in that thread. I'm certain he is a stand up guy. I just wish it was a bit more common for ALL of us to question our assumptions.
But here's the thing: why are we commenting on her body? We are not commenting on the bodies of the male super heavyweight division. We aren't commenting on the health risks of the extremely thin marathoners. We are commenting on how her body looks on a site populated with people attempting to lose weight.
She is not a model. She did not go out there for the purpose of inviting others to comment on her body. She is out there to lift ungodly amounts of weight over her head. THAT is what is worth commenting on.
If we want to talk about the relative health of athletic endeavor, we need to talk about overuse injuries, decalcifying bones among girls at an age they should be building stores of calcium, about head injuries in soccer and the NFL and we need to talk about the risk of anorexia among the colleagues of the nice chaps above. What we don't need to do is to put up a picture of a woman and invite judgment of her based on her appearance on a fitness site primarily used for weightloss.
If what I'm saying pisses you off, do me a favor, blast me that's fine, but also pay attention to Olympic coverage, and also other news. Notice how many times there's a comment on Hillary's pants suits from the campaign 3 years ago, or comments on Sarah Palin's hair. Notice the discussion of hair and stature and spritliness or nails or whatever when they are covering an accomplished woman and then ask yourself, would this comment be made about a man? No one (rightly) talked about the pen Bob Dole carried all the time. Or that he always wore a blue suit and a red tie. Always. Or heck, that Barrack Obama was always wearing pants suits too. No one's talking about Michael Phelps' appearance.
0
Replies
-
*applause*0
-
Standing ovation0
-
:flowerforyou:0
-
i've seen you around a bit in the forum and in my friends' feeds. i just now realized you're awesome.0
-
i've seen you around a bit in the forum and in my friends' feeds. i just now realized you're awesome.
ditto0 -
was watching the olympics yesterday with family. women's gymnastics and swimming. seems like all my uncles did was point out the physical short comings of these women at the top of their game. made me mad.0
-
I love you long time.0
-
Just another reminder of why I love having you on my friends list. Excellent post!0
-
Guys who ride horses will get all the girls!0
-
I love you.
0 -
YAY!!0
-
What I love is how smart my friends list is and how they can see what's underneath all the unquestioned assumptions.
So someone asks "would you let yourself get this big in order to get into the Olympics?" and doesn't understand the implicit fatbashing body hate and male privilege involved being that he put a picture of a woman and invited the judgment. Doesn't that mean I could say, "no, I probably wouldn't, as I don't have that dedication. Tell me, what were you dedicated to that you let yourself go to the point you did?" No. That's not ok. However, it is EXACTLY the same, other than the fact that he had no goal in mind, he literally just let himself go, whereas she did not let herself go as is implied, but trained to her level of strength. Oh well. Sometimes people get it. sometimes they don't.0 -
So true!!! People are shallow and choose to tear down women's appearance rather than build up their successes. I know it sounds very feminist, but it's important for us to recognize that women are not just here to shut up and look pretty.0
-
On the other hand, I was very sad when I was a young girl and realized I was going to be too big to be a jockey.0 -
you sir, are wonderful0
-
:smooched:0
-
I love you. And I'm tired of seeing girls who are losing weight in unhealthy ways continuously praised for how they look. I'm also tired of people claiming others are unhealthy - judging what people eat or look like doesn't tell you much at all, other than you're a judgy a-hat.0
-
was watching the olympics yesterday with family. women's gymnastics and swimming. seems like all my uncles did was point out the physical short comings of these women at the top of their game. made me mad.
I think people in general do this when they feel they would never or could never perform at that level, I think it makes them feel better about their short comings.0 -
I read the first line and got offended, was about to angrily reply and go on about how I ride competitively at 6 feet tall...
Then I scrolled down further and read the rest of your post. Very well done!0 -
On the other hand, I was very sad when I was a young girl and realized I was going to be too big to be a jockey.
^^This. I was 5'11 by the time I was 14 but wanted so badly to be a jockey. Or a gymnast. But now, I love being tall and besides, I can whip some tail in the Athena division of a triathlon 0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 391 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 922 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions