Ah, great day

[textualdeviance]

NBC of course has been pushing the "big" stories and all the US competitors (and being ridiculous about Phelps, if you ask me) but it was nice to see a pretty wide mix of wins from different places today. I loved watching those sweet Greek boys win the sync diving medal, and watching the Japanese men's gymnastic team win was great, too. I've seen a few others get excited by their wins, too, and it's been great to watch. I'd been worried that this year's games was going to get eclipsed by ubernationalism on our part (and the media have tried to do that somewhat) but it seems like the real spirit of the games is coming through. The athletes themselves have all been very cooperative (with the exception of the Iranian judo team. Feh) and it makes it very clear that if you get rid of ego and nationalism, you get better performances from everyone anyway. The one dismaying bit was that Blaine guy throwing a hissy about the changes in judging, but aside from him, everyone's been great sports. Love it.

Watching the men's gym team was so nostalgic for me. They kept talking about the 1984 team (featuring Tim Daggett, one of the commentators) and I couldn't help giggling, remembering how much I was into them at the time, and Mitch Gaylord in particular, who later had a bit of a film career. He and Bart Conner were my sweethearts for a while. Sigh...

I'm debating whether to stay up and watch the softball game. Mmmm. Lisa Fernandez. Yum. :) I also realized today, watching the women's sync diving, how so many of these female athletes would be considered "fat" or otherwise unattractive (boobs too small, no waist, shoulders too broad, too tall, too short, whatever) by modern American standards and it's just appalling. Watching the incredible wide range of healthy bodies on display at these games just proves that you don't have to be only one size or shape to be healthy and attractive. I'm just as attracted to Lisa as I am to some of those cuties on the Japanese gym team as one of the Australian sync divers, etc. (And don't get me started about that alternate for the men's gym team. Whooo) Watching the parade on the opening ceremony was lush, too. All sorts of incredibly gorgeous people of various races, sizes and even ages in some cases. All decked out in beautiful, colorful costumes, all happy as clams to be there. How very, very sad it is that we here in the US have decided that only a very narrow range of body types and features is acceptably attractive. It's just so sad that so many people cut themselves off from great relationships (and great sex!) with other people just because their nose is too big or their chin is weak, or they have a bit of cellulite or whatever. For far too long, we've been conditioned by the media to think of only a few body types as being sexually attractive (or indeed capable of sex at all) and that's just so ridiculous.

I'm well aware that my own body type isn't something most people are going to find attractive, and I know part of that is because well, to be honest, I'm not healthy. I know that. I wish I were, and I greatly envy some of those athletes. But I'm still angry anyway because I know that even if I were healthy, I still wouldn't look the way I'm supposed to. I'm too short, too stocky (yes, there is a lot of muscle structure under the pudge) my shoulders are too broad, my thighs too thick, my ribcage too large. My jaw is square, my nose is prominent, my chin and mouth are a little weak, my eyes are a bit small, I have rough skin and a small gap in my teeth. Healthy or not, I'm not a centerfold. I never have been and I never will be, no matter what I do. And it makes me furious that I wasted so goddamn much time when I was younger pursuing that, because I thought that's what I was supposed to be doing, because my mother, my culture and the media taught me that I had no value unless I was conventionally attractive. I was taught that there were only a few small roles women were valuable in: sex object, wife, mother, and you had to fit a specific set of criteria to be valuable in those roles. You couldn't be sexual unless you were passive and set yourself up as an object with no brain or personality. You couldn't be a mother unless you were also sexless. You couldn't be a wife unless you kept a perfect home and sacrificed whatever career plans you had in favor of your husband. Barf.

I love that the Olympics are being so widely watched this year, because I think a lot of girls are going to see these strong women, and realize that they don't have to kill themselves to be something they're not. Aside from things like the women's gymnastic team, which does push girls to harm themselves to stay small, there are still other avenues a girl can pursue in sport. I wish I'd seen more of that when I was younger. I wish girls' "acceptable" sports hadn't been limited to gymnastics and figure skating when I was growing up. I wish female athletes had been touted as strong role models for girls. I also want to see more women in politics and law and medicine and everything else, too. And I want to see women's sexuality being portrayed as an across-the-board thing, and not something which is limited to passive blond teens with implants. I want people to recognize that Philippa Boyens is an incredibly sexy woman, and so are these athletes. And so are Susan Sarandon, and Kathleen Turner, etc... All of us women need to stop buying into the myth that we have to meet a certain standard to be attractive and valuable. We have to stop feeding the cosmetics companies and the diet industry and fashionistas. We have to start saying "I am strong, I am sexy, I am valuable, just the way I am" and we most certainly have to stop beating the shit out of each other for not meeting "proper" standards for how women and girls are supposed to be. (And likewise, we need to not be pushing equally ridiculous standards on men, either.)

Whether a 200 lb weightlifting competitor or a 95 lb diver. Whether 5 foot nothing on the balance beam or 6'2" on the volleyball court. Whether from India or Germany or New Zealand. Whether our skin and hair is light or dark. Whether writer, mother, teacher, actor, firefighter, athlete, musician, lawyer, software geek... So long as we treat otherws with respect and compassion, we are all valuable, and all worthy of being considered full human beings. The Olympics teach us that it is our hard work and sense of honor and fair play and cooperation that makes each of us honorable. Not what country we come from or what we look like. Wouldn't it be nice to apply those principles to the rest of our lives, too?

Comments

[emaleythe.livejournal.com]

ah yes, I too have been miffed at the networks pushing of "usa usa" on us....and was very happy for all teams in the gymnastics last night that medaled, those bar routines of Japan were stellar, and that final vault from Romania had my jaw on the floor. (thank god someone else mentioned the usa alternate, because...wow...beautiful)...

[thefirstalicat.livejournal.com]

Here in Canada, the media are bemoaning the fact that we've only won one medal so far - a bronze, for a female duo of synchronized divers. Several athletes have come in 5th or 6th, around there in various events, and have said they felt those standings were as good as they hoped for - my husband says there's a true Canadian attitude for you, to decide that fifth or sixth is the best you can hope for :>!

[oxer12.livejournal.com]

As I was watching Misty May play the hell out of some beach volleyball, I said to myself that she would be considered a heifer in Hollywood. Which, of course, is patently ridiculous, as she's healthy and strong, and her body is functional for her sport.

Can you picture Kirsten Dunst digging a ball out of the sand? I don't think so.