Race, Sex and the Olympics

No matter how much we protest that we just want to be entertained, the Olympics have always been political. Sometimes national and international affairs violently shove their way into the Games themselves, as in 1972 or 1996; sometimes, the actual events serve as proxies for international tensions, as in 1936 or 1980. This year, however, is unique because we've reached such a saturation point, in terms of both mainstream and independent media coverage, that more individual stories can come to the forefront in less time than ever before. And a couple of the stories, and the focus thereof, are revealing just how fucked-up our priorities still are.

Gymnast Gabby Douglas is obviously one of the conquering heroes of these particular Olympics; Douglas is both the first black woman to become the individual all-around champion and the first American to win the gold in both team and individual all-around competitions. And because we are stupid, we have decided that all of that is irrelevant because Ms. Douglas is black and has natural hair, and OHMIGOD IS IT GOING TO KILL US ALL WHERE IS THE CHANGE YOU PROMISED, NOBAMA?!

No, come back, this is seriously a thing in the 21st century. See, first, people on social media (because everyone is using some form of social media now, and morons are a necessary subset of "everyone") started going after Douglas for how she wears her hair. So, you know, the next time somebody insists there's no such thing as white privilege because they don't get their own history month, ask them this: "How many times, white dude, has someone taken issue with your hairstyle because it doesn't do a sufficient job of disguising the fact that you're white? And remember that you're just an average guy; imagine you are the first person to do two different things, and people are still debating whether or not your hair is okay". (You do not have to say this to that person if you don't want to, because this person is probably pretty awful and I totally understand if you don't want to keep talking to them.)

Douglas has taken the barbs like, if you'll excuse the simile, a champ, saying ""I'm going to wear my hair like this during [finals]. You might as well just stop talking about it." Her response is badass, succinct, and taking the high road all in two sentences, but that doesn't make it any less disturbing that the existence of a black woman's hair is a controversy that must be addressed in 2012.

But wait! There's more! In fact, Douglas has found herself as a lightning rod all sorts of stupid shit; recently, on Fox News ("Oh, Jesus" you think; you are right to think that), radio host David Webb noted that he haz a big sad because Douglas' leotard wasn't flag-patterned.  No, seriously, stop laughing; he actually lamented that we had "lost... that jingoistic feeling", either because he doesn't understand what "jingoistic" means or because he knows exactly what it means. In the future, if I ever have kids, when they ask me the difference between patriotism and nationalism (I am assuming my kids will be nerds), I'll respond, "Well, kids, patriotism is being proud that a woman who's representing you in front of the whole world made your country look good; nationalism is being pissed off that she didn't do it in clothes made out of a flag."


"Okay, so, racism," you say. "But what about sexism, which is tolerated and accepted in public in even higher levels than racism?" You don't miss a trick! Meanwhile, over in the world of weightlifting, Conan O'Brien, who is rumored to be funny much the same way eating Pop Rocks and drinking Coke is rumored to make you explode, tweeted “I predict 350 lb. weight lifter Holley Mangold will bring home the gold and 4 guys against their will.” Ha ha! Get it? It's funny because you have a tiny penis! Meanwhile, in response to her own experiences with sexism, Britain's Zoe Smith posted on her blog:

[We] don’t lift weights in order to look hot, especially for the likes of men like that. What makes them think that we even WANT them to find us attractive? If you do, thanks very much, we’re flattered. But if you don’t, why do you really need to voice this opinion in the first place, and what makes you think we actually give a toss that you, personally, do not find us attractive?

This is perfectly stated, and it really brings to light the more disturbing implications of body-snarking on people like athletes: when you criticize someone like Holley Mangold simply for not making you want to fuck her, you're saying that  you believe that, as a woman, that's her only purpose, even though she's one of the best people in the country at what she does.

I've heard Adele express similar sentiments to Jones' in response to fat-shaming, asking, in so many words, what her physical appearance had to do with the quality of her music; it just seems to have even more of a triumphant take that-ness coming from a woman who could snap me across her knee, Bane-style. (I think Adele could probably kick my ass too, I just doubt that she'd do it in so drastic a fashion. I should note that I've been wrong before.)

 This is what we mean when we talk about the white supremacist patriarchy; it's not just that sexism and racism find their way into our national and international politics, it's the fact that they find their way into completely unrelated things; it's the idea that your worth is determined by your physical appearance, even as you're doing something better than any of us could. It's the desperate, hateful Othering of the people we're ostensibly chanting "USA!" for. At the rate we're going, if we really want a team that can fully represent us in 2016, maybe we should lobby for Douchebaggery to be made an official event.