More on men's synchronized swimming

In Grantland, Michael Bertin looks at the issue of men's synchronized swimming, including the FGG/London/Paris letter to IOC and FINA:

It was a joke: Martin Short and Harry Shearer were two male synchronized swimmers who had given up everything in their quest for Olympic gold.

It was made all the more ridiculous by the fact that (a) Martin Short couldn't swim and (b) there was no men's event even in the Olympics. And the premise for this Saturday Night Live sketch was so well executed that, almost 30 years later, few people have even bothered to revisit the subject.

But 30 years later men's synchronized swimming is also no longer a joke, which is to say there are men who do it, and they take it seriously. Honest. And, in a bizarre instance of art imitating future life, they want to go to the Olympics.

In June of this year, Paris Aquatique, the London-based club Out to Swim, and the Federation of Gay Games sent a jointly signed letter to ICO President Jacques Rogge and FINA President Julio Maglione appealing for inclusion of men in synchronized swimming at the Olympics. And they are completely not kidding.

From the letter: "[It's] a sport with a long history of men's participation, and which is growing in number and quality of participants. Despite the goals announced by British Olympic authorities to make the 2012 Summer Olympics a place for true equality, men will remain excluded from this discipline in London."

"Growing" is a relative term, and, admittedly, the talent pool isn't that deep. Stephen Adshead, who manages the men's synchro team at OTS, says there are "about 20" men in the U.K. practicing at the club, with "more in France." Moreover, it might seem a little disingenuous for OTS to argue on history, as the club has only been doing synchro since 2010, but when it comes to competing they aren't kidding around. They've got a former Soviet-bloc synchronized swimmer for their coach and have picked up gold medals at the last two EuroGames as well as gold at the last Gay Games.

And the sport's male reach is reasonably international, with competing teams in Italy, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Sweden. There is actually a pretty great documentary called Men Who Swim about that very cadre of men in Stockholm who have taken up synchro (highlighted by a scene in which their female coach calls them "pussies" for opting to perform in wetsuits).

Read more about male synchronized swimming on Grantland

Men's synchro swimming at the Olympics

From Gay.net:

With men now presenting bouquets and medals, women punching women in boxing and two women competing for Saudi Arabia (a country that has only allowed male athletes in the past), the London games are one step closer to gender equality.

But two Olympics sports remain closed to men: rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming.

Men's synchronized swimming often conjures up the image of the 1984 Saturday Night Live sketch in which Martin Short and Harry Shearer performed a ridiculously simple and overly dramatic synchronized swimming routine in the shallow end of a pool; two men (one soft-spoken and the other mentally handicapped) with the laughable dream of one day competing in the Olympics.

But in reality, there are men's synchronized swimming teams all around the world.

Keep reading HERE.

Saudi fakeout on 2012 Olympics

While this is sure to be enough of a fig leaf for the IOC, Saudi Arabia and other Islamist countries continue to restrict women's access to sport. While this report from the AP via ESPN says nothing about the judoka, Attar does not live or train in Saudi Arabia. As we predicted, the woman or women the Saudis would allow to compete seem to be women who don't actually practice sport in the country... Let us hope that what appears to be a step forward is not allowed to hide the reality of the situation of women in these countries, and in particular, women athletes.

LONDON -- Every country competing at the London Games will include female athletes for the first time in Olympic history after Saudi Arabia agreed Thursday to send two women to compete in judo and track and field.

The move by the ultraconservative Muslim kingdom to break with its practice of fielding male-only teams followed decisions by Qatar and Brunei to send women athletes to the Olympics for the first time.
"With Saudi Arabian female athletes now joining their fellow female competitors from Qatar and Brunei, it means that by London 2012 every national Olympic committee will have sent women to the Olympic Games," IOC president Jacques Rogge said.

Saudi Arabia had been under intense pressure from the International Olympic Committee and human-rights groups to include female athletes. The announcement Thursday followed months of IOC negotiations with the Saudis to bring women to London.

The two female Saudi competitors are Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani in judo and 800-meter runner Sarah Attar.

"A big inspiration for participating in the Olympic Games is being one of the first women for Saudi Arabia to be going," the 17-year-old Attar said in an IOC video from her U.S. training base in San Diego. "It's such a huge honor and I hope that it can really make some big strides for women over there to get more involved in sport."

Attar, who has spent most of her life outside of Saudi Arabia, said she hopes her inclusion will encourage women in the conservative kingdom that does not allow women to vote, drive or participate in sports.
"To any woman who wants to participate, I say 'go for it,' and don't let anybody hold you back," Attar said in the video after running a lap on the track wearing pants and a headscarf.

"We all have potential to get out there and get moving," she said, speaking with an American accent.

Women in Saudi Arabia bear the brunt of their nation's deeply conservative values. They are often the target of the unwanted attention of the kingdom's intrusive religious police, who enforce a rigid interpretation of Islamic law and make sure men and women do not mix in public.

Women cannot be admitted to the hospital or take a job without permission from a male guardian.

There are no written laws that prohibit women from participating in sports, but women are not allowed into stadiums and they cannot rent athletic venues. There is no physical education for girls in public schools, and no women-only hours at swimming pools [Note: of course the real problem is that women are not allowed to be with men... women-only hours would merely be a discriminatory palliative to a bit worse form of discrimination].

Women cannot register for sports clubs, league competitions and other female-only tournaments with the government. They are banned from entering [the] all-male national trials, which makes it impossible for them to qualify for international competitions, including the Olympics.

Attar and Shahrkhani were entered for the London Games by the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee by Monday's deadline. Neither qualified to compete in the Olympics, but received special invitations from the IOC "based on the quality of the athletes," Rogge said. "We've looked at the ones who are the closest to qualifying standards and these were these two athletes," he said. "That's always the bottom line in all these invitations."

Rights groups hailed the decision as a step forward for Saudi women in their quest for basic rights, but emphasized that the fundamental problem in the Gulf country -- the legal gender segregation -- remains firmly in place.

"The participation of two Saudi women in London is an important breakthrough, but will not hide the fact that millions of Saudi girls are effectively banned from sports in schools in Saudi Arabia," said Minky Worden of Human Rights Watch.

"Now is the time for the International Olympic Committee to use its leverage and lay down achievable conditions to jump-start sport in the kingdom."

Rogge said the IOC will continue to support female Saudi athletes with scholarships and other programs.
"This is not new, we have done it in the past," Roggue said. "We'll now do it with more athletes. That's the best way to improve the skills."

The Gulf kingdom also will include female officials in their Olympic delegation for the first time.
About 10,500 athletes are expected to compete in London, representing more than 200 national Olympic committees.

"The IOC has been working very closely with the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee and I am pleased to see that our continued dialogue has come to fruition," Rogge said. "The IOC has been striving to ensure a greater gender balance at the Olympic Games, and today's news can be seen as an encouraging evolution."
The IOC said Brunei has entered one woman in track and field, Maziah Mahusin, while Qatar has entered four female athletes -- swimmer Nada Arkaji, track athlete Noor al-Malki, table tennis player Aya Magdy and shooter Bahiya al-Hamad.

Qatar announced on Wednesday that al-Hamad will be the country's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony on July 27.

"I'm overwhelmed to have been asked to carry the Qatari flag at the opening ceremony," she said. "It's a truly historic moment for all athletes."

The goal of gender equity is enshrined in the IOC's charter, but has proved difficult to achieve.

At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, 26 national teams had no women. The figure dropped to three in Beijing four years ago.

In Beijing, women represented 42 percent of the athletes, and the figure is expected to increase in London. Women's boxing is included on the Olympic program in London for the first time.

Gender equity at the Olympics: FGG projects in the news

The Federation of Gay Games has signed the Atlanta Plus Committee's appeal described below (see our posts on Atlanta Plus HERE) and initiated the letter to the IOC and FINA. We are pleased that these issues are getting some attention, and will keep pushing for gender equity and equality in sport! Here's Reuters' story on these issues (with thanks to writeer Belinda Goldsmith):

LONDON (Reuters) - Women boxers have claimed an early victory at the 2012 Olympics by knocking out the last all-male sport but the battle for sex equality at the Games rages on, and not just among women - male synchronized swimmers are also demanding equal rights.

London marks the first Olympics where women will compete in all 26 sports on offer, a major change from Stockholm 100 years ago when women could only participate in five of 110 events.

Campaigners for gender equality acknowledge there has been progress but stress the battle is far from over and the Games must symbolise, reflect and celebrate the dominant beliefs and values of society.

At the London Olympics, running from July 27 until Aug. 12, women are competing in 30 fewer events than men.

A total of 162 gold medals are up for grabs for male competitors while women can win only 132. At the 2008 Beijing Games there were 165 gold medals for men and 127 for women.

Annie Sugier, spokeswoman for the French coordination for the European Women's Lobby, said several women's groups were planning to hold a demonstration in London on July 25 to put seven demands to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding discrimination and segregation.

"The objective of the Olympics is to build a better world through sport but the reality is that we still have all the stereotypes, discrimination, and prostitution around the Games," Sugier told Reuters.

"The Olympics is the right place to enforce change as there is just one law for all. You have the instruments to enforce equality and equality is justice."

OLYMPIC ROLE MODELS

Tackling sex inequality and other forms of discrimination at the Olympics is viewed as critical by campaigners. The Games are a high-profile global event where the same rules apply to all nations and these values can filter into other areas of life.

It is also unique for a sporting event as the audience is fairly evenly split between men and women and therefore a platform for women's sport to be on a par with men's events, to establish women as role models, and to encourage women to take up sport which can be a way to empower and build confidence.

Sugier, who has been campaigning for equality and neutrality at the Olympics for 20 years, said the IOC needed to act more decisively after stating its support for gender equality at the Olympics but so far failing to meet its targets.

In 1996 the IOC set a target to ensure women held 20 percent of the positions in its ruling bodies by 2005 which included the 205 National Olympic Committees and the 35 Olympic International Olympic Sports Federations.

This has not been met, and Sugier says women on average only hold about 10 percent of these positions. Some of the National Olympic Committees have no women.

The board of the London Organising Committee, LOCOG, has only one woman among its 19 members, former Olympian Princess Anne, while the IOC has 20 women among its 105 members which falls just short of the 20 percent.

"With so few women serving in leadership positions and a lack of commitment among the male-dominated leadership, there has been little progress on supporting women as athletes and leaders," said sports historian Dr Maureen Smith from California State University in a report for the U.S.-based Women's Sports Foundation, founded by Billie Jean King in 1974.

She said this lack of commitment started at grassroots and was typical of developmental levels all the way to the upper echelons of competitive Olympic and Paralympic sport.

The gender gap has narrowed. At Beijing there was 4,746 women competitors which was a record 42 percent of the total.

But this was despite IOC President Jacques Rogge in 2004 stating that: "our ultimate goal must be 50-50 participation." He did not, however, set a clear date for this proportion.

"No time deadline has been set but we would hope that London will see the highest percentage of female participation in history," said IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau.

MEN CALL FOR EQUALITY

Smith said certain sports were getting better when it came to gender balance and for some countries this was not an issue at all.

"Some countries don't care if it is a man or a woman winning. They just care about winning the medal. But there is still some way to go," Smith told Reuters.

At the Beijing Olympics, three countries did not bring women athletes but this has changed for London as the Muslim nations of Qatar and Brunei will include women competitors in their teams for the first time.

The final country to forbid women to compete, Saudi Arabia, last month bowed to pressure from the IOC and said it would allow women who qualify to compete at the London Games.

It has yet to name any female athletes who will represent the Middle Eastern kingdom.
Sports historians said the changes at the Olympics reflected the overall changes in society since the start of the modern Olympics in Athens 1896 when no women were allowed to compete.

Women first appeared at the Olympics in Paris in 1900, competing in golf and tennis, but were excluded from track and field competitions until 1928 when the longest race was the 800 metres.

Several women collapsed in exhaustion during the race and then IOC President, Count Henri Baillet-Latour, even suggested ruling out all women competitors from the Games.

Clearly this did not happen but the women's 800 metres did not reappear until 1960. Women were not allowed to run the marathon until 1984.

Tim Woodhouse, head of policy at the Women's Sports and Fitness Foundation, said a number of sports were seen to put women's health and their fertility at risk.

"Amazingly it was not until the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s that these myths were debunked," said Woodhouse, whose foundation is a UK charity that aims to make women active and confident.

In the United States, the 1972 legislation Title IX, which prohibited gender discrimination in educational programs, had a massive impact on women participating in sports at colleges and high schools.

As well as the debut of women boxers in London, the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, will see women being allowed for the first time to compete in ski jumping. The Nordic combined events at Sochi, however, will only be contested by men.

"The addition of these sports, including boxing at London, is a really positive step forward but there is still a big disparity in other sports," said Woodhouse.

The IOC should consider including some sports which were more women based, such as netball, if it really wanted to resolve the issue, he added, and there was still major discrepancies in numbers in canoeing, rowing, wrestling, weight lifting and judo.

"These numbers need to be worked on and it takes leadership from the IOC to push that agenda," he said.

But it is not just women who want equality.
Men have called for action after being ruled out from competing at two events at the Summer Olympics, synchronised swimming and rhythmic gymnastics, even though there are growing numbers of men participating in both sports.

A lobby group of male synchronised swimmers wrote to the IOC and swimming's governing body FINA in June to argue that men should no longer be excluded from this event at the Olympics.

The group, which includes the London swimming group Out To Swim, said this was gender discrimination despite the Olympic Charter condemning any discrimination regarding race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise.

"For the most part, this discrimination has affected women athletes, and great progress has been made in this area. But in at least one sport, it is men who are victims of this discrimination, which is no less intolerable than that aimed at women," said the letter.

Stephen Adshead, manager of the Out to Swim Angels synchronised swimming team that was set up three years ago, said this was "blatant inequality and unfair."

"We realise it is too late for men synchronised swimmers at London but we would like to have a serious discussion with the IOC after the Games as there is no reason why there can't be gender equality in all sports," Adshead told Reuters.

What progress for women in the Olympics since 2008?

From a 2008 story on the USOC website a look at the situation for women at the Beijing Olympics:



BEIJING (AP) Women are competing at the 2008 Games in record numbers, yet the Olympic movement remains under fire on the gender front - accused of failing to reduce male dominance in its own ranks and tolerating countries which exclude women from their teams.

Of more than 11,000 athletes assembled in Beijing, 42 percent are women. That's up from less than 26 percent in 1988, and illustrates the success of an aggressive campaign since then by the International Olympic Committee to move toward gender equity.

The IOC itself, and its affiliates, haven't done nearly as well, falling short of their own goals.

Of the IOC's 110 members, 16 are women [approximately 20 today in 2012]  - and only one serves on the powerful 15-member executive board [two today]. A sizable majority of the 205 national Olympic committees have executive bodies that are at least 80 percent male, and only two of the 35 Olympic sports federations have women as presidents.

"I'm deeply disappointed," said Anita DeFrantz, the senior U.S. member of the IOC and chair of its Women and Sport Commission.

"I don't understand why we haven't been successful," she said. "I'm reviewing everything to determine what it is that's blocking us." [Um, sexism from men and the women who are the objective allies of sexism?]

One fundamental problem is that sports administration in many nations remains an old boys club. DeFrantz said change will be too slow unless the men in power commit themselves to grooming women as leaders.

DeFrantz also is among many advocates of women's sports who have run out of patience with Saudi Arabia, the last major nation that bars women from its Olympic teams. She wants the Saudis - who have fielded a 17-man squad in Beijing - to be excluded from the 2012 Games in London unless they end their males-only policy. [So far, no real progress there, despite the Saudi fake out this week which will allow the IOC to claim that the "problem" is "solved"]

"Perhaps after these games it will be clear they will be the only outliers and have to allow women to compete," DeFrantz said. "The women in that country deserve the opportunity."

Critics contend the IOC is failing to adhere to its own charter, which says discrimination on the basis of sex is "incompatible with belonging to the Olympic movement." They suggest that a double-standard is at work, with the IOC more tolerant of gender bias than it was of the institutionalized racial segregation that triggered South Africa's exclusion from the Olympics during the apartheid era. [Yep.]

However, many IOC members may be reluctant to bar the Saudis from London.

"I'd be surprised and disappointed if we took such draconian action," said senior IOC member Kevan Gosper. "All that would do is have the athletes of that country suffer." [Well, the male athletes. Remember that the women athletes are already suffering, and you seem decidedly unmoved that their situation.]

Apartheid "was considered a crime against humanity," Gosper said. "I don't think that can be considered parallel to the effort to bring women into absolutely equal gender balance." [Alas, sexism is not considered a crime against humanity. But it should be.]

Whether Saudi Arabia changes on its own remains to be seen. The government is generally wary of angering conservative Islamic clergy, yet the issue of women in sports has been raised recently in the Saudi media and reportedly has been debated by a high-level government advisory council.

Saudi Arabia currently bans sports and physical education classes in state-run girls' schools. Women have discreetly formed a few sports teams on their own, but the level of competition is considered a world away from Olympic caliber.

Qatar joined Saudi Arabia this year in sending an all-male team to Beijing. But several Arab countries that formerly excluded women have relented - Oman, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates, for example. The UAE last week chose a woman as its Olympic flagbearer - Sheikha Maitha Almaktoum, a royal family member competing in taekwondo.

Ebrahim Abdul Malek, general secretary of the UAE's Olympic committee, told a local newspaper, The National, that this was a message to "the entire Gulf region and the whole Arab world. ... everyone, man and woman, should simply work hard at their sport. There are no limits at all."

Among the other Muslim women competing is Robina Muqimyar from war-torn Afghanistan, which was expelled from the Olympics when the women-oppressing Taliban was in power.

Muqimyar is back for a second Olympics after becoming one of the first two Afghan women ever to compete in the games four years ago.

"I want to change the history of Afghanistan," she said then. "I want the other women to watch me and see me and follow me."

Even within the realm of Olympic competition, there are some limits for women. Two sports - ski-jumping and boxing - remain male-only despite vigorous lobbying by the women who compete in them.

Nine women ski jumpers have filed suit against the organizers of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, alleging that excluding their sport is a violation of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees gender equality. The IOC insists women's ski jumping is too embryonic to be included - its first world championship isn't until next year.

The IOC rejected women's boxing for Beijing three years ago - in part because of concerns about the International Amateur Boxing Association that weren't related to gender. There may be a new bid next year to get women's boxing on the program for London. [Progress here, but synchronized swimming still lacks parity, with men being excluded from international competition, except at the Gay Games.]

Underrepresentation of women on the IOC may be the problem slowest to fade.

"It's different from running a race or playing a team event," Gosper said. "You don't have to be voted into a gold medal. But in administration, most positions are obtained by voting, and if you come from a base where it's almost been 100 percent masculine, it's going to be a more tedious and challenging process."

Saudi Arabia does the bare minimum to allow IOC to save face on religious discrimination against women

Dalma Rushdi Malhas, human fig leaf

From the BBC, news that Saudi Arabia may deign to respect international law and the Olympic Charter by allowing women (or rather, one woman) to compete in the Olympics. 

We note that the token woman is likely to be equestrian Dalma Rushdi Malhas, who competed in the first Youth Olympics, not as part of the Saudi Arabian team, but at the invitation of the IOC, and at her own expense. 

Note also that women remain in effect excluded from sport, and that only a very few sports could ever be open to women due to Islamist repression with regard to dress and access to public spaces.

We also note that the Saudis themselves explain that they were force to make this "concession" to the Olympic Charter only due to pressure and controversy, which is something to remember when the objective allies of repressive regimes call for quiet diplomacy rather than public action. The only reason the IOC was "negotiating" with the Saudis (and just why should an organization be negotiating to have its rules respected?) was because outside groups, including the FGG, have repeatedly called on the IOC to respect its own charter.

We fear that this token participation will allow the IOC to claim "victory", and that the exclusion of women from sport in Saudi Arabia and other Islamist countries will continue unabated, and that the calls for religion-based interference with the practice of sport, including the effective requirement for the hijab to be worn by women athletes, will only grow stronger.

Saudi Arabia is to allow its women athletes to compete in the Olympics for the first time.

Officials say the country's Olympic Committee will "oversee participation of women athletes who can qualify".

The decision will end recent speculation as to whether the entire Saudi team could have been disqualified on grounds of gender discrimination.

The public participation of women in sport is still fiercely opposed by many Saudi religious conservatives.

There is almost no public tradition of women participating in sport in the country.

Saudi officials say that with the Games now just a few weeks away, the only female competitor at Olympic standard is showjumper Dalma Rushdi Malhas.

But they added that there may be scope for others to compete and that if successful they would be dressed "to preserve their dignity".

In practice this is likely to mean modest, loose-fitting garments and "a sports hijab", a scarf covering the hair but not the face.

For the desert kingdom, the decision to allow women to compete in the Olympics is a huge step, overturning deep-rooted opposition from those opposed to any public role for women.

As recently as April, the indications were that Saudi Arabia's rulers would accede to the sensitivities of the religious conservatives and maintain the ban on allowing women to take part.

But for the past six weeks there have been intense, behind-the-scenes discussions led by King Abdullah, who has long been pushing for women to play a more active role in Saudi society.
'Subtle reform'

In secret meetings in Jeddah, officials say a consensus was reached in mid-June between the king, the crown prince, the foreign minister, the leading religious cleric, the grand mufti and others, to overturn the ban.

An announcement was ready to be made but then had to be delayed as the country marked the sudden death of Crown Prince Nayef.

"It's very sensitive," a senior Saudi official told the BBC. "King Abdullah is trying to initiate reform in a subtle way, by finding the right balance between going too fast or too slow.

"For example, he allowed the participation of women in the Shura council [an advisory body] so the Olympic decision is part of an ongoing process, it's not isolated."

The official acknowledged that to refuse to let women take part would have looked bad on the international stage.

"Partly because of the mounting criticism we woke up and realised we had to deal with this. We believe Saudi society will accept this," the official said.

For the first time, men to be involved in Olympic victory ceremonies... but only in certain roles

I read a few stories about the announcement by LOCOG, the host committee for the London Olympics, that for the first time men would be involved in medal ceremonies.

Here's the start of the LOCOG press release:

London 2012 Victory Ceremonies podiums, ceremonial costumes, make-up and flowers revealed

The official London 2012 Victory Ceremonies podiums, ceremonial costumes, make-up and flowers have been revealed today. These components will be used across 805 Victory Ceremonies taking place in over 30 London 2012 venues.
Taking place soon after a medal event finishes, the design of the Victory Ceremonies has been created to be an exciting celebration of the achievements of every medal-winning athlete.
The unique design of the royal purple podiums and costumes has been created by students at the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London. The students have worked with London 2012 over the last eight months to create and develop the designs.
When designing the podiums, the team of students - Gaetano Ling, Hong-Yeul Eom, Luc Fusaro, Heegun Koo and Yan Lu - used dynamic lines representing the energy that the Games and athletes represent. 40 podiums will be used across all the Victory Ceremonies and approximately 4,400 medal-winning athletes will stand on them to celebrate their success formally.
The ceremonial costumes will be worn by Games Maker volunteers in athlete and presenter escort roles and flower and medal bearer roles.

Other news reports said that for the first time men would be involved in victory ceremonies, which was great to hear. But some of these reports (and not just those from the Daily Mail) said that the roles would be segregated. This surprised me, and since the press releases from LOCOG weren't clear (for example this press release about make-up design, which says: "The make-up which will be worn by all the athlete and presenter escorts and medal and flower bearers", which implies that either women are in all roles, or men will be wearing make-up), so I asked the press service of LOCOG for clarification. 

They (promptly) responded: "The team is mixed and will be seen in the presentation very much as a team. The members of the team have 3 specific roles: the roles of leading the party (as presenter escort and athlete escort) are females, and the role of carrying the tray which holds the medal and flowers (flower and medal bearer) is male - a traditionally more decorative role. The medal and flower bearer leaves the party after the presentation has been made, whilst the female presenter escort and female athlete escort remain with the party for their exit from the presentation in front of the fans in the stadiums."

Why make an effort for equality, inclusion and parity by admitting that these ceremonial duties are not reserved for "decorative" females (good news), only to segregate the various roles according to gender?

In a context where the gender of Olympic volunteers has been an issue (for example the refusal of Iran to accept that the volunteer sign bearer at past opening ceremonies be a woman), LOCOG should show true equality and parity. This is definitely a good news/bad news kind of story.

-- Marc Naimark

In mainstream DanceSport, women aren't taking the lead

While in same-sex DanceSport this is not an issue, for mainstream events, who leads is a matter of great concern. From Canada's National Post:

A Toronto woman says she was kicked out of a modern jive class after trying to lead her male partner, in the latest sign of a push against the traditional gender roles that still dominate the ballroom dancefloor.

Andrea Seto, 25, tried to switch to a lead role during a recent class at Jive Nation Toronto, but said her instructor objected. After repeatedly pushing for an explanation, Ms. Seto says she was asked to leave. She had taken classes with the dance school since January.

“It just seemed like it was kind of sexist…. As a patron paying for a service, it seems I should be the one deciding what I’m learning,” Ms. Seto said.

Her instructor, Nicky Heatherington, said roles are sometimes switched at Jive Nation, but the sudden role change was discouraged, in part because it would complicate things for other students.

“Go to any website — guys are leads and ladies are follow. And when we say follow, it’s just an interpretation. One leads the dance, it’s not an equal thing. These are the steps that we’ve been doing…. Just because guys lead, and ladies happen to be the dance follows, I can’t see how that is sexist. If people want to think it’s sexist, I cannot control what people think.”

In competitions, a couple must consist of a male and a female and the men lead while their female partners follow, said Sandy Brittain, the president of Canada DanceSport, the regulating body for organized amateur competitions in the country.

Official ruling bodies for amateur ballroom competitions — known as DanceSport — also specify that competing pairs must consist of a man and a woman.

If a woman were to lead during a competition, the couple would lose points “because the man always leads,” Ms. Brittain said.

“It’s just traditionally done that way, and that’s just part of the sport.”

In casual classes, a switch-up of roles is fine, she said, but in competition, it is a no-no.

“It would look funny, the man with his arm in the opposite way,” she said.

Keep reading HERE.

Atlanta Plus Committee's legacy of action

Annie Sugier and Linda Weil-Curiel of the Atlanta Plus Committee show tshirts worn at previous Olympic Games. The Committee, whose appeal for gender equality in the Olympic Movement is supported by the FGG, will be present in London. Details to follow!

Annie is holding a tshirt with the message: "Atlanta Plus means more women", along with the section of the Olympic Charter banning all forms of discrimination from the Olympic Movement, while Linda shows the Beijing tshirt.

En français / Vient de paraître : "Femmes voilées aux Jeux olympiques"

Nous avons le plaisir de partager la publication d'un nouveau livre sur un combat auquel adhère la FGG, la lutte contre la discrimination contre les femmes dans le sport :

Cette bataille commence au début des années 90. Trois femmes d'origine et de parcours différents se lancent dans une aventure originale qui les amène à s'intéresser au monde de l'Olympisme. Leur objectif : s'appuyer sur les termes de la Charte olympique pour obtenir que soient exclus des JO les pays pratiquant la ségrégation sexuelle à l'encontre des femmes, tout comme l'Afrique du Sud l'avait été pour cause d'apartheid.

Un an plus tôt, à Téhéran, les plus hautes autorités de la République Islamique, avaient décidé de lancer un défi au monde à travers le sport en propageant la culture "du hijab et de la modestie pour les femmes libres du monde". Evidemment, ces deux visions du droit des femmes et donc de la société, ne pouvaient que se heurter de front. L'une fondée sur les principes universels des droits de l'Homme, l'autre sur la soumission du droit de femmes aux diktats religieux et culturels.

Ce livre, écrit dans un style vif et humoristique, retrace un combat qui s'étend sur deux décennies et s'apparente à celui de David contre Goliath. On y rencontre des personnages contemporains aussi différents que le commandant Massoud, Juan Antonio Samaranch ou Jacques Rogge, mais aussi des pionniers de l'Olympisme tout droit sortis de l'Histoire, tels le baron de Coubertin et son ennemie jurée, la Française Alice Milliat...
Mais cette fois-ci, ce n'est pas David qui gagnera la partie.

Vous pouvez vous procurer ce livre ICI.

After Saudis spit in Jacques Rogge's face will he use a hijab to wipe himself off?

From Human Rights Watch news that the "progress" announced recently was a farce. That "progress", which involved the pitiful step of Saudi Arabia allowing one or two token expatriate Saudi women athletes in certain sports to pay their own way to the Olympics, will no longer be accepted. How will the apologists for Islamist interference in the practice of sport, the same ones who have pushed for women to be allowed (i.e. forced) to wear religious garb in order to be allowed to practice sport, react to this latest attack on the neutrality of sport and Principle 5 of the Olympic Charter? My guess: they will keep their mouths shut, as they do in just about every case of homophobia, lesbophobia, sexism, antisemitism, etc. etc. 


Unless the IOC excludes Saudi Arabia from the 2012 Olympics, they will have zero credibility as the self-proclamed owners of international sport.


(Beirut) – The Saudi sports minister and head of the Saudi National Olympic Committee confirmed on April 4, 2012, that Saudi Arabia will not support women in practicing sports. Prince Nawwaf al-Faisal said: “Female sports activity has not existed [in the kingdom] and there is no move thereto in this regard.”

“At present, we are not embracing any female Saudi participation in the Olympics or other international championships,” Prince Nawwaf continued.

“If the International Olympic Committee was looking for an official affirmation of Saudi discrimination against women in sports, the minister in charge just gave it,” said Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. “It is impossible to square Saudi discrimination against women with the noble values of the Olympic Charter.”

Speaking at a press conference in Jeddah that concluded a meeting of Arab youth and sports ministers, the prince claimed that the demand for women’s participation in the Olympics and other international championships came from Saudi women living abroad, and that his organizations would not officially support that demand, but would instead cooperate with those women to ensure their participation “occurred in the appropriate framework and comported with Islamic law.” The prince said he was in constant contact with the Saudi mufti and religious scholars to insure nothing “infringed upon the Muslim woman.”

In a February report, “’Steps of the Devil’: Denial of Women's and Girls' Rights to Sport in Saudi Arabia,”Human Rights Watch documented the systematic discrimination against women in sports in Saudi Arabia, including their exclusion from the 153 sports clubs regulated by Nawwaf’s ministry, the Saudi National Olympic Committee (NOC), and the 29 national sporting federations, which are also overseen by Nawwaf in his capacity as head of the NOC.

Human Rights Watch urged the IOC to put Saudi discrimination against women in sport on the agenda of its next executive board meeting in Quebec on May 23.

“The time is running out for hope that dialogue with Saudi authorities will lead to a change in discriminatory policies,” Wilcke said. “It is clear that a symbolic participation in the London 2012 games by Saudi women athletes does not mean an end to the systematic discrimination against women practicing sports in Saudi Arabia and in international competitions.”

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The likely token woman for 2012 had been supposed to be "Dalma Rushdi Malhas [pictured above], an 18-year-old equestrienne who won a bronze medal in the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympics. At that time, Malhas did not officially represent the kingdom.  “I didn’t know whether I was allowed but when I got invited of course I didn’t think twice and went at my own expense. I didn’t care much about me being there as a representative of Saudi Arabia, because anyone could probably do that. But getting a medal was the key, and that’s not easy for anyone, and I wanted that — and only that gives recognition to my country,” she told the Arab News.

En français / Un manifeste pour l'égalité pour tous

Lilian Thuram, l'un des plus grands joueurs du football français, présente sur France Inter son nouveau livre : «Il faut expliquer aux jeunes enfants très tôt qu'ils auront à lutter contre les injustices pour améliorer leur société, affirme-t-il. Je crois que c'est cette éducation que nous n'avons pas, parce que nous n'avons pas conscience que toutes les injustices sont liées quelque part. Par exemple le racisme, c'est lié au sexisme, c'est lié à l'homophobie, c'est lié au racisme envers les religions. Et je pense que nous devons avoir cette notion, parce que nous avons tendance à être égocentriques: Si ça me touche je m'y intéresse, si ça ne me touche pas, je ne m'y intéresse pas. Et c'est ce qu'il faut dépasser.»

More on the efforts of (male) sports leaders to tell (female) athletes that (female) athletes aren't real women

The Los Angeles Times looks at the efforts in boxing (and badminton) to impose a sexist image of what women athletes should look like. We recall the real Olympic tradition of athletes competing nude...

The first competitors won't step into the ring in London for seven months but already a controversy has broken out over women's participation in the Olympic boxing tournament.

Only this time it has nothing to do with a woman's right to fight.

The battle now has shifted to what the women should wear, with some members of the International Amateur Boxing Assn. — the governing body for the sport — urging the boxers to don skirts instead of the baggy shorts they've been wearing.

"This is absurd," complained Patricia Manuel, a former national champion from Long Beach and an Olympic hopeful at 132 pounds. "To put fighters in skirts to label them as women is incredibly outdated. It seems to me sexist."

The Badminton World Federation took a similar stance this month after a marketing firm advised officials that the sport needed to look more feminine to attract fans and sponsors. At its meeting in New Zealand the BWF called for women to ditch the shorts and sweat pants they have traditionally worn and "dress nicely" to "promote the image of badminton," according to Paisan Rangsikitpho, deputy president of the executive board.

"Women should wear women's clothing," Rangsikitpho said in summing up the board's ruling. "BWF wishes all players to be more fashionable and good role models."

Keep reading HERE.

Badminton tells female players they are ugly in shorts

From The Telegraph, a sad story of another lame attempt to stimulate (straight male) media and (straight male) public interest in a sport by making women wear "sexier" clothing. We can assume that when the BWF says that women need to wear skirts to ensure "attractive presentation" of the sport, they consider that a woman in shorts is... ugly. 

For all those who thought sport was about performance and athletic achievement, you're wrong: it's about sex. 

Rest assured that at the Gay Games, women can wear shorts. 


 
And men can wear skirts.




World badminton pushes back women's skirt rule to improve guidelines
World Badminton has pushed back the implementation of new rules requiring female players to wear skirts on court in major tournaments after protests from some shuttlers.

The Badminton World Federation's new dress code was due to come into effect from May 1, requiring all female players to wear skirts or dresses in Grand Prix tournaments and above "to ensure attractive presentation of badminton". It will now come into force on June 1.

"BWF have for many years encouraged both badminton clothing manufacturers and players to produce and wear clothing that would enhance the presentation of the game in general," BWF Deputy President Paisan Rangsikitpho said.

"We are, however, always willing to listen to the players, which is why we have decided to delay the implementation date to advise and have a dialogue with the players on the guidelines," he added.

The BWF said it would consider feedback from players, but it underlined that the skirt requirement does not "in any way discriminate against any religious or other beliefs and respects women".

The ruling had evoked mixed reactions from players, with most saying the problem was not so much with wearing skirts but making the dress code mandatory.

"You can't force anyone to become more glamourous. Probably, they can ask the sponsors to design better clothing like the tennis girls wear," said India's doubles specialist Jwala Gutta.

A few Chinese and Indonesian players have also expressed reservations, saying they preferred to play in shorts instead of skirts.

Roger Brigham on the context of homophobia and sexism for the Kobe Bryant and Tara Sullivan incidents

Roger Brigham usually has something interesting to say in his Bay Area Reporter column, and this week was no exception, with a look at the background behind Bryant's homophobic insult and Sullivan's exclusion from the sexist Augusta locker room. Here's an extract:

In predictable order, television apologists – err, I mean, analysts – began parsing Bryant's words to minimize the damage, gay rights groups raised their hackles, Bryant issued a non-apology apology, the NBA announced a $100,000 fine against the player (which he says he will appeal), and the Human Rights Campaign said it accepted Bryant's apology and would work with him to raise sensitivity. Move along folks, we are told, nothing to see here.

Not so fast.

Let's start with the studio "analysis" provided on ESPN almost immediately after the incident. Commentator Ric Bucher said punishing Bryant for the slur was "a slippery slope because this happens all the time." And by that he does not mean that it is frequently broadcast on national television, but that players routinely say it.

(By the by, if you do a Google search for "Kobe Bryant Ric Bucher ESPN," you'll find a pretty slick YouTube video of Bryant wiping snot on Bucher. Hilarious.)

Ahhh, but then Bucher goes further and tells us why it is wrong to object to the phrase. "They refer to it as a homophobic slur," he said, "but I believe it was just meant to be derisive."

To quote Scooby-Doo: "Huh?"
(Link) View more Scooby Doo Sound Clips

As in not homophobic (mocking, jeering, contemptuous, and politically incorrect), just derisive (mocking, jeering, contemptuous but politically correct)?

Read in full HERE.