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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be so so proud of the female Olympians?

19 replies

Pollykitten · 08/08/2012 21:47

They are just bloody fantastic aren't they? Makes me feel so proud and also how it seems that everyone is every bit as proud of our female athletes as our male ones - it wasn't always like this - and I think it's worth celebrating. I was lucky enough to go to the dressage yesterday and the whole experience was just wonderful. Plus my telly is now fixed so I can watch it all!!!

OP posts:
WorraLiberty · 08/08/2012 21:53

YANBU

I'm proud of all of them but it's particularly nice to see the women doing so well as I think young girls need more sporting heros to look up to.

I have to say, I saw a bit of the dressage yesterday on TV and as much as I was amused for a few minutes, I lost the will to live after watching some horse prancing sideways for what seemed like an eternity Grin

So glad she won the gold though.

MadgeHarvey · 08/08/2012 21:54

Odd. Imagine if someone started a thread being so proud of the male Olympians.

JumpingThroughHoops · 08/08/2012 21:54

it wasn't always like this

No of course, no one ever celebrated Mary Rand, Sally Gunnell, Kelly Holmes, Denise Lewis, Paula Radcliffe, Liz mcColgan, etc etc - completely utterly forgotten, except by those of us who do actually follow sport closely.

YouOldSlag · 08/08/2012 21:57

No, Madge, we desperately need positive female role models right now.

Think of the sleb crap: WAGS and the TOWIE bunch! They are so overexposed in the media it's little wonder they end up as role models and are all so bloody tragic. They're every bleedin' where!

Finally we have these amazing sportswomen knocking everyone off the front covers who have got where they are with sheer hard work and grit.

Now THAT'S a role model.

threesocksmorganwinsgold · 08/08/2012 22:00

yanbu
but i am equally proud of the male olympians as well

YesIamYourSisterInLaw · 08/08/2012 22:03

I was VERY proud of the lady who ran for Saudi today yes i know so proud i forgot her name Blush
She has made history and did brilliantly, she must have been absolutely boiling though.

Original poster
Pollykitten · 08/08/2012 22:04

OMG! Surely it's not only OK, but actively good, to celebrate how far equality has come in terms of the female competitors? I mean, we aren't exactly there on all other fronts are we!!! The point about singling out the women is that inequality still exists - just look at the Saudi runner. I'm celebrating because inequality exists, not because I think there is a difference in terms of validity or achievement. Some confused MN brains out there, methinks! Hurrah the women!

OP posts:
Original poster
Pollykitten · 08/08/2012 22:06

The Saudi runner is called Sarah Attar btw!

OP posts:
JumpingThroughHoops · 08/08/2012 22:08

The Palestinian girl smashed her PB this morning in the 800m - thats what it's all about.

I did have a heart wrenching moment for the Qatari lass who fell earlier in the week.

Absolutely massive strides to get female teams up - ok so they aren't going to be world beaters in terms of records - but they certainly have helped break the tradion in their home countries.

Original poster
Pollykitten · 08/08/2012 22:09

Hear that on the BBC just now? Women's boxing was banned in the UK until 1996!

OP posts:
WorraLiberty · 08/08/2012 22:14

On a slight tangent I know but I was absolutely, utterly convinced that 2 of the female wrestlers today were men.

I just wouldn't have it that my DH wasn't winding me up when he insisted they were women but he was right Blush

Original poster
Pollykitten · 08/08/2012 22:16

Lol Worra. On another tangent, have you seen Jessica Ennis just now on the BBC? I want her arms, but I don't think I'm quite prepared to put in the graft to get them!

OP posts:
cantspel · 09/08/2012 00:12

Sarah Attar was was born in Californinia and lives and was bought up in the states. She only qualifies to run for saudia arabia because she has dual citizenship as her father is a saudi and her mum american.

Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhan is only a blue belt and would not under normal circumstances qualify for the Olympics. Her dad is a judo referee so without that she wouldn't have had any training.

Saudi have paid lip service to the ioc and i dont think anything is going to change for saudi women anytime soon on the back of it.

OneHandWavingFree · 09/08/2012 00:32

DH and I were just talking today about how great it's been to be watching the Olympics with dd. So many naturally-occurring opportunities to say "Oh wow, she's really strong" "That woman is the fastest runner!" "Her talent is amazing" etc. etc.

It is fantastic to have strong, able, accomplished, competitive women all over the media at the moment who are being celebrated for something they've worked at and can do extremely well, instead of for how they look, for who they married, or for posing topless.

Of course the male Olympians are fantastic as well, but our society is always celebrating the accomplishments of men. It's not the same thing at all.

YANBU.

BigBoobiedBertha · 09/08/2012 00:51

I agree that it is wonderful to see the women do well although I think it would be more a mark of how far we have come if we didn't feel the need to point out the women over the men and that gender wasn't an issue at all and there was no need for a thread like this!!Smile

I disagree that it wasn't always like this or at least in my adult lifetime. I remember every single one of those women that JumpingThroughHoops mentioned (you forgot Mary Peters by the way who was one of my first sporting memories and Princess Anne). Kelly Holmes was made a Dame on the back of her success at the Olympics. I hardly think she is unsung. I am no sports fan except when it come to the Olympics and all of them made enough of a splash to be remembered, it was just that there weren't very many of them at the time but then there weren't very many successful men either at those Olympics either. They stand out now because of the wonderful haul of medals we have across the board.

What would be better though, is if they didn't disappear between the Olympics and World Championships but then so do the men. We need more reminders of what can be achieved for all children and to save the boys from adopting footballers as role models!

alphabite · 09/08/2012 08:30

Both the men and the women are doing well. Both are equally good role models. Young people need good role models and yes it is good that these atheletes are all the over the papers rather than Jordan or the TOWIE lot.

However, men and women are equal and it's about time people just accepted that fact and moved on. Why a thread about being proud about women. Why not proud for men AND women of GB team.

Lovelynewboots · 09/08/2012 08:37

I think that the op was not diminishing the achievements of the male athletes. A lot of girls do drop out of sport in their teens, so female role models may help to reverse that trend. The most interesting of these for me has been Laura Trott. Two gold medals and only twenty. She just seems really lovely and ordinary and a bit of a hoot. Good luck to her, she has got another olympics or two to go yet.

Lovelynewboots · 09/08/2012 08:38

Pollykitten, there is a film about that issue, Against the Ropes, stars Meg Ryan.

OneOfMyTurnsComingOn · 09/08/2012 08:40

They are bloody amazing. All of them. Men and women. Fantastic!

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