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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

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Original poster

Torygraph blog on the wrongs of women's judo

125 replies

AnnieLobeseder · 02/08/2012 20:30

Here

Everydaysexism has a bit of a Twitter campaign going to get an apology from the Torygraph.

Do you ever have a day when the sexism is just everywhere, you know, even more so than usual? Today has been one of those days, I've been arguing with misogynistic knobends on the internet all day, and I just want to crawl into bed and weep at the attitudes people still hold. How will we ever get any respect as human beings? I just can't see it.

OP posts:

Chelc100 · 03/08/2012 23:05

I think martial arts are very empowering for women and I think a woman should kick him in the willy just to show how unladylike we can all be!

roadkillbunny · 03/08/2012 23:08

Thank you LRD, I think she is pretty special girl but I am her Mum, she also rides, wonder what this idiots view on equestrianism is, dd had quite a fall from her pony yesterday, oh the risk of bruising to to her soft limbs! She got right up and back on the pony, another mark to her improving self confidence and belief, did judo play a part in that resilience? You bet your life it did!

ArielThePiraticalMermaid · 03/08/2012 23:11

Love the beach volleyball article!

Your daughter sounds fab, roadkill. I guess her confidence will only increase and improve. That's why I love sport! When I was a teacher I taught a Y4 boy who I was really fond of, but good grief, he was hard work. When he started karate, within 6 months, his concentration and discipline was so much better. It was amazing to see. Martial arts are so not just people "beating each other up" as this fool sees fit to write in a national newspaper.

LRDtheFeministDragon · 03/08/2012 23:19

Ahh, I believe, roadkill, we think riding is ok, so long as it is sidesaddle. And she's royal.

I do hope she's royal.

(What a twit he is.)

ariel - that's a really important point!

edam · 03/08/2012 23:45

I was right there with the heart and soul of this thread until someone mentioned riding... not that I'm biased through having seen the light after one too many falls or anything, but if the writer is worried about dangerous sports he should start with riding, definitely!

RavenVonChaos · 03/08/2012 23:48

My two daughters do "judo" on each other everyday - or ragging each other around as we call it. I saw Gemma and thought "now that looks a good way of channelling their strength, determination and sense of competition.

CrispyCod · 04/08/2012 00:33

He's right, it's no place for a woman to be. You should all be waiting for your husbands to come home whist wearing a pretty ribbon in your hair.

AppleCatchers · 04/08/2012 10:42

My dad is a judo coach myself and my sisters done it judo means the gentle way there is nothing voilent about it you learn to breakfall so sometimes it sounds worse than it is.

MrsReiver · 04/08/2012 10:55

RoadKill - my DS is 8 and has been doing judo for 4 years. Before he started the classes our HV was convinced he was autistic because he wouldn't talk to her (whole other thread) when DH and I knew he was shy. He was 6 weeks prem, and has had a series of medical ishoos to overcome in his little life. Within a couple of months of doing judo, DS had come on an enormous amount. He was still shy, but was happier talking to the HV than he had ever been, his asthma was also much better.

Judo has instilled him with confidence, discipline and self belief. He is, rightly, proud of each of his belts and everything he has acheived, as are DH and I.

When he was 5 he was getting bullied at school, coincidentally the judo club was also scheduled to come in and do a demonstration, featuring DH - a 6ft2, 15stone brown belt. As each class came in, the coach introduced every adult on the mat - taking care to point out MrReiver as "LittleReiver's dad." The best bit, was when DS came on the mat in front of his class in his judogi, and his dad let him throw him for an ippon. Strangely enough he wasn't bullied again.....

LurkingAndLearningLovesCats · 04/08/2012 11:26

This thread has made me really want to take up a martial art!

Don't know if I'd be any good at something like Judo though. :( Kickboxing maybe but I don't think that is a martial art? >clueless

MrsReiver · 04/08/2012 11:40

Muay Thai - aka Thai Kickboxing is a martial art yeah and Taekwondo also has a lot of kicks in it.

I really, really want DH to take up Kendo as it's the closest I'll get to being married to a Jedi but the nearest club is miles away

blackcurrants · 04/08/2012 14:54

I did a martial art (started aged 27, so it's never too late!) called aikido, which is a japanese throwing-and-pinning martial art. It's brilliant and I miss it like anything. I stopped when I was pg in 2009, and haven't gone back (moved house, far from a dojo, ft work plus baby then toddler, now pg again).. but I have a real focus on returning to a martial art once all this gestating and breastfeeding period of my life is done. Walking out of the dojo I always felt as I do walking out of a really good yoga class - tired but calm and exhilarated. It did wonders for my posture, confidence, body-appreciation, and self-love.

Also, when people asked me what Aikido was, DH was always willing to step outside into the garden and let me chuck him over my hip or shoulder, so they could go 'oooooh' It's not about strength or violence, it's about focus and technique. As my Sensei in Wolverhampton used to say: if you hurt someone, you're doing it very, very wrong. And my Sensei was a 6 foot bricklayer ... but the top Sensei in Birmingham was a lady about 5 foot nothing (looked like my old kindergarten teacher, actually) who used to throw him all around the room when demonstrating moves... totally aspirational, I want to be like her some day!

hackmum · 04/08/2012 14:55

Have you noticed that the people who write the Telegraph blogs are all nutters? They really are.

Reading that did make me feel like I'd travelled back in time to the 1970s.

LRDtheFeministDragon · 04/08/2012 14:58

black - aikido sounds awesome.

DH says the same btw - he's a big 6 foot bloke and would be in the super heavyweight category, and he's a brown belt in Judo, but when he used to train, black belt women could toss him around like a child.

LurkingAndLearningLovesCats · 04/08/2012 15:08

Oh wow black, I now have to Google as that sounds amazing!

blackcurrants · 04/08/2012 15:36

Lurking I joined a university club which was lovely and low-pressure (my H's university club, actually, I was just there for the summer, then went and joined my own uni club as it was so much fun! Weirdest/coolest Aikido geek moment has been recognizing the fact that the security officers in Star Trek The Next Generation (one female) use Aikido to fight off and restrain attackers... it makes sense, I suppose, the Japanese police and army use it in hand-to-hand - but it was fun to watch someone fighting in a scifi show one night and recognize the moves and think: I can do that! :) The Aikikai is the big universal Aikido association and (in the US, at least) has a dojo in most large towns. I think membership here is $80 per month, which is slightly more expensive than the cheaper gyms, but you can go as much as you like - before DS was born DH went 3 times a week, both to classes and practice and had gorgeous thighs.

If you fancy, look at it's a pretty good demonstration. The man with the swooshy trousers is a Sensei, t'other bloke a black belt (you need a black belt plus a certain amount of months training to get the swooshy trousers and get called Sensei - but still, a black belt is pretty brilliant). Notice how the Sensei is actually moving without much force - he's taking the attacker's momentum and using it, basically, to trip him up. It's all about centre of balance and stepping aside really quickly.

being the attacker ("uke'' or practice-partner) is really fun. I had to stop it in early pregnancy because you basically somersault out of the throws, and I got some dizziness/balance problems ... and then when I told my Sensei I was pregnant he said: right, you can do a bunch of standing Katas and practice kicks and punches but no more rolling... I've always hated ab-crunchy things but rolling and getting up again did wonders for my stomach!

blackcurrants · 04/08/2012 15:44

Sorry, this has become an "everyone do a martial art!" thread. Well I'm not that sorry, but I don't want to derail much more than I already have, so I'll say this one last thing and then stop:

I loved Aikido because I've never been comfortable actually attacking someone. I always wanted to learn a martial art but watched my brother doing karate and thought: I don't want to spend hours punching and kicking and yelling into the air, I wouldn't enjoy it.

In Aikido you learn to punch, kick and grab so you can help others train - so you don't have to be/feel aggressive. The uke ('one who receives' - person who takes the fall) is the attacker, and the nage ('one who throws') is always on the defensive. So the focus is on protecting yourself and those with you, not being all aggressive. Indeed, aggression is frowned upon as a demonstration inadequate control.

That made me feel very comfortable, as a beginner, that I didn't need to be all Hiiiiiiyayaahhahahahhah* if I didn't feel like it.

*Technical term. Ooohyes.

Atropos · 04/08/2012 15:55

An old pacifist and feminist and I didn't see the Torygraph comment. I am also not much interested in the Olympics. However, I did watch Gemma Gibbons while I was striding away on the treadmill in the gym and was hugely impressed with her commitment and refusal to give up. So far as I understand, although judo is a contact sport, no one was badly hurt or seriously injured. As a P.S. No one should put women down, just because they are women.

grimbletart · 04/08/2012 17:58

Wonder what wanker Brown would say about the GB's (female) hockey player who had her jaw fractured in an early round, had surgery and is playing tonight......

Men like Brown would probably get vertigo standing up from the sofa so can't stand any female who makes him realise what a softy he is.

Zaraa · 07/08/2012 23:39

So this website is only for women victims who have experienced sexism from men is it?

LRDtheFeministDragon · 07/08/2012 23:41

Did you post on the wrong thread?

VegansTasteBetter · 08/08/2012 00:15

Um, what zaara? Allthough that is all females so yes, I guess you're right.

Men can visit too though.

Original poster

AnnieLobeseder · 08/08/2012 07:40

Are you referring to the Everyday Sexism Project, Zaraa? It is aimed mainly at women, though men have posted their experiences there too.

OP posts:

LRDtheFeministDragon · 08/08/2012 09:43

Oh, I get it.

I don't, btw, see the issue with a website primarily for women, or primarily for men?

NicholasTeakozy · 09/08/2012 19:15

I read this thread t'other day and reminded myself about it whilst Nicola Adams was battering seven shades out of Ren CanCan in the Women's Flyweight boxing to win Gold. Wonder what he thinks of laydees boxing? He'd probably have a heart attack, the poor lamb. :o

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