The 2016 Sexist Olympics

The news lines for the Olympics have been worse than ever. They show how disgustingly sexist our nation still is. There have been so many woman winning medals and with little recognition. The headlines start out with “wife of” or “the man responsible” and immediately gives attention to the husbands and what they do for a living.

There have even been comments about how a woman is too old to be competing in the Olympics or calling a female who was competing “blondie” and further insulting her by calling her a “scaredy cat.” It’s absurd that these comments are being made. Who asks a female athlete if she’d rather be thinner or have a gold medal? We can do better than this. Let’s try athlete v. athlete not bikini v. burka.

How about men don’t sit and debate whether makeup should be allowed to be worn at the Olympics. What does it matter? It doesn’t affect anything, and it’s not for them to decide. How about we give recognition to the women who won the medal instead of their husbands and quit insulting them? Treat them like the athletes they are. Gender doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t affect being interviewed or praised.

Women are equal to men. This should be shown in news reports and interviews. All of this is why we need feminism, because people need to know this kind of journalism and thinking is not okay.It's disrespectful. Give recognition and praise to those who deserve it.

Congratulations to:

Diana Bacosi, Chiara Cainero, Kim Rhode, Luba Golvina, Miriam Welte, Kristina Vogell, Gong Jinjie, Zhong Tianshi, Anastasiia Voinova, Daria Shmeleva, Katie Ledecky, Miereia Belmonte, Jazmin Carlin, Leah Smith, Jess Ashwood, Abbey Weitzeil, Kylie Masse, Taylor Ruck, Yulia Efimova, Siobhan-Marie O'Connor, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Ailya Mustafina, Wang Yan, Seda Tutkhalyan, Laurie Hernandez, Madeline Dirado, Allison Schmitt, Katinka Hosszu, Maya DiRadoand Simone Manuel

And the many others that I missed or have won at later dates than I am writing this. You deserve this. I wish you didn't have to deal with this and that you were able to celebrate your winnings without having to deal with the sexist comments and sarcasm coming from interviews or news articles written about you. I hope we learn from this year's Olympics and do not have deal with this again. You all deserve to be treated like the athletes you are and receive recognition and credit for your achievements.