During the summer of 2008, a little girl sat in front of the TV, her eyes glued, more focused than you would ever expect any 12 year old to be. She watched as Michael Phelps won the 9th, 10th, 11th, and eventually his 16th Olympic medal. She listened to the commentators cheering and the crowds going wild. And when the event was over, she ran and got her bags she could go to swim practice, and eventually maybe go to the Olympics herself.
That was me.
And sure, maybe I didn't make it to the Olympics, but that never stopped me from being inspired by the London Olympics and now the Rio Olympics. However, with growing up comes the sad reality of the sexist, misogynistic, and overall incredibly rude world that 12 year old Neeharika didn't know she was living in. At the time, I simply looked up to Michael Phelps because of the athlete he was. Come the London 2012 Olympics, my focus expanded to admire Katie Ledecky, Missy Franklin, Allison Schmitt and many other girls that were, for some unknown reason, more relatable. (IT WAS BECAUSE THEY WERE WOMEN).
But here's the thing, the Olympics are no longer inspiring. I thought the sad coverage of the opening ceremonies would be the worst of it. But somehow it only got worse. With whatever coverage we can see in the U.S., it's hard to be inspired by the constant stream of disgusting comments coming from NBC commentators. News outlets can't get a grasp on why the way they're dealing with everything is terrible, so let's take a look:
- Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszu's win in the 400 meter individual medley shatters the world record. But it's not her swimming and talent that should be credited for her achievements, it's her husband, "the man responsible," who is shown seconds after she finishes.
- Katie Ledecky absolutely shatters her own world record in the 400 meter freestyle by two whole seconds, only for an NBC commentator to take exactly two more seconds to state that, "she swims like a man." The last time I checked, she swam like an Olympian.
- Women only watch the Olympics for... drama? Apparently I'm not interested in the times that these swimmers are accomplishing. No, I'm more interested in their love lives and personal drama. The closer it is to the crappy reality television that I avoid on a regular basis, the more likely it is that I'll watch the Olympics. You know, because I'm a girl. I'm including a picture for this one:
- Something that I had the honor of personally hearing when watching the USA vs. Columbia women's rugby preliminary match: "You know, there are some teams from countries that don't come to the Olympics for the gold. They're just happy that they could make it this far and honestly I think Columbia is one of those countries."
- And finally, let's not forget about the Olympians who are here for the first time. You can't just let them win gold without breaking them in with a nice juicy sexist comment! So when Simone Biles lands flies off the uneven bars and sticks what is a near-perfect landing, we just have to compare it to male athletes. You know, so people understand just how much she's achieving. As NBC commentator Jim Watson said, “I think she might even go higher than some of the men.” Oh, well now I get it. That is pretty impressive now that I know that she's doing what some males can't even accomplish.
But don't worry NBC, it's not just you! Many other news outlets are having trouble writing article crediting women in the Olympics without a little seasoning of sexism to make sure that these women don't get all the credit that they deserve!
- "The Chicago Tribune" decided that this women's name didn't matter. And it didn't even matter who her husband was as long as everyone knew that she was married to a Bear's lineman. Because Corey Cogdell's biggest achievement can't possibly be the second bronze she just won for being one of the best trap shooters in the world. She did that without a man. She'll definitely always be known for marrying that Bear's lineman whoever he is...
- And sexism isn't complete without the host country taking a part of it right? Because Rio promised our limited coverage of the opening ceremonies to be the "sexiest ever." The costumes were made to show off as much of a woman's body as possible. They also added that "This is Brazil, after all, where the female body is celebrated like no other place on Earth." And as great as that may be, a recent report that revealed that a woman is raped every 11 minutes (11 minutes being a conservative number), does not necessarily help that statement.
And calling Brazil native supermodel Gisele Bundchen Brazil's biggest "export" really doesn't help.
So here's the thing. It's not too late. It's never been too late. You know, to stop being sexist. It's not hard. For those who are sexist, here's a tip: just pretend everyone in the world is a dude, you know, you're ideal world. And just treat everyone like you treat your "bros." When they achieve things, you wouldn't credit their girlfriend would you? When one of your bros swims really well, you wouldn't say that he swims like a girl, you'd just rave about how amazing he is! And you would never think to draw attention to your bro's wife and what she does for a living because it doesn't have anything to do with what he's achieving right? And if your bro is known for making lots of money for a country don't call him an export! Call him the best thing that ever happened for that country like he deserves to be called!
But let's keep this party going.
Did someone say... party?
