Artists and synchronists: Why men are not allowed artistry in sports
SPORT - THE SPHERE IN WHICH THE FIGHT FOR GENDER EQUALITY constantly stumbles on physiological differences, now on long-term systems of rules, now on stereotypes that are not so easy to disprove. Can a man and a woman in the weight category up to 63 kilograms fight with each other on the carpet? Does only weight matter or testosterone concentration? Why women do not compete with men in chess? There are more questions than answers, but there is not one in the list of Olympic sports in which women could not take part. At the same time, certain restrictions, of course, remain. For example, women do not swim at 1500 meters and do not row at 1000 meters.
At the same time, there are two kinds of sports that are completely closed for men without any real reason - talking about synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics. In gymnastics, everything is a little better, but there are still strange limitations that draw the line between male technicalism and female grace. We understand how the stereotypical masculinity prevents everyone from dancing, why men cannot jump to the music and what the post-Soviet countries have done.
Show time
Bra strap, peeping underwear, or even panties running between the buttocks — all these little things reduce the chances of women winning in gymnastics. They almost always wear bright make-up at competitions, and the media disciplinedly stamp the lists of “the sexiest swimsuits of the Olympiad”, which athletes have long chosen and sewed to order for an individual program. The appearance of sports gymnasts, in turn, has never attracted attention: the design of the leotard is nothing remarkable.
There are differences in the disciplines themselves: women do not do exercises on a horse, rings and crossbar, and arbitrary programs also depend on the gender of the athlete. The performance in men lasts 70 seconds, in women - 90; the latter do it to the music, so not only technical skills are appreciated, but also artistry and obligatory dance elements. At the exit, it turns out that some have a bright show with acrobatic elements, while others have an exciting, but terribly strict number.
"Arbitrary exercises allow gymnasts to express their individuality through music and choreography. Gymnasts are often energized by the crowd and love when the gym claps during a performance," the US Gymnastics Federation website says. About men's performances said only that you need to use the entire space of the site and make different acrobatic elements. In a fair world, men obviously should have the right to legitimate twenty seconds for choreography, and also the right to become "artists", because while at the Olympics there is only room for "artists".
Russian sex
"Artists" are called athletes involved in artistic gymnastics. Discipline became part of the Olympic sports only since 1984 and literally grew out of the innovation of Isadora Duncan and the traditions of Russian ballet - at the same time capturing all their feminine connotations. In the mid-twentieth century, during its most rapid development (mostly on the territory of the Soviet bloc), there were not so many acrobatic elements in rhythmic gymnastics, so the line between conventional "sports" and "art" was particularly difficult to draw. But over time, the requirements for possession of objects (ball, hoop, jump rope, ribbon, clubs) significantly tightened, the speed of performances increased and the ideas about really complex elements changed. In general, rhythmic gymnastics began to look more "sporty."
This sport is unique in that it still remains the monopoly of post-Soviet coaches and, accordingly, athletes. Olympic and world pedestals, as a rule, are occupied by athletes from the CIS, and the absence of a Russian athlete in the first place is always nonsense. In general, the ball of the country is ruled, where it is not accepted to reflect on the topic of gender equality. You can be a good athlete, but without the “beauty and femininity” in the empire of the famous coach Irina Viner you will not go far.
To the "female" sports, in principle, are condescending - almost as a ridiculous addition to the "real" competition. It turns out that for a man participation in "defective" disciplines can not be of real interest and pride
Viner herself says with pride that everything in her gymnastics was too austere, and the gymnasts didn’t wear the hijab, and she and her main Russian artist Alina Kabayeva turned her into a hot, dramatized and sexy sport. . The head coach of Russia is not shy about the fact that he “finds the suitors” to his pupils and talks about why gymnastics has become “glamorous” and this is normal. The sexual revolution in rhythmic gymnastics can be treated differently: the performances really began to look more exciting, but the objectification became more.
It is also important that there is no male rhythmic gymnastics in the leading post-Soviet space in sports. That is, they perceive this discipline rather as another opportunity to manifest the mythical “female sexuality,” rather than to make it as inclusive as possible. Recall at least the strict requirements for weight: the “artist” should be no less elegant than the classical ballet dancer, although a gymnast, unlike a ballerina, should not be lifted by anyone. In general, there are plenty of sexist demands, so the athletes themselves do not understand how to take men into their ranks. "It is impossible, men will not be able to do what we do," said Italian gymnast Veronica Bertolini.
It is not surprising that men's rhythmic gymnastics appeared far beyond the countries leading in it. For example, she managed to settle down in Japan - there are even sports teams in this sport in local universities, and competitions are regularly held in the country. “Men's gymnastics does not exist outside of Japan, most enthusiasts simply come to competitions organized there. In the USA, Canada and Europe there are only single people, but not organized teams,” says John Robert Raughton, executive vice president of the Calver Gymnastics Academy. City in California. By the way, the 2020 Summer Olympics will take place just in Tokyo - many have suggested that on this occasion the IOC will allow men to step onto the carpet, but there hasn’t been any discussion as such.
If at first the former sports minister Vitaly Mutko called the inclusion of men in synchronized swimming "stupid", now everyone cares that foreign colleagues inadvertently do not sue our Maltsev
Of course, talking about the fact that men are physically unable to engage in rhythmic gymnastics does not stand up to criticism: it is possible that they really have to develop additional elements or correct the existing assessment system (this is how they constantly do with women), but no more. The only reason why we still do not have a men's team in this sport is our own rigidity.
We admire the boxers because they enter the originally male territory, marked as difficult and dangerous, but we still don’t speak seriously about why there is a clear disproportion in artistic disciplines in the Olympic list. To the "female" sports, in principle, are condescending - almost as a ridiculous addition to the "real" competition. It turns out that for a man participation in the "defective" disciplines can not be of real interest and pride.
Ridiculous victories
But the most active bewilderment among connoisseurs of the Olympics is not even rhythmic gymnastics, but synchronized swimming. This sport regularly hits the listings of the strangest Olympic disciplines, columns are dedicated to it, to remind once again how absurd it really is and generally it would be good to remove your dancing in water and introduce something aggressive in return.
Nevertheless, synchronized swimming is gradually released from the label of women's under-sports, simply because men also want to do it. Since 2015, they finally got the right to participate in the world championships, and Russia has already acquired a star - two-time world champion Alexander Maltsev. So far, men have access only to mixed duo (pair performances with a woman), and it is also not clear whether the IOC will allow them to participate in the Tokyo Olympics.
It is noticeable how the attitude towards synchronists changed, after Maltsev began to bring Russia medals. If at first former sports minister Vitaly Mutko called the inclusion of men in synchronized swimming “stupid,” four-time Olympic champion Anastasia Yermakova was negative about this, like men's rhythmic gymnastics, and everyone else would think about how hairy it would be to look sticking out of the water - now everyone cares, only so that foreign colleagues inadvertently do not sue our Maltsev.
Rhinestones and dances
All these discussions sound rather strange against the background of the fact that men's figure skating (where athletes have both costumes with rhinestones, dance movements, and even music) does not raise a constant question: is it enough bravely? Skaters are considered to be sports stars on a par with football players and hockey players and find fans not only because of their technical skills, but also their artistry (of course, getting legal extra points for this). In figure skating, women and men make different technical elements, the rating system is also different - however, no one tries to pretend that men are not organically capable of dancing and emotions.
Football, biathlon, synchronized swimming, boxing and rhythmic gymnastics - all this show, which requires great effort and preparation. There is no problem in the fact that it sometimes intersects with art, athletes perform to the music or work with experts in acting. The question is why one is allowed to show only endurance and endurance at the Olympics, while others are often required to have sexuality. So there is work from two fronts: it would be great if men got at least twenty seconds to dance, and women did not lose points for sticking straps from a bra.
Photo: Olympic, Getty Images (1)
