Newsweek's Standards Tumble Off Track With Sexist Olympic Coverage

This summer's Olympics have a new criterion for medals: adorableness.

At least I think that's what Newsweek said. In the August 4 issue, "A Viewer's Guide to Beijing" gives readers a quick background on some of the rivalries and athletes to watch at this summer's Games. The section about gymnastics begins:

China's girls on bars and beams are adorable. Ours are, too. More important, though, the Chinese and U.S. women's gymnastics teams are the best in the world, making this the one sport in which the two Olympic powers can really go to the mats.

So at least being adorable is not the most important quality in a professional female athlete.

I realize female gymnasts are petite, and yes, they do sometimes wear hair scrunchies in their team colors, but I could think of a variety of less sexist and more relevant adjectives than "adorable" to describe them. How about strong, fearless and dedicated.

If we're going to start calling athletes who are short in stature "adorable" we have to be sure to include jockeys in the list. And don't forget Rau'Shee Warren of the U.S. Olympic boxing team or that precious retired NBA star Muggsy Bogues.

But even a 5-foot-3-inch tall male athlete would never be described as adorable. He would be described by how well he played in the game. Female athletes are also expected to perform well, as long as they look feminine doing so. Make that female politicians, too.

This argument is nothing new, but in 2008, the first year America had a serious woman contender for president, it's time to suppress the double standards and focus on the talent, not the cuteness, of all the athletes in the Olympics.

As for Newsweek, it's time to update their old fashioned qualifiers for female athletes. They are so out of touch it's adorable.

Comments

[Yappa]

Unfortunately sport is business, and endorsements for females go to the lookers. That's why the top earners in women's tennis aren't generally the top seeds. The Olympics is big money for the central Olympic committee and national Olympic committees, both of whom use the young women's bodies to boost ratings.

I'm in Bulgaria at the moment and the only channel in my hotel showing the Olympics is the German EuroSport channel. After every dive, they show the female divers showering - in their bathing suits, but still. How tacky. There must be official Olympic cameras pointing at the pool-side showers. And the outfits the national organizations come up with is sometimes criminal - like the French gymnasts' outfits, which are cut so high in the leg that they're bare almost to their belly button. Plus - compare the outfits worn by the women beach volleyball (bikinis) and the men's beach volleyball (tank tops and loose shorts).

We live in a world where women's bodies are exploited for money, and it sucks.

[ParaplegicNomad]

I don't understand this fixation on the word "adorable" as an insult. It's an apt adjective for athletes who are judged not just in technical execution but in their ability to seem jubilant while executing. Seriously. Gymnasts don't get high scores for furrowed brows and faces set in grim determination.

The tone of the excerpt (and I have not read the rest of the article) is overly patronizing. That, at least to me, seems like the real problem. "Adorable" is not.

I don't know when "adorable" became a sexist term, but that seems overly sensitive (not a rarity in this day and age, when we're all looking for something to be offended about or self-righteous over or just more-progr­essive-tha­n-thou about). Shia LeBeouf is adorable. That's not feminine. And that's not the same as "beautiful" or even "attractive." The terms describe very different physical characteristics.

[DaCynic]

all kidding aside, women shouldn't be allowed in the olympics...

[DaCynic]

My favorite olympic sport is women's vault because the slow-mo replays allows me to really focus on their, hmm, technique.

I would say the same about the diving, except that those women athletes aren't cute... shoulders too broad, like Hayden Patterniary... whatever she's called.

Women's beach volleyball is fun too.

Oh, women's synchronized swimming, since you get all sorts of creative angels, and it's the sports' culture that women should act like we were still in the 50s, back when women knew their place in the world.

[fishsandwichesr2good]

Standards?! Newsweek (a.k.a. Barak Newsletter) can't lose what it doesn't have.

[themajor755]

If such words "distract", its only in the eyes of women who seem to be in constant competition with women they may find a threat.

Being pretty, adorable may open some doors in the short run, however, it eventually comes down to whether or not you can do you job. And if you are attractive and can do your job, more power to you. Contrary to what you may think, there's nothing wrong with looking or acting like a lady.

[andvoodoo2]

I'm an attorney. Law firms don't hire women who are described as "adorable". Judges don't listen to women who are described as "adorable". Corporations don't want "adorable" women representing them. My dog is "adorable". I am attractive, strong and intelligent. Big difference.

[deckard70]

Bear in mind that "adorable" is a word usually applied to children, not to adults. And many of the Olympic gymnasts are indeed children. The adorable will likely grow up into the attractive.

[Marcia G. Yerman - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks for taking note of this. The use of language in the media sets the tone
for cultural perception­s...whethe­r it is in the description of female athletes or
female candidates.

[Synergy6]

The "standards" of an entire publication have plummeted because of one word, which means "charming"? A little, erm, extreme, don't you think?

[edgraham]

It is only extreme, if you don't get it.

I have been involved in media all of my life, and I know that words like adorable, cute, sweet, beautiful, attractive, and lovely - - only detract from the talent, strength, and courage of the female athlete.

The same can be said of women in any profession, with similar results.

I understand how you feel, but I think you are out of touch with the real problem.

Ed Graham