"Gender Watch" to liberate your Barbie complex! Stop asking "beautiful" Xushu where to go?

Weightlifting player Xu Shu Net, in the Rio Olympic Games won the Taiwan team first gold medal, become the target of media chase. But one TV anchor Song Dongbin in the process of reporting, but there was a slip of the tongue. In this 1 minute news, Song Dongbin focus on Xushu's appearance and Wear, said "Xushu after retirement can slowly put the dress back, long hair, start makeup, perhaps beautiful Xu Shu net can come back." 」

The report sparked a netizen's criticism of "humiliating professional athletes who represent the country." For the rebound of netizens, Song Dongbin clarified, "Put the dress back" and "long hair" are Xushu parents desire, hope that the daughter after retirement can make boyfriend marry, he just quoted to further report, and no humiliation.

But this is not the first time the media has focused on Xushu's "feminine", when Xushu won a silver medal at the London Olympics four years ago and attended the Pavilion Coyett luncheon, because Xushu had always been a neutral figure, it was her first appearance in a dress, and the media focused more directly on Xushu's "Dress Maiden Show" . , considered an unprecedented move.

But to put it another way, when a woman engaged in such sports as weightlifting, being considered "like a man," and unlike the traditional feminine temperament, why do we have to change them to the "ideal woman" that we expect in our hearts? Hard to shove them into the shape of the secular frame?

Who wants a feminine taste?

Women can lift weights, can men dance ballet? The answer is yes, but for men and women, when a person engages in a campaign of "gender expectations", it often faces the attendant criticism. Like women in the "masculine" movement such as weightlifting, and men who perform such "feminine" movements as ballet, sexuality is always questioned as "gay", and women are more likely to assume the secular pressure of "beauty".

In the Victorian era of the 19th century, women's images were often rigid-gentle, pale, passive, and well-behaved-so that women were considered attractive to men. So in the past, women's movement is forbidden, because if because of the movement of the process, and make the slender body become strong, white snow skin tanned, and no longer comfortable room, then it is not in line with the secular to "qualified women" requirements.

This kind of restriction on women's questioning originates from the idea of the field of sports, tend to be limited by gender expectations, sports in the tradition of men's field, trespassing women destroy the male temperament and femininity stereotypes between the division, the best woman can be virtuous gentle, even if you want to engage in sports, the best not like a man, Expose too much muscle and strength. (Extended reading: jump a Pole dance to please yourself: your body has the freedom to be happy )

In addition to domestic Xushu, the United States tennis star Williams is repeatedly attacked. She was selected as "Sports Illustrated" 2015 Best athlete, became the first female athlete in nearly 30 years since the 1983 American track and field woman Mary Decker. However, the public opinion of the small Williams attack never stop, her glory instead of raising more people to her dissatisfaction, threatened to boycott Sports Illustrated.

"I was very hard since I was a child, my sister (Williams) like a model, I was very stout," brought the audience to her disgust, small Williams said, from not as Maria Sharapova was sealed "tennis beauty" of her, always bear the malicious eye, for all this, small Williams can only helpless response "I really do not know how to do, I can only accept my own body size. 」

Such experiences are never unfamiliar to female athletes, Tapistiv and Russian tennis player Demantiva on the country's TV talk show, Smile Size Williams "stout", when the host asked Deman in the past in the player era, the presence of Williams sister experience, "What is the feeling, in the right ..." The time? "Tapistiv but directly interposed:" Williams brothers. 」

He later did not forget to compare Williams sisters with other contestants: "Look at our contestants, so beautiful." Once one of their sisters passed by me, I felt her shadow enveloped for about 40 seconds, their physique is so strong, the opponent is not afraid? 」

We look forward to female athletes on the field, do their best to win, but after leaving the game, but also look forward to their "like a woman," their struggle against the body image, such contradictions so that women athletes can not use different ways to complete their own.

The female athlete buries the dream on one hand with the body, on the other hand has to doubt oneself for the outside eyes of the burning, cannot let the body become own comfort circle, is in the most contend the position and the most comfortable state.

The ubiquitous Barbie complex

Why do we always focus on the appearance of the female athlete's comments? The description of the appearance and wearing of the female players in the sports page is always equal to the description of the match content. Instead of focusing on athletic achievement, the focus has never been on their dress and appearance.

Men are picked up by players in the course of the game's talent and effort, but women to "not like a woman" and be judged. The media to the male and female athletes to adopt a different way, it is to reflect women in the real society can not escape the "beautiful myth." In this set of beautiful values, the standard is based on the desire of men, women are only to be stared at, selected targets, and not participate in this set of aesthetic mechanism.

We look forward to the strong female athletes back to a "beautiful" woman, showing the community everywhere "Barbie complex." Our worship of beauty is the original sin of being "born into a woman". We are afraid of old, we refuse to be obese, we have to be like a "woman," but the "woman" is so narrowly circumscribed that it is like a Barbie with long, silky hair, a fair skin, a slim figure, and a rounded, large eye fitted with a dress that shows the curve. Beauty "On the basis of class, women can only be preoccupied with their own appearance.

Barbie complex, we see to be able to be a man's desire of the female body to have value, so when a coarse, love to wear trousers, see makeup as nothing of "male", often be regarded as the emotional market discards, so " In order to Xu Shu the net good ", the media scramble to bring her back to the reality of the beautiful eyes, but the paradox is that when all this seems to be a kind reminder, but also squeezed the female athlete body and human autonomy. (same field Gayon: the nude photo album: The athlete takes you to see the aesthetics of power )

As Xushu in response to the phrase "naturally good", no matter what kind of body, body, color of women, they together to build the world we live in. To dare to disregard the "Barbie myth", subversion of the society's rigid standards of beauty, the body unreservedly to embrace.

To liberate us from the "Barbie complex" of women's imagination, why should female athletes achieve the beauty myths of those slender and charming? When we no longer use the criterion of "being like a woman" to look at them, this is what the Olympics really means to me--within the limits of myself, to be able to transcend myself in movement, to break the "impossible" of the limits of outsiders, and not to think that after transcending myself, there are still some pretty myths restricting them. (Recommended reading: single Barbie Image: Breast, waist, long legs is the only condition of beauty?) )