Hypothetical Dystopia

This is how it happens: A few women who really care about something are willing to put up with just about anything in order to compete. To some, the presence here of the first women athletes from the Islamic nations of Saudi Arabia, Brunei and Qatar was “tokenism.” But if it created even one more opportunity for a woman, then there was nothing token about it.
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This is how it happens: In the 1984 Los Angeles Games, only 24 percent of the athletes were women. In the 1992 Barcelona Games, they were only 25 percent of the competitors. By the 1996 Games it increased to 36 percent, and by the 2008 Beijing Games, that figure exploded to 42 percent, and in London it was 44 percent, with every country sending at least one woman.

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“Women’s Olympic Success: A Flood That Began as a Trickle” / Washington Post

I was quite amazed by the story of the first American women’s basketball team in ‘76: They had a team budget of $500; trained in a gym with no air conditioning; “begged meals from the Rotary Club”; no accommodations were made for them at the Montreal Games, so they had to stay in an empty dorm under construction at the University of Rochester; eventually the 12 players and coaching staff moved into a two bedroom condo in Montreal that someone had found for them — some slept on cots in the kitchen; “We had one pair of shoes: our own sneakers. Not like today where heaven forbid your game shoes should touch asphalt.” And they ended up making it all the way to the gold medal match. 

(via hconover)

[Sexist] coverage is even worse for Ye Shiwen, the incredible swimmer from China who shattered the world record for the 400-meter medley. She swam the last 50 meters even faster than American gold medalist Ryan Lochte. But most of the talk about Shiwen has been that of suspicion and incredulity rather than praise and awe. Baseless rumors about drug use have dominated the commentary, despite members of the International Olympic Committee coming to her defense.

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—NBC Sexist Olympic Coverage Continues (via stfusexists)

Might have already reblogged this. DON’T CARE 

(via iamateenagefeminist)

Claressa Shields is a 17-year-old from Flint, Michigan who made history yesterday when she defeated Russia’s Nadezda Torlopova in the Women’s Middle (75kg) Final Bout and became one of the first women to ever win an Olympic gold medal in boxing (women could not qualify to compete until this year). Shields was on Today this morning to discuss her win, the laughing fit she got on the podium (for someone so tough, she’s also pretty damn adorable) and to threaten Matt Lauer with a good beatdown.

When asked what her favorite punch was by Al Roker, Shields supplied an answer that is about as kick-ass as she is: “My favorite punch is all of them.”

— -Madeleine Davies