DrillsAndSkills.com

[shanzacoach]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrD0GyFYuxc

The Georgia Gymdogs help three guys try gymnastics. I don't watch this tv show so I don't know which one it is.

[Coach Blair]

It's on Comedy Central? Blue Collar TV i.e. redneck humor or that is what audience it self admittedly plays to.

I only watched about 10 seconds before it cut out, but it was a pretty horrific site seeing them in leos, more so a unitard.

[shanzacoach]

One of the guys actually asks, 'Um, why are we wearing women's leotards?' So at least they knew I guess.

[TipGuy]

Unfortunately, yet again, media reinforces the concept that this is a women's sport. Arggh. They couldn't have found a men's team to do this with? Of course then the unitard thing wouldn't have happened.
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TipGuy
Webmaster DrillsAndSkills.com

[Coach Blair]

For the longest time I have tried to go against the notion of gymnastics as a women's sport. If anything, they have come to dominate and take the sport from men. Possibly, because men have so many other intense sports available to them. I would say possibly that gymnastics is one of the top 5 intense sports out there for women, and while it is still an intense sport for men; there are quite a lot of others that match that intensity with brutal physical contact 1 on1 or in groups vs groups.

Since I'm something of a history and anthropology buff, I've quite often cited that as far as history knows, gymnastics was cultivated and used by men for thousands of years, before it came into female dominance. Even in the more modern gymnastics of the last 150 years compared to historical gymnastics, it was dominated by men till probably about 35 years ago.

It's important to especially convey to a lot of the young men in this sport if they are teased about it that gymnastics is still quite a manly sport. Unfortunately, it lacks most of the glory of team sports, which is why it has lost it's limelight. Up the 60's...gymnastics was quite a manly sport right alongside strongmen feats.


By no means, do I want to portray that I'm a chauvinistic pig against women in sports or intense sports. I would prefer cultures that advocate strong women as better for the culture itself. However, this will definitely detract and go into a debate on cultural notions as well as some cultural notions I am completely against.

I just want to state this before I get flamed and cause any misinterpreted blood.


On a side note, the clip on youtube stops downloading right after they put on the leos. While I was known to watch Jeff Foxworthy in my younger days, this is just too stupendous to bother with. It's even more silly than when they put some tv host/ess on some low beam during the Olympics to be all cutesy.

[shanzacoach]

It always seems to me that team worlds tend to have more men's teams than women's teams. I think worldwide, it's still more of a man's sport.

[TipGuy]

True, I should rephrase that US Media focuses more on the women, many other countries have the imbalance on the men's side. I think it's great that women's gymnastics has come as far as it has, and it provides a lot of women a fantastic opportunity. I would just prefer a more balanced treatment in the sport, though in most sports the balance needs to shift the other way.
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TipGuy
Webmaster DrillsAndSkills.com

[Tkatchev1984]

Not that this has much relevance to the discussion, but I don't think it was a unitard. They had on a leotard plus red tights. It just looks like one piece because it’s all the same color. You can see parts where one of them is adjusting the bottom of their leotard and pulling it separate from the pants.
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