Mkgillman wrote: ↑Tue Sep 18, 2018 9:15 am
I guess I also missed the podium presentation for most online followers, because every meet I see is still based off the lifter's total. If you don't like the way that people present themselves on their personal accounts, don't follow them. I have absolutely no interest in TONS of online celebrities, so I don't pay attention.
Some weird irony with this statement^
People (some here) made the case that USAW should of selected Martha over the athletes to go the the Olympics
because of her on-line following, and that she was more "marketable"....to attract more athletes to the sport.
All those female Olympic prospects were all doing well at the time (Robles, Morgan, Rogers).
And by "attract more athletes to the sport", ya know who that is right? or SHOULD BE?
Youths.....like 8-11 year old girls. (everyone complaining the majority USAW athletes don't start young enough).
So this one statement ^ pretty much invalidates everything you said here about the interwebbz, public perception, etc.
Oh, I'll admit, Martha has toned the sexualzation thing down lately.
I would suspect this might have to do with maturity, she's the queen of the sport now(USA only), and the BF.
The thing between her and Vibert was petty....she really should've took the high ground there.
I was like you a while ago; i didn't care about what the ladies posted of themselves.
Then my daughter, whose in sports, got a little older.
So yeah....um..... not caring for the athletes making "it" about their bodies.
The other thing I'll take umbrage with, you keep doing this White Knight SJW thing: that women treated are somehow different than men
(re: meme'd weightlifters). That's BS. Plenty of men are getting roasted and/or called out for their stupid behaviors as well. **
Jon North has literally become his own meme.
Jarred whats-his-face, the "American as F*ck" guy, screaming all over the platform after lifts, acting like a douche bag...
....I've publicly admonished that idiot several places.
Posted (not here) about LuX's ridiculous habit of taking off his singlet top on stage after making lifts, flexing muscles, etc.
What. A. Dork. (best was when the KAZ guy took his gold medal away, after Lu's pre-mature shirtless celebration).
I pretty much created the bar path diagram that features no-bar-path post about Kiser Witte.
(had a melt down....he AND his coach abandoned the meet after bombing the snatch portion)
Those meme pages also attack the drug users, cheaters, and people doing scrupulous things.
(things YOU would call more tangible problems).
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** One thing I will say, is maybe, just maybe the women get more attention and criticism to a slight degree...
....and its not because of any of the social "misogynist" evils you are thinking ....
...and I've written about this elsewhere, and many others I have spoken with share this same view:
The Women are probably the short term key to USAW medalling on the world stage.
The men? they are not even close, because reasons (naunces of PEDs, athlete pools, tradition, US men getting sucked into other sports, etc. etc. etc.)
The women will be more competitive with the other world teams....because too many reasons to go over here...but some of those reasons are why the USA is a great country for a woman to live in ironically.
It the weightlifting community, it is my perception, the women garner more attention because of this.
The recent more aggressive drug testing and/or weight class restructing may have given a SLIGHT boost to the men's HOPES.
But still, the women are closer to the ultimate end goal.