PSA: Quit erasing the grunt work going into ‘pretty’ sports

Picture twinkly lights, inoffensive music and footage of girls getting their nails done. With the glitter and the giggles, the video is like watching a clip from a tweenage Disney movie.

Except it’s not. It’s NBC’s Olympic coverage showing five of the best gymnasts in the world.

Recently Simone Biles, one of the five, became the Rio Gymnastics all-around champion. She’s been undefeated for the past three years with her vault at the 2015 Word Championships making history.

But thanks to Tide, you’re probably far more likely to recognize the Gold medalist from a commercial that sticks her in the laundry room. After all, gymnasts love to keep things tidy, clean, and pretty, don’t they?

These companies cover girls’ athleticism with daintiness. Under the sparkle and makeup, athletes like Simone stretch our expectations of the female body, but not too much.

Society is far more comfortable seeing gymnasts in advertisements and coverage of the games because that’s what they expect from women – I’m still waiting for the Tide commercial showing a female weightlifter, hockey player or boxer.

I mean, how dare a woman participate in a sport where all the hard work isn’t hidden? How dare her body reflect that she’s worked fucking hard to medal? The brute force and tireless punishment her body has taken to achieve greatness?

Would gymnastics be as popular if we were shown the injuries and sweat broken in every training session? Who knows. The pathetic coverage and condescending commercials undermine the hard work Simone and thousands of other female athletes put in daily. Media outlets would rather comment on the glitter on gymnasts’ leotards rather than the size of their muscles.

We’re being sent the message that women should only participate in feminine sports, and in turn that these sports are less respected than those considered traditionally masculine.

It happens at all levels. As a figure skater I put up with the bullshit that comes with it. At 13, I was told figure skating was for wimpy girls, and was advised to pick up a ‘proper’ sport. The ‘proper’ sport, usually ice hockey – because it was for boys. I’d leave the rink on an evening after practicing for hours to be called a ‘twirl girl’ or a ‘puck slut’.

The glitter and music in my sport made it girly and, because it was feminine, it was viewed as less.

Fuck that.

In reality, figure skating is like sprinting on a treadmill while spinning in a circle and holding your arms rigid and smiling, all while trying not fall on the ice and smash your face in.

And I’ve smashed my face on that ice more times than I can count. This doesn’t matter though: Done properly, skating looks tidy and graceful, and because of that people don’t think it’s as worthwhile.

It’s not just gymnastics and figure skating facing this kind of judgement. Girls competing in other ‘girly’ sports feel it too:

Alexandra Gillies, 20, Horse Riding, (St John’s University)

“When you google horse riding you’ll find common claims like ‘easy’ and ‘girly’. Does falling two meters and being trampled on by a 500kg animal seem girly to you?

“It’s because the media coverage rarely shows this. When riding is brought up in conversation the first comment is ‘So do you wear those outfits with the pants and the blazer jacket?’ I’d love to see a football player or a male athlete asked this.”

“I’ve even been told riding is for spoiled little girls. Horse riding is not a fashion parade and it’s actually really hard work. I’ll speak for everyone that rides now and let you know that the easier it looks, the harder it is.

“Just because my sport may appear feminine, it doesn’t mean that it’s not difficult. The three riders under the age of 20 who died recently while riding should make this obvious.”

Zoe Weaver, 21, Cheerleading, (Ohio State University) 

“I could go on for days about the comments I’d get for doing cheer. People would say ‘oh that’s such a girl sport’ all the time, or  call me ‘a dumb cheerleader’

“My coaches in other sports would give me a hard time about being a cheerleader. This was even more annoying because every single one of my injuries have been cheer related.

“One time, a girl landed on me in our warm up before a competition and I had a bad concussion and a sprained back. I did our routine, but have no memory of it. The next day was spent in a wheelchair. I’ve also broken four fingers.”

Emily O’Connor, 21, Trampolining

“It makes me so angry when people call trampolining girly and say that it looks easy. They’ll go ‘oh I bet I could do that.’ I get so taken back by it. No one would ever say that to a professional swimmer. Yeah, you can have a trampoline in your back garden, but you can also have a swimming pool.

“They have no idea how much training actually goes into it. It’s not just going on the trampoline: It’s working on core strength, flexibility, balance and so many other things. I’d honestly like to see them give it a go.”

We’re more than twinkly lights and soft music. We’re more than skin-tight leotards, and Sunday-school smiles. We’re more than laundry and tampon commercials. We’re life-risking, bone-breaking, sweat-dripping athletes.

Treat us that way.