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Skin suit anyone?

SuspectDevice

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,204
429
Roanoke, VA
This is not at all aimed at you Brian, but I've had this nagging question I've been meaning to ask the internet, Ask Jeeves style for nearly a decade, and the context of this thread makes me think of it...

When dudes make statements that clearly objectify women, is it usually a joke? I'm not trying to be a dick or a buzzkill here, but it strikes me as odd that the INTERNET mountain-bicycling community(or Target Demographic, as I like to call it) has a blanket policy of making the same contrived comment every time a female is presented in any context what-so-ever.
Reducing every female to a meme, even in jest, isn't as funny as it used to be when it was fresh. In fact it wasn't that funny then, and now, it's just sad.
Chicks ride bikes too, but they certainly don't feel very comfortable entering into a "community" like a messageboard where they have to pretty much hide their identities to avoid getting sexually harassed on a fairly grand scale. It takes a pretty sophisticated internet geek of the lady persuasion to see that, I hope, most of the implementations of this tired meme are to get chuckles, and not to let the world know that yes, you would copulate with this women based on a 500x350 pixel two-dimensional image of her.
I suppose I would be flattered if RideMonkey was 90% women and every time I posted a picture of myself in an athletic context the patent response was along the lines of "I would engage in consensual intercourse with that individual that I don't know past that impressive bulge and a smile". Once or twice maybe, it'd be funny.
There are plenty of other places to make into boy's clubs out there, but I really, really like women, and I'd love to have more of them on the trails and at races. It's not 2003 any more, and the internet has taken over as the predominate marketing and organizational tool in lots of activities and industries. Do any of us really want to see women's racing and riding marginalized to their own "shrink it and pink it" ghetto to feel more comfortable and confident?
Healthy, Self-Actualized women are totally rad, and invariably good looking, as athletes tend to be. They probably didn't commit their lives to shredding to get boys though. As someone who's dated a disproportionately high number of elite or recreational female athletes, they certainly do have more self-confidence, and more sexual empowerment than most men I know. Lots of them love to tease the boys(or the other ladies), and that's rad.
Let's try to tone it down, and maybe many of the women(women who race faster than 80% us) who lurk here will chime in more often. It's a snowball effect(no pun intended), and before you know it, your local DH race may have more than 5 women....

and Butch- why the hell did you have to pick Assos? The Swiss are well known for a few things, precision, a strong domestic defense force, great typography in the '60's and fondue for starters. Fashion is most certainly not one of their strengths.
 
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Pegboy

Turbo Monkey
Jan 20, 2003
1,139
27
New Hamp-sha
Interesting..you seem to find dissatisfaction for just about every subject matter that is brought up.

Do you really think that sexism is what limits the size of the womens DH field...really? I find most of the athletes in "adrenaline" sports are not that sensitive..something to do with genetics I suppose.

I used to train alongside of Lindsey and was a fairly regular acquaintance of her husband as well. I would make the comments I made to their face and I don't believe either would be offended. When women are put in this situation they are not oblivious to the response it is going to garner and often times, wheather its Marla Streb, Dudec or Julie Mancuso (olympic gold medalist skier who posed partially nude), it is done with overladen sexual tones. Like it or not, it is what it is and it brings attention to their sport and offers another level of marketability.

Either way, it is way to serious a subject mater for this thread. Lindsey is a beautiful girl making millions of dollars through maketing and winnings, and is poised to achieve legendary status. I think she'll be holding a handful of medals when Vancouver is through.
 
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SuspectDevice

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,204
429
Roanoke, VA
You pointed out a ridiculous double standard and the failures of 2nd wave feminism. I couldn't agree with you more.
There is never too serious of a discussion for any situation. Don'tcha dig that my comment was tangential? Or that I expressed relatively clearly that using your own sexuality to sell stuff is pretty rad? 3rd wave sex-positive feminism is one of my great passions after ranting about the intersection of bikes and post-scarcity anarchist theory and masturbating at work. I think you confuse passion with negativity. The world is broken. I'm not going to stop agitating until it's fixed.

I spend a lot of time talking about double fisting and cunnilingus with my lady friends. We have context and a relationship. We spend plenty of time harassing each other sexually too. It's like reclaiming "c-nt", context is everything. I'm not going to walk up to a chick I don't know at a race and chat her up about manual buttsecks though. I wouldn't want to do it on the internet either, unless it was in the context of porn, which is an open healthy and consensual form of sexual expression. Locker room antics are pretty boorish, and certainly lower the overall level of discourse in any situation. Don't kid yourself overall perceived attitude of sport participants has a huge effect on entry into a sport. Looks at cyclocross, bike polo, triathlon, and a myriad other sports that are newish and appeal fairly equally across men and women.
Honestly, there really isn't much "extreme" about DH racing, it's safer than rugby, easier than hockey, requires less fitness than soccer and cheaper than riding horses. With proper bike setup it's pretty damn fun, even for a beginner, as long as the track is designed with beginner to intermediate riders in mind.
Perceptions are everything. And DH looks pretty damn intimidating to plenty of people based on the way many amateur athletes and enthusiasts represent themselves, and they way the sport is marketed by some companies inside and outside the industry. We could have a few hundred Rachel Athertons and Kathy Pruitts. We don't need title nine, we just need less dicks.
 
Jeremy R

Jeremy R

<b>x</b>
Nov 15, 2001
9,701
1,056
behind you with a snap pop
Oh, poor little Vonn.
She is awesomely athletic, rich, hot, ski slopes fear her and men want her.
She is posing on SI with her perfectly sculpted butt in the air.
I hope she is not totally crushed when thousands of men around the country talk about how attractive she is. Boo hoo.

Sorry man, but if I am going to war for a segment of the female population, it is not going to be awesome athletic chicks like skiers and mtbers who are already self-confident to shred the way they do.

How about a nod to all the fat chicks sitting around out there just hoping for a little sexual harassment to come their way. Just wanting to hear, "Hey Babe, those elastic waist jeans are really doing it for me today!"
So, here's to you big girls, this buds for you. (Although you may want to make it a Michelob Ultra.) :D
 
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jonKranked

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
88,184
26,524
media blackout
Jeremy R said:
How about a nod to all the fat chicks sitting around at there just hoping for a little sexual harassment to come their way. Just wanting to hear, "Hey Babe, those elastic waist jeans are really doing it for me today!"
So, here's to you big girls, this buds for you. (Although you may want to make it a Michelob Ultra.) :D
Click to expand...
To quote the great(?) burleyshirley:

"Hey baby, I bet you taste like cholesterol"
 
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davetrump

Turbo Monkey
Jul 29, 2003
1,270
0
Pegboy said:
Interesting..you seem to find dissatisfaction for just about every subject matter that is brought up.
Click to expand...
I love this quote...

Mickey is only happy if he is bitching about something and tracing the fall of our society directly back to it.

sit back, and chuckle.
 
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