A poem for Gabby Douglas

7 comments

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1. 1
   

   sambarge

   August 14, 2012 at 4:30 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment

   That is brilliant. Thanks.

2. 2
   

   RW Ahrens

   August 14, 2012 at 7:59 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment

   Wow, very expressive, eloquent and just plain right!

3. 3
   

   Julie

   August 14, 2012 at 8:40 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment

   This was perfect. Thanks for the link.

4. 4
   

   ema

   August 14, 2012 at 9:36 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment

   I’ve read several articles about this and I still don’t get what the problem is. She had her hair in a pony tail, like you would expect a gymnast to have while performing. So what?

5. 5
   

   Alyson Miers

   August 14, 2012 at 5:04 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment

   @Ema, the criticism is that her hair is not kept properly straight and neat while she performs. You know how hair which is made to look straight often gets unruly in humidity? And that humidity includes sweat from strenuous activity?

   Well, apparently, Gabby Douglas is supposed to keep her hair in such a way that it doesn’t kink up when she sweats.

6. 6
   

   Godless Heathen

   August 14, 2012 at 5:23 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment

   Yes, there’s tons of racism in criticisms of her ponytail in addition to all the sexism.

   The white girls generally don’t have this problem because for most of them (or at least the others on the team this year), their hair is naturally straight, smooth and shiny.

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   ema

   August 14, 2012 at 9:11 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment

   @Alyson Miers,

   Thank you.