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Re: Olympic bombingans Bear

it is, unfortunately, crud.  i'll answer Tofler et al shortly, but just
3 things from Bear's post:

1) "The latest edition of New England Journal of Medicine,
released just two days ago, specifically evaluated the physical and
dietary stresses placed on female gymnasts in current training
regimines and declared it was nothing more than institutionalized
child abuse. That was their exact conclusion."

NO, it wasn't.  the closest they come is to say:

"The development of gymnastics champions involves hard training,
stringent coaching, and often parental pressure, ostensibly in the best
interest of the child. Overtraining, injuries, and psychological damage
are common consequences. (3,4) Parents and coaches, in collusion with
the young athlete, may seek to experience vicariously the success of the
child, a behavior that could be called "achievement by proxy." The
recent death of seven-year-old Jessica Dubroff during her abortive
cross-country airplane flight has been cited as a glaring illustration
of this behavior. (5) Its hallmark is strong parental encouragement of a
potentially dangerous endeavor for the purpose of gaining fame and
financial reward. We suggest that in its extreme form "achievement by
proxy" may be a sort of child abuse."

and most certainly these authors do not claim that Bela Karolyi or the
US Olympic Team does this.  and i doubt that Bear would want to make
"extreme achievement by proxy" a punishable offense.

"knock-knock. this is the proxy achievement police.  Ms. Bryant, your
daughter, has recently been getting very very good grades in school. 
please accompany us to the station to discuss this disturbing matter."

2) "Maybe all sports training is tough, but dietary programs that
result in a nineteen year-old looking like a twelve year old need to
be examined."

well, even the Tofler editorial doesn't claim that the relevant dietary
programs result in 19 year-olds looking like 12 year-olds.  the closest
they come is pointing to the research on the "female athlete triad"
which shows that hard athletic training for girls in nearly EVERY sport
combined with effective weight control of EVERY kind DELAYS the onset of
menstruation. NO study referenced by them, susidiary sources, or that i
have read claims to have found anything like Bear's asserted
developmental "delay" of 7 years.

3)  Bear flippantly dismisses claims that sexism is at work here.  too
quick and too flippant.  the CONTEXT of this latest assault on ALL
women's participation in athletics is the battle over Title IX.  the
courts have recently REQUIRED universities and high schools to fund male
and female athletics equally.  the appeals will be vicious and the
in-fighting over what athletic budgets get cut is getting very ugly.

Molly Yard, ex president of NOW and now of The Feminist Majority wrote
recently:

"Opposition to gender equity also comes from coaches of men's minor
sports such as wrestling, golf, and gymnastics. These coaches have
joined together to lobby Congress to change Title IX, which they argue
is hurting their sports by taking opportunities away from men. This is
another myth -- that as more women become athletes, there will be less
opportunity for men to play. In fact, this is not the case. As more
women have entered athletics, they have not displaced men - instead, the
total number of athletes has increased."
(http://www.feminist.org/research/sports2.html)

Please consider re-reading the NEJM editorial in this context, Bear. 
remember the part that says:

"The "female-athlete triad," which is associated with substantial
morbidity and mortality, (21,22) is characterized by disordered eating,
menstrual dysfunction, and osteoporosis. (21,22,23) In the general
population, the prevalence of eating disorders is about 1 percent for
anorexia and 1 to 3 percent for bulimia. (24) Among female athletes,
however, the prevalence of eating disorders is reported to be between 15
percent and 62 percent. (14,22,25,26)" 

it is NOT just gymnastics that is the "problem."  the "problem" is women
who are athletes and that's why it is called the "female-athlete triad".

and it is ultimately crud.  but the good responses to this claim need to
be responses to the absurd editorial of Tofler et al.  coming up...

thank you for reading,
michael korcok
Archive created by Jonathan Stanton (jonathan@cs.jhu.edu)
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