[UA] Eternity

[Gregory Paul Stolze]

At 08:08 PM 09/20/2000 -0600, you wrote:
>Well, sure. And this list is delighted to tell you lots of high weirdness
about Pythagoras and other ancient Greeks. What if those "gymnastics w/
props" girls are spelling out some weird algorithms with their ribbons? It
might be the only reason to explain why that's a sport. And synchronized
swimming--what do those shapes *really* mean--some watery tribute to the
deep ones? It's creeping me out.

So where does women's gymnastics fit into it?  Personally, I get a very
creepy "Jon Bonet Ramsey" vibe off a lot of the women gymnasts, though it's
a lot better now that they have to be at least 16 to compete.  Is it some
kind of symbolic strike against the Mother, by creating these amenorrheic*
gamines?  

-G.

*"Amenorrheic" = "non menstruating."  Lots of hardcore girl gymnasts don't
get their periods because of the extreme stresses to which their bodies are
subjected.  (Neither do women who are starving to death, I believe.)  If
they start early enough, their development can get delayed quite a while.
(I learned this from a source that's quite possibly biased: An article
arguing that women's gymnastics grew from a sublimated fascination with
prepubescent girls.  I suppose it might not be sexual, as that author
implied.  On the part of girl/woman fans, it could be a Peter Pan thing
where they want to remain children and have some Father/Coach figure making
the tough decisions, while for the male fans it's the enticing prospect of
having that kind of respect and power.  But I don't know.  Still, when I
see a sixteen-year old jumping hard onto a leg with a titanium rod in it --
a rod that got put in TWO YEARS AGO -- I can't avoid the feeling of
misplaced priorities.)

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