Olympic cynicism

Friday's Beijing Olympics opening ceremony seemed to herald a slew of cynical comment in the press. For example, there was this from James Donaghy in the Guardian's Guide on Saturday August 9th:

"Compelling and beautiful, [the BBC's Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett-produced trailer is] everything the Olympics is not. It seems logical now for the Olympics itself to be animated. Given that the Olympian ideal of a drug-free tournament of plucky amateurs is total fantasy anyway it would merely be two fictions competing against each other with the animated version being infinitely more entertaining."

To be fair, I understand and agree with some of the arguments. The opening ceremony and the expense of running the Games, force one to consider some pretty tough questions about how best to use that much money. Arguments that sport shouldn't be used as a platform for politics, in relation to protest over China hosting the Games, are clearly overly simplistic. The well documented corruption and cronyism of Jacques Rogge's International Olympic Committee, are a disgrace from an organisation theoretically dedicated to promoting fair sportsmanship. And perhaps most of all, the inequitability of a self-funded amateur athlete competing on an apparently level playing field with a sportswoman with the backing of the full state machinery of a country like China, or the sheer financial might of a USA athlete, are galling.

Yet, that last reason, more than anything else is the reason why I, and so many others, still find the Olympics probably the most moving and inspirational of events. No matter who you are, funded superstar athlete or homegrown hopeful, the Olympics are still as important, as terrifying, and as much the pinnacle of your career. The Olympics represent stress, sacrifice, hard work and dreams for each athlete, and I find it both compelling and beautiful.

The state of the femi-nation

I've been musing recently on the state of feminism among women today, and it strikes me it's in a pretty bad place. I can't think of any other grassroots cause that is so hated and so abhorrent to so many of the people that it aims to serve. Most young women today not only feel that they owe nothing to the feminist movement, they also seem to reject the very idea and ideals of feminism and see it as totally outmoded in today's society. Balkan Witch talks about it very interestingly here.

Now clearly, part of the problem is the name, and the backlash against it, and most importantly the lack of accessibility of the more academic understandings of the political philosophy of feminism. But let's face it, the basic principles of feminism aren't hard to grasp, and the concept of equality for the sexes can't be argued with by anyone who isn't prepared to be seen as a total misogynist. So what's the problem?

Well, for a start, it isn't being taught at school and it isn't really discussed in the mainstream media agenda. Sure, you can listen to Women's Hour on Radio 4 - but that's a very limited target audience, and I'd argue that it's preaching to the converted. And yes, there's the women's section in the Guardian, but it faces much the same problem: one of reaching those very people who could most benefit from understanding the issues.

And that seems to me to be symptomatic of most of what feminism now seems to be achieveing in the world: lip service. Sure, some things are better, and significantly so. But look at what's not: remuneration and packages for women are still consistently lower than for men; employers and the government in the UK continue to discriminate against working mothers (preferring to identify the issues of childcare and how we handle the balance between parenting and work responsibilities as a problem for women, rather than one for society generally. Why are work creches and childcare vouchers considered benefits for women?); women are vastly under-represented in almost all walks of both public and corporate life. The fact that issues of gender equality are, as a rule, not in the accessible mainstream debate are both a cause and an effect of the clear need for feminism in our society right now.

And it's not just women who stand to benefit: look at the numbers of men now suffering eating disorders, obsessing over the latest beauty products full of faux-scientific ingredients and paying for cosmetic surgery. We could have told them it was all a bloody airbrushed con ...