It’s a tricky business, declaring something to be “gender-equal.” Such bold statements tend to be swiftly followed by a giant “but”—and it looks like the Paris Olympics are no different.
For the first time at the Games, we’ve been told, there’s parity when it comes to the number of male and female athletes taking part. Well, there are actually 5,630 men and 5,416 women, but don’t tell that to the International Olympic Committee, which is making a song and dance about this being an “historic” moment of 50/50 representation, and using the hashtag #GenderEqualOlympics at every opportunity.
I don’t mean to sound horribly cynical… this is great stuff on the surface. There are genuinely positive moves, such as breastfeeding athletes being given private rooms and an on-site nursery. But only a few days into the Games, it’s undeniable that the “gender equal” tag is starting to look as shaky as that rendition of the can-can during the opening ceremony.
Where to begin? Perhaps with the Olympics camera operators, who have been warned by its official broadcaster to avoid “sexist” portrayals of sportswomen. The Olympics Broadcasting Services has updated its guidelines to ask its mostly male camera team (I can see the first problem there, can’t you?) to avoid shooting close-ups of female competitors, which are more common than those of men.
“Women athletes are not there because they are more attractive or sexy or whatever. They are there because they are elite athletes,” mansplained CEO Yiannis Exarchos. To give it some credit, the broadcaster has juggled the schedule so that previously overlooked women’s events get primetime slots. But I can’t quite work up the enthusiasm they probably imagined this radical move would prompt, given that it’s the lowest of all the low-hanging fruit.
Then there’s Bob Ballard, who was dropped from Eurosport’s commentating roster over the weekend for making sexist remarks about the Australian women’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay swimming team. As they celebrated with their gold medals by the poolside, Ballard said, “Well, the women just finishing off. You know what women are like… hanging around, doing their make-up.” Well done on reaching the pinnacle of your sport gals! Now, stop making the men wait, like you do when you’re slapping on all those silly cosmetics, and let them get on with the real competition, okay?