Truly Horrifying

I am slightly horrified to find myself enjoying the olympics.  more than slightly horrified actually, and bordering on aghast. 

I'm not a great lover of sport generally, other than stuff that seems to fall under the heading of sport by default (synchronised swimming, rhythmic gymnastics).  But I find myself actively watching the olympics at any given moment.  not only watching, but enjoying.

This weekend alone I've seen judo, rowing, synchronised diving, archery, dressage, hockey, football, boxing, cycling and beach volleyball.  And with the exception of the volleyball and the dressage, none of it was for the purpose of a sneaky bit of pervery.  What is happening to me?  Is it another step on the road of turning into my mother (who is *obsessed* with the olympics)? Is it because I myself am actually participating in (and even enjoying) exercise these days?  Is it just because i'm in london and the atmosphere is rubbing off on me?

Whatever, I'm enjoying it.  And for everyone's enjoyment, I give you Zara Phillips <swoon>

The 'lympics are here!

So, the London Olympics has finally started, and despite all my expectations, I find myself loving it.  All of it, not even just the synchronised swimming and the rhythmic gymnastics.

What I'm not loving is how it is highlighting the small-mindedness of the UK media.  Danny Boyle's amazing opening ceremony (you can still catch it on iPlayer if you somehow managed to miss it) has been criticised for being "too multi-cultural".  seriously, some wanker in the Daily Fail actually said that having a non-white face in every segment was a bad thing.  Fuck me, why is it even an issue?   London is probably one of the most multi-cultural multi-ethnic cities in the world, never mind in the UK.

And it's not just the seemingly acceptable face of racism that is on show.  There's misogyny aplenty too.  From the (kind-of) subtle  - the fact that male athletes are referred to as men, whereas female athletes are all girls, to the downright blatant - Frankie Boyle (and many many others) insulting Rebecca Adlington on the basis of her looks.  Seriously, we're talking about a woman who has won Olympic gold medals in her sport (and a bronze tonight, yay!).  What the fuck does how she looks have to do with this?  why is it even relevant?  *and* attractiveness is so personal and arbitrary anyway, so even if it *was* relevant, your ugly might well be my swoon-inducing.

Can the media please just focus on the sport?