**The Intl Ski Federation Has Responded. For an Update, Please Go to This Additional Post**
When I first heard this I thought we were speaking of Iran, or some other nation stuck in the Stone Age. After all, it’s the 21st Century, it’s not possible that there is actually a rule that bans women from a certain sport, is it?
Unfortunately, proving why there needs to be a an authentic feminist movement, Gian Franco Kasper, the presdient of the Intenational Ski Federation, is stuck in the year 600. He has indeed banned women from ski jumping because, according to him, it’s “too dangerous” for them. Get a load of this Cave Man’s mentality:
ABC News: Why Are Women Being Left Out In The Cold?
The International Ski Federation has ruled that ski jumping is too dangerous for women, making it the only winter Olympic sport that has male competitors and no female counterparts.
“It’s like jumping down from, let’s say, about two meters on the ground about a thousand times a year, which seems not to be appropriate for ladies from a medical point of view,” the federation’s president Gian Franco Kasper said on National Public Radio.
But female ski jumpers disagree.
“I don’t know what he’s talking about because clearly he has not seen us jump in the last two years,” said Lindsey Van, the second-ranked female ski jumper in the world. “Our technique is as good, if not better than, the men.”
So, while the American feminist establishment has devolved into supporting women who murder their children (Andrea Yates still being their cause celebre) authentic feminist issues are left to the wayside. The American establishment has also made itself so marginal and ineffective, that even if they entered this fray it would mean nothing.
So, it’s time for all of us to make a difference. Here’s what you can, and should, do:
Contact the International Ski Foundation and express your outrage at their position. Remember, it’s not just this guy Kasper, it’s a position their entire council had to approve.
Here is the link for Women’s Ski Jumping USA–ask them how you can help their cause. Also, contact the US Olympic Committee and demand that they enforce the rights of American skiiers who happen to be women to compete. Also chime in with the International Olympic Committee with the same message for women skiiers in every country.
Contact the Sponsors of the ISF, ask them if they are aware of this blatant discrimination and tell them you are an informed consumer and don’t support entities that don’t support women. Here also is a list of equipment suppliers to the ISF.
Search through the entire ISF site to see what other corporations support it, and let them know what you think, and demand that they exert pressure fo rthe ISF to change it’s policy regarding women ski jumpers. Go to their Council listing and contact their board members. And, of course, contact Mr. Gian Franco “Too dangerous for the ladies” Kasper and give him a piece of your mind.
Remember, being direct but respectful is important, and your message will be more easily heard.
This link has the address (in Switzerland) and email and phone contact numbers. Remember, their sponsors are worldwide, so even though they’re in Europe doesn’t mean you can’t have an impact on them. And Tammy Blog has many Euro readers. If you are a European Tammy Blog reader, please also make your voice heard. This issue affects women skiiers from every country.
And here is the page for the US Ski and Snowboard Association. Let them know what you think of the Intl Federation’s position and ask them for their official position on the issue. I’m doing the same. Here’s their contact info page.
Yeah, this doesn’t make much sense. The Swiss are usually neutral on such matters. Do the Swiss have female police officers?
I don’t quite see why this is a feminist issue. Kasper makes a medical claim which can presumably be either falsified or validated by available scientific evidence. If the studies do not support his view, it can be refuted on the merits. If the studies do support it, (which I doubt, but it is possible), objecting on feminist grounds will only discredit feminism.
Now Tammy, think practaly. If the world population fell dangerously below 5 billion, you have to remember that women would be much more valuable as one man can father children by numerous women while a woman can only carry one mans child at a time.
I think that was the thinking in the year 600.
There is inherent risk in all sport for both men and women especially in the sports of the winter Olympics. I fail to see how whether or not these claims can be substantiated changes anything. If the “ladies” want to jump after being made aware of the risks, let them jump.
Now Tammy, I was very surprised by your repsonse to the female matador especially in light of your love for animals and the want for them to be treated humanely. Bullfighting is one of the most barbaric and inhumane endeavors against animals that one can participate in. Somehow, I think if someone called in and asked you what you thought of bullfighting, you would not have been so thrilled about it. Does a woman’s struggle to be accecpted in the male dominated arena somehow excuse the cruel reality of what is happening in the ring?
Yep right out of the Dark Ages. He has never met my sister. Of course she was born 500 years after the Dark Ages; that may explain it.
Um, are there people putting guns to women’s heads forcing them to do the ski jump? Personally, I find barreling down a sheet of ice at speeds of 85 miles an hour, without support for the head, being a bit more dangerous than the ski jump, but women are still allowed to participate in the luge.
Don’t tell me some woman was stupid enough to marry this pig-headed, possible little-peter-fly-@&$%er.
There is a womens bicycle race here in Idaho that the international racing organizations have refused to sanction because it’s too hard for women. Funny thing is that women have been riding it every year since I can remember, and I don’t recall ever hearing of one being hurt by it. Europeans are in the dark ages over all when it comes to sports and women it seems. Just remember, Al Gore and John Kerry want us to reach out to Europe for ideas on how to shape our society.
Don’t get too upset.
They’re just silly little euros, with their silly little ideas, playing their silly little games, pretending the silly little things they do, matter.
And they can’t seem to understand why they become less relevant day by day.
Ski jumping is not fun to watch unless someone falls (in this, it shares the same attraction as Nascar), it can’t be much fun to do (compared to, say, base jumping with skis on, which at least would last longer), and it clearly fits into the realm of ‘stuff that’s so suicidally stupid, it should really only be done on a dare after a 3 day long drinking binge which started when your girlfriend broke up with you’. As an Olympic sport, the only positive it has is that it is actually quantative (unlike, say, ice dancing).
How this falls into the category of an ‘authentic feminist issue’ escapes me: do women _really_ have to prove they have equality with men in the depth and breadth of their stupidity, too? I figure it’s been adequately shown to be the case already…
I am proud of my nephew who was chosen and allowed to jump in his first Olympic games. I am confident that he will soar beyond all others when his time comes. He will do it many times and will be greatly admired by his fellow Olympians. But, I am most proud of this young man because he is kind and thoughtful and seeks justice for himself, his sister and his teammates. He is a credit to his name and family.
I am proud of my niece and her fellow hopeful Olympians because they are worthy competitors, willing to fight for their right to compete against each other on sport’s premier stage: the Olympics. These ladies are articulate and respectful of the ignorant “so called leadership” of the FIS. They will jump in Vancouver because they have fought a well organized media campaign. They will prevail and have learned things from their struggle that will make their victories and medals that much sweeter.
Here is a chance for the rest of us, who will never compete in the Olympics, to truly support those that could if we insist that the FIS and the IOC just let them.