It seems that the only thing Americans love more than building up our heroes, athletes and celebrities is subsequently tearing them down.
Remember how enamored we all were with Gabby Douglas four years ago? How much we loved her, for her poise, her charm, and, of course, her amazing gymnastics skills? I do.
The 2012 London Olympics were, without question, Douglas’ games. She was the breakout star of the women’s gymnastics team, and not undeservedly.
After all, she did carry home the all-around gold medal in addition to the team gold she won with the rest of the Fierce Five.
It’s impressive that Douglas is still competing at such a high level. After all, gymnasts have a relatively short window in which they’re physically able to compete on the sport’s highest stage.
Athletes competing in other sports like swimming or tennis generally have more prolonged careers than gymnasts do.
Although it was disappointing, it was not surprising when Douglas didn’t secure one of the two U.S. spots in the all-around final. Instead, Aly Raisman and Simone Biles secured the spots, and Douglas spent the all-around final watching from the stands with teammates Laurie Hernandez and Madison Kocian.
As it so often happens during coverage of the Olympics, the camera panned several times over to the stands.At one point, it showed an elated Hernandez and Kocian while Douglas sat solemnly.
I’m sure you can guess what happened next: Internet outrage. People took to Twitter, blasting Douglas for not being “supportive enough of” or “happy for” her teammates.
This was all in addition to the public questioning her patriotism for not placing her hand over her heart during the flag raising ceremony after the United States won the team gold.
What a truly nasty way to treat a girl who’s represented her country so well.
It’s thoughtless to make such a snap judgment about Douglas based off a few shots of her watching the competition. Why would she be sitting there with a smile plastered on her face the entire time?
Actually, this is part of a bigger issue facing women, especially women of color. It’s unfair to perceive Douglas as being “upset” or “salty” just because she’s not grinning.
We don’t think of males as being angry when they have a neutral expression. So why do women have to be deliriously happy all of the time to be viewed positively?
A great example of this is the contrast between social media perception of Douglas and of swimmer Michael Phelps.
Before his 100-meter butterfly semifinal, Phelps was sitting in the pre-race room, his face a mask of pure anger and intensity, in part because he was about to race Chad le Clos, who had out-touched Phelps for the gold in London.
We loved Phelps for it.
His hilarious expression became an Internet meme, and he walked away from the attention unscathed, unlike Douglas.
What’s so infuriating about this is that Phelps was so clearly angry, while Douglas was not. And yet they received totally different reactions from the public.
This is fairly obvious, but I’ll say it anyway for emphasis.
They were received differently because Phelps is a white male, and Douglas is a black female. Plain and simple.
We can do better than this as a country. I know we can.
acgroove@indiana.edu
