From Mechelle's blog: Let’s wrap it up: Playing catch-up

Traveling from Sooner country to Stanford country back to Sooner country in a 10-day span … throw in watching the Olympics … and what’s been lost in the shuffle? Me posting my poll voting. I know everybody’s just been hanging on by a thread waiting for that.

and Value judgment: How some sports are viewed

I’ve thought this for a long time. But whenever the Olympic spotlight is on, and I hear/read mocking of sports like figure skating, I think about it a lot. I’m not sure I’ll articulate any of this nearly as well as I want to, but here goes:

I don’t believe it’s a “coincidence” that the sports that seem to draw the most derision in the Winter/Summer Games are figure skating, rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming – two of which are women-only events and all of which emphasize so-called stereotypical “feminine” qualities such as grace, flexibility and elegance.