08.04 | athletes don't owe you anything
"What is the source of our first suffering? It lies in the fact that we hesitated to speak. It was born in the moment when we accumulated silent things within us."
—Gaton Bachelard
✉️ letter #2
So what's been on your mind recently? For me, thanks partially to the Olympics, there's been an almost non-stop conversation going on about women's (especially) bodies, their mental health and how much resilience the rest of the world gets to demand from them.
In one of the groups I run in, there was a big blowup after Sunisa Lee, the first Hmong American to enter the Olympics, had an absolutely excellent showing in the all-around, winning her (and USA!) the gold.
An Asian-American man gloated:
"Grit FTW... The comparison to Biles is stark. Immigrant reugee family, who still competed an won days after her father was paralyzed... I hope the media gives her as much love as they give to Biles. (But we know that won't happen)"
This was not okay. A comment like this will never be okay.
I am excited for Suni and am thrilled to, after this year of intense racism against Asian-Americans, see one shine so brightly on the global stage. I think her story is inspiring, and I can not wait to see what else she brings to gymnastics.
But I can do that, while recognizing how absolutely dominant Simone Biles has been for women's gymastics internationally. To even have to point this out feels laughable, considering just days before, judges were underscoring her difficulty in order to "not encourage other gymnasts to hurt themselves." That she, a three-gold-medalist, decided to withdraw this time around (thereby setting up an amazing chance for Sunisa to perform) is neither a sign that she has less "Grit" or that the media favors her over Asian-Americans if they don't cover Suni nearly as much.
I can do that, and also recognize that there is nothing inherently "right" or "good" about being able to set aside personal tragedy to perform. That demanding that of anyone - elite athlete or no - creates the culture that has Asian-Americans clocking in with the second-highest rates of suicide out of ethnic groups, despite being relatively economically stable compared to other POC.
I can do that, and acknowledge that Sunisa's story is not mine to claim. Especially since I'm definitely not from an immigrant refugee background. I can admire her family support and be excited that, again and again, America is being reminded that its strength comes from openness. But I don't get to co-opt her identity for my own purposes. And I certainly don't get to use it against a perception of Biles as being from a less tough background - something I'm not sure can even be argued if we wanted to go down that road.
Of course, pointing this out got the dude defensive and other dudes then got defensive for him. This is pretty par for the course with a lot of Asian-American organizations, and partially the reason I always had a light touch with them in the past.
I don't know what the aftermath of this will be for that group. But I have no qualms saying where my values lie, and this is a line that I will draw.
I am for the education about and celebration of Asian-American contributions to America. I will not do it while harming anyone else.
...
Speaking of other problematic narratives, I did a whole video about a recent feature in the New Yorker that tried messily to link dog eating in the Yulin Dog Meat Festival to the ongoing pandemic. You can read/watch it below:
🌱 the ethical ideas news reel
Pieces I've found from around the internets with interesting ideas for sustainability, human health, and diversity (both bio- & people).
- Since we're on the subject of gymnasts, G.O.A.T. Simone Biles made the decision to step out of the Olympics competition, and I can not feel more in awe of her. Haters are going to hate, but knowing your limits and insisting on enforcing them is not only her being a fantastic team member, but also a lesson all of us should take in our own lives. I'm glad most media reporting seems to have the same take.
- Put this on my wishlist: “The Instant Mood Fix is based on my experience with my mother and what I was going through, as well as people's life stories and related science. The book teaches people ways that they can cope with difficult life situations, and how they can become more optimistic, more decisive, more confident, and take charge of the lives that they want.”
- Fingers crossed, but looks like the University of Basel might have made a breakthrough in deriving energy from sunlight. It involves a new class of compounds based on manganese, which is both cheaper and less toxic compared to what's usually being used for solar power.
- China is the world's biggest national market for electric vehicles, selling 41% of all EVs worldwide. The Conversation breaks down what the rest of the world can learn from what's been done over here.
- The Tokyo Olympics is set to be the "first-ever carbon negative Olympics"... though it looks like a lot of that is them buying carbon credits to offset greenhouse gas emissions.
🎵 Song of my week
Brittany Howard (of Alabama Shakes) has collaborated with a bunch of artists to remix her first solo album... and well, I don't really know what else to say except that I think this is my new favorite song of the summer.
✨enjoying: one final piece of pop culture fun
I'm not sure how or why I got on an SNL kick all of the sudden. I think it's because Loki is over and I'm already missing having some Marvel TV to look forward to.
I've been going down a whole bunch of playlist rabbit holes, trying to see what's available from seasons long enough ago that I can feel nostalgic about them. A thing I've realized: the current cast has actually gotten BETTER at making sure skits actually conclude instead of just peter out into nothing.
Anyway, this guy does me one better by watching one SNL episode from each of its 46 seasons and giving a fun history and pretty fair review of this behemoth.
Did you enjoy it?
By the way, have you noticed that three of The Late Night hosts nowadays have been writers on SNL? And they keep on interviewing people from the SNL-niverse. After the 35th Bill Hader interview, and 29th Amy Poehler chat up, it starts to feel like you're in the lunchroom hearing your more in-the-know colleagues gossip about the boss. "Haha yeah, Lorne. That guy, I mean right?"
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