Random Rants

My New Heroine: Zoe Smith

Despite the endless series of slow news days, I’m really behind in everything that’s been going on. I’m blaming the super fast internet connection which I’m using solely to download TV programs and movies. Yes, I’m obviously ignoring the elephant in the room, get over it.

That said, I still can’t believe what the heck I was doing, that I only read this piece now. Now! Nevermind. It’s about Zoe Smith taking a stand against sexist bastards:

Female Olympic weightlifter fights the haters

British Olympic weightlifter Zoe Smith might want to win gold for her country, but not necessarily for all of her countrymen. The 18-year-old has caught a lot of flak in recent days from nasty Internet commenters who think she looks like a “bloke” and a “lesbian.” Smith fought back on her blog, telling off the “close-minded, ignorant chauvinistic twerps” who wrote such things. And Smith isn’t just mad at the men; she also found it “sad” that some girls thought she was “weird” for being muscular: “Apparently we’re ‘weird’ for not constantly eating crap, binge drinking regularly and wearing the shortest, tightest dresses that the high street has to offer.” Looks like Smith is deserving of a medal of courage, at least.

Quoting her own words on her blog:

“The obvious choice of slander when talking about female weightlifting is ‘how unfeminine, girls shouldn’t be strong or have muscles, this is wrong’. And maybe they’re right… in the Victorian era. To think people still think like this is laughable, we’re in 2012! This may sound like a sweeping generalisation, but most of the people that do think like this seem to be chauvinistic, pigheaded blokes who feel emasculated by the fact that we, three small, fairly feminine girls, are stronger than them. Simple as that.”

Amen.

“…we don’t lift weights in order to look hot, especially for the likes of men like that. What makes them think that we even WANT them to find us attractive? If you do, thanks very much, we’re flattered. But if you don’t, why do you really need to voice this opinion in the first place, and what makes you think we actually give a toss that you, personally, do not find us attractive? What do you want us to do? Shall we stop weightlifting, amend our diet in order to completely get rid of our ‘manly’ muscles, and become housewives in the sheer hope that one day you will look more favourably upon us and we might actually have a shot with you?! Cause you are clearly the kindest, most attractive type of man to grace the earth with your presence.

Oh but wait, you aren’t. This may be shocking to you, but we actually would rather be attractive to people who aren’t closed-minded and ignorant. Crazy, eh?! We, as any women with an ounce of self-confidence would, prefer our men to be confident enough in themselves to not feel emasculated by the fact that we aren’t weak and feeble.”

Yes. Hell yes. She has said it all.