Don't be a voyeur: Instructions for cameramen at the Olympics not to spread sexism

Olympic Games in Paris were not even officially opened yet, the alleged "satanic performance" at the opening did not shock yet rigid interpreters of Christ's teachings, and popular tabloids all over the planet chose the "sexiest" female athlete at the Games in advance, making it clear that in the androcentric world of sports, the first place is not the achievements of female athletes, but the sexual urges of men.

That's how - even before "diabolical, debauchery and disease" shook the full-blooded heterosexual stallions at the opening of the Games, for whom sport, apart from smacking and lustful fantasizing about sportswomen, is reduced to drinking beer and betting - we got shallow tabloid texts with traditionally stupid titles like which is "Millions Sigh for Her: She's the Sexiest Athlete in the Olympics."

In such texts, one could read anything, from the fact that it is "enough to look at" the sportswoman in question to make it "clear why she is always in the center of attention", to how many followers she has on social networks who regularly "drool" over her appearance. All, therefore, extremely important sports information.

The first gender-equal Games

Therefore, it is not surprising that the official broadcaster of the Olympic Games (OBS) called on cameramen to film sportsmen and women in the same way in order to avoid stereotyping and sexism creeping into the coverage of the Games.

This means that cameramen, among whom the number of women is negligible, should avoid zooming in on certain parts of the athletes' bodies and poses that could allude to anything other than sport, which inevitably occurs during competition.

The call to cameramen came alongside the official announcement that, after 128 years of modern Olympism, the Paris Olympics were the first to achieve gender parity between male and female athletes, with female athletes' competitions given more prime-time slots to improve their visibility.

"Unconscious bias"

OBS chief Yiannis Exarchos said his organization had updated its guidelines for camera operators, most of whom are men.

"Female athletes aren't there because they're hotter or sexier or whatever. They are there because they are elite athletes," said Exarchos. and Radio Free Europe (RSE) writes.

He stated that the problem mainly comes down to "unconscious bias", with cameramen and television editors being more inclined to show close-ups of female contestants than male contestants.

The organizers of the Olympic Games in Paris have also made numerous changes in the schedule in order to encourage the competitions of female athletes, so the women's marathon should be the final event of the Games instead of the men's race, which the previous editions of the Olympic Games crowned male dominance in sports, but also in the world in general.

In addition, Exarchos rightly noted that the schedules of sports events were traditionally biased and that they emphasized men's competitions, RSE reports.

He pointed out that traditionally in team sports the women's final was held first, followed by the men's final, while in combat sports there would be women's competitions in the morning and men's competitions in the afternoon.

The largest platform for promoting gender equality

The director in charge of gender equality at the International Olympic Committee, Marie Saloa, said that the Games in Paris are "de facto the world's largest platform for promoting gender equality in and through sports", RSE reports.

She pointed to the "symbolic moments" at the opening ceremony when both men and women carried flags in almost all delegations.

The gender equality achieved at the Games in Paris is actually just the end of the horribly arduous journey that female athletes went through to prove that they are no less valuable than men.

A 128-year-long struggle

The history of modern Olympism began with such a discriminatory approach to female athletes, all in accordance with the ideas of the "father" of the modern Olympic Games, Pierre de Coubertin, who saw the revival of the ancient Greek games as "a celebration of gentlemanly athleticism with the applause of women as a reward".

Accordingly, there were no female athletes at the first modern Olympic Games, and the first women at the Games appeared in Paris in 1900.

Then the Swiss Ellen de Portale became the first Olympic champion, as a member of the winning team in sailing. Needless to say, the rest of the team was made up of men.

A few days after her, the British Charlotte Cooper became the first individual Olympic champion by winning in tennis. At the 1900 games, tennis and golf were the only sports in which women could compete in individual sports.

A total of 22 women participated in the Games that year, which represented only 2,2 percent of all competitors. In addition to sailing, golf and tennis, women also competed in cricket.

At the previous Olympic Games in Paris in 1924, only four percent of the competitors were women, and again their participation was limited to "proper" sports such as swimming, tennis and cricket.