These male commentators had this insanely offensive thing to say about female athletes wearing makeup
The women representing their countries in this year’s Olympic Games are arguably some of the strongest, most inspiring athletes in history. There have literally been too many moments of female badassery to count. And yet, two male TV commentators recently showed us that when a woman shines brightly, all too often there are men ready to try to bring her down.
In a video for Fox News, Bo Dietl and Mark Simone spoke with Tamara Holder about whether or not women wearing makeup is empowering. You can view the whole conversation here.
The convo had plenty of potential to be interesting and nuanced. They could have explored the many different pressures that female athletes face, or how empowerment is often extremely personal and can mean something different for everyone.
Instead, Dietl opted to make this horrendous comment: “Why should I have to look at some chick’s zits? Why not a little blush on her lips, and cover those zits! I like to see a person who wins that gold medal go up there and look beautiful.”
UM, WHAT?! Did we actually just hear that? Simone went on to add, “You’re gonna be seen by a billion people. Put on makeup.”
The men attempted to temper their argument by saying that, “everyone looks better with makeup” — even men, recommending that all athletes, regardless of gender, should try to “look their best.” Are we going crazy here? Because here we were being totally and utterly amazed and inspired by the athletes we’ve been watching NOT because of what they look like, but because of all that they’ve accomplished.
It remains pretty clear that these old white dudes remain blissfully unaware of the pressures women in the public eye — and women in general — face every single day.
Now that we’re all properly enraged, let’s cool down by reminding ourselves what the Olympics is actually about: overcoming some of life’s greatest challenges to achieve the impossible. Let’s all take a moment to honor some fearless, fierce, and beautiful Olympic ladies!
So much love.
Crying literal tears of joy right now.
GET IT, GIRL!
Okay, just…breathtaking.
Okay, we feel a little better now.
