- Joined
- Dec 11, 2011
Psychologizing skaters: attributing success and failure to mental states
Do you know what I hate? I know, you don't care what I hate. But still...
I hate when people commenting on figure skating (whether they are people paid for their opinions on television broadcasts or anonymous internet opinionators) psychologize skaters: attribute their successes or failures to what is going in their minds.
Here’s what I mean: Skater A has a bad skate in an important competition. “Oh, well, she is just so fragile. She gets really nervous. She is beautiful and oh-so talented, but can’t handle competition.”
Or: Skater B has a good skate in an important competition: “She really knows how to focus and quiet her demons. She doesn’t let the pressure get to her.”
I’m not saying these explanation aren’t sometimes true. My point is that no one who says these things ever has any basis for saying these things. Unless one is the skater herself, her coach, or her therapist, one has no basis for saying such things. Especially for explaining the quality (or lack thereof) of a particular performance.
(I’m using feminine pronouns because I think female figure skaters are overwhelmingly the ones who are psychologized. This is due, no doubt, to the global gender stereotype of women being ruled by their emotions.)
You all are with me, right?
Do you know what I hate? I know, you don't care what I hate. But still...
I hate when people commenting on figure skating (whether they are people paid for their opinions on television broadcasts or anonymous internet opinionators) psychologize skaters: attribute their successes or failures to what is going in their minds.
Here’s what I mean: Skater A has a bad skate in an important competition. “Oh, well, she is just so fragile. She gets really nervous. She is beautiful and oh-so talented, but can’t handle competition.”
Or: Skater B has a good skate in an important competition: “She really knows how to focus and quiet her demons. She doesn’t let the pressure get to her.”
I’m not saying these explanation aren’t sometimes true. My point is that no one who says these things ever has any basis for saying these things. Unless one is the skater herself, her coach, or her therapist, one has no basis for saying such things. Especially for explaining the quality (or lack thereof) of a particular performance.
(I’m using feminine pronouns because I think female figure skaters are overwhelmingly the ones who are psychologized. This is due, no doubt, to the global gender stereotype of women being ruled by their emotions.)
You all are with me, right?