How is men's figure skating viewed in Russia? | Page 2 | Golden Skate

How is men's figure skating viewed in Russia?

Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Thank you for an excellent post, Mielikki.

About Olympic sports that U.S. comedians make fun of, I would say the two-man luge is on top.

To Sky_fly. A recent poll shows that the war in Afghanistan is now the least popular U.S. war ever, with less than 20% approval among Americans.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
To Sky_fly. A recent poll shows that the war in Afghanistan is now the least popular U.S. war ever, with less than 20% approval among Americans.

we're getting farther away from the Vietnam War... so that is not surprising. At least the "War On Terror" saw this country salute and support the troops when they came home. I can't say the same about how Vietnam Veterans were (And really still are) treated. :no: :disapp:
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
A friend and I were just talking about that tonight, Toni. It was shameful the way Vietnam-era soldiers were treated both during and after the war. I guess my memory was inspired by the appearance onstage of Vietnam vets during a singing of Billy Joel's song about the era, "Goodnight Saigon," on the Kennedy Center Honors program this weekend. I realized that though we often see active-duty military and vets taking part at events nowadays, we almost never see vets from the Vietnam era. It's as if we're trying to forget the whole thing ever happened. It's so important to remember to separate the soldiers from the war, whether you support the particular conflict or not.

Back to men's figure skating and dancing, I'm watching That's Entertainment 2 on the classic movie channel right now. They showed an energetic side-by-side dance duet with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra from the film Anchors Aweigh, with much tap dancing and leaping onto and off furniture. Sinatra came into movies as a teen singing heartthrob, the day's equivalent to a rock star, with crowds of screaming teenaged girls mobbing him. And it was assumed that if he starred in musicals, he would learn to dance. So he learned enough to keep up with Gene Kelly, no mean feat. (I'm sure Kelly toned down his work a bit to accommodate Sinatra.) Their dances together are wonderfully boisterous, usually done either in street clothes or military uniforms, so there would be no mistaking them for anything fluffy. So there were times in American cultural history when dance was considered okay for guys.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
It's as if we're trying to forget the whole thing ever happened. It's so important to remember to separate the soldiers from the war, whether you support the particular conflict or not.

I know in the case of some of the men in my family they're almost afraid to say what conflict they were in until they know the people well enough that they know they'll be safe. One of my uncles was messed up enough for being drafted and put on the frontlines (he still has nightmares of the horrors he caused... he has a book written about him and his team called "Easy Target" mom won't let me read it as it gave her nightmares). He came home and his life was constantly threatened (good ol California, Berkley for you :no: ) As much as people want to say Vietnam (the war) was an ugly time for America, the aftermath IMO was much uglier.

My dad was a coreman with the Marines/Navy and they stayed and took care of the people on the ground as well as the soldiers. Yet according to many still in the Jane Fonda mindset he's still a "baby killer". He delivered a lot of babies while he was over there. Never killed a soul. But he was there on Uncle Sam's dime so obviously he's a murderer. Yeah, I'm bitter.
 

cassiem

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 28, 2011
Thanks, Sky! I always thought that the folk dancing tradition might have something to do with Russia's enjoyment of related dance arts such as ballet and figure skating. Not only is there the idea that dancing is just as much a "guy thing" as sports, but many dances are done in rather ornate traditional ethnic costumes, which can predispose people to think that men wearing brightly colored clothes are entirely masculine (--and I agree).

By contrast, America's sensibilities come from uptight Anglo-Saxon puritans, who thought that dancing was not just unmanly but scandalous, and that emotional displays (except for anger, of course) were for--well, not for men, anyway. :)

I can also see that the southern tier of Russia might be entirely different from Slavic Russia; most of it is influenced by Central Asian traditions. (In fact, most of southern Russia is in Central Asia, come to think of it.) I imagine that many of the southern cultures' folk dances aren't even partner dances, as they are in Slavic Russia. Men and women dance separately.
Some good points but it should be noted that the south is influenced by indigenous Caucasus traditions, just as much or more than by Central Asia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peoples_of_the_Caucasus
 
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