Olympics: Woke Breakdancing, non-binary 'women', and soccer

The Olympics is over – and many people may be very glad about that. There has been a lot of woke controversy and demonstrations of how confused our culture has become – starting with the opening ceremony with drag queens and mocking the Last Supper, to a women’s boxing ring with genetic males being allowed to compete. But there was almost another major gender controversy at the Paris Olympics – you know, the Olympics where they have mens and women’s divisions but they don’t actually test. They just say “show us your passport”! And there was some breakdancing. And there was some soccer.

The first story is that the Olympic shot put competition had a non-binary USA athlete Raven Saunders qualifying for the final. I’ll come back to the mask shortly.

Yes, Raven Saunders is non-binary and uses the pronoun ‘they’.

She was the Tokyo 2020 silver medallist – and at the medal ceremony in Japan, the media said she crossed “their arms and formed an 'X' with their wrists.” Only one of them, by the way.

Saunders explained the 'X' stood for 'the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet.'

Yes she’s oppressed. Perhaps it’s because she only got the silver and not the gold. Or maybe she didn’t mean to die her hair that colour.

Well that’s weird. I thought it stood for X chromosomes of which she has two – XX - woman – which is why she’s in the “women’s” section. Wow – this is so confusing.

Actually the boxers did it with just their fingers didn’t they.

And it also immediately begs the question – so if they is a they / them, why is they competing in the women’s competition? Isn’t there a 3^rd category? Men / Women / Woke.

This is her at the Tokyo Olympics.

Anyway, according to the report in the DailyMail:

Saunders, back competing after an 18-month ban for missing three doping tests (!!), first caused a stir by adopting the alter-ego of 'The Hulk' - before taking the character to a new level. Appearing in the games today, they wore a mask, their hair was dyed neon green and purple, gold grills covered their teeth and long fingernails on their left hand were bedazzled in Team USA colours, with the letters H-U-L-K.

Phew! The reporter managed to completely garble a simple sentence into the language of woke.

But then the trouble began because most people just want to speak normal English and tell the truth.

According to the report in Stuff:

BBC commentator Steve Backley was corrected live on air by his co-commentator after misgendering an American shot put athlete who was wearing a full face mask.

Backley, the former Olympic javelin medallist who has become the voice of the BBC’s athletics field coverage, was calling the qualification round of the women’s shot put [last] Thursday morning (local time) when America’s Raven Saunders was shown on the screen.

And his co-commentator was Jazmin Sawyers.

But as Steve – a dude - introduced Saunders, he mistakenly referred to the athlete as female (because that’s what she is and why she’s in the “women’s” competition competing against other “women”

He said - 'The colourful character of Raven Saunders back. Good to see her back, sort of. Sort of see her, I mean,' Backley said, referencing Saunders' mask

Ha! That is actually hilarious. “Good to see her – sort of.” 😊

Sawyers responded as a school teacher would dealing with unacceptable behaviour in the classroom and said:

'Well we can't actually see them very well. Raven Saunders is actually non-binary and wearing a mask there - we are quite used to seeing them with interesting attire,'  

 The report continues

Saunders spoke to the reporter just before the competition started and said of their outfit: 'I'm in full form. I had to remind the people, I am who I am.

It’s not “I am who I am”. It’s “we are who we are”. Remember it’s they / them. Sheesh. Do I have to explain this to everyone?!

Saunders continued:

'It is one way to make me stand out and encourage other women.

“Other women”?? Should that be “other non-binary peoples”?

A lot of younger athletes are coming through and they really push their own styles.'

Yep – she’s not eh

The athlete, who plays piano to relax, has said they use the huge green comic book character of the Hulk to channel their power when competing. ‘That’s when Hulk comes out,’ they added. ‘The Hulk was smashing everything that needed to be smashed.’

She told Yahoo News that after an adolescence in which controlling her temper was frequently an issue, she “learned how to compartmentalise, the same way that Bruce Banner learned to control the Hulk, learned how to let the Hulk come out during the right moments and that way it also gave him a sign of mental peace… when Saunders puts on the mask and picks up the shot it’s a signal to unleash their inner Hulk.”

She came 11^th out of 12 in the final.

Our New Zealander – a woman – without a mask – got the silver 😊

A BBC source said Backley’s comments were ‘unintentional’, adding: ‘Jazmin Sawyers immediately clarifies that Raven Saunders is non-binary for audiences.’

It really begs the question for future Olympics. Will we be able to have men’s and women’s categories in the near future? And will every commentator be thinking twice trying to think – now what’s this competitor’s preferred pronouns? They/them, ze/zir, ey,eir, - exhausting.

The next Olympics are in California – so anything could happen!

Then there was a story about soccer.

You’ve probably heard of Megan Rapino from the US Women’s soccer team who loved to preach to everyone her woke views. Rapinoe is in a same-sex relationship, refused to stand for the playing of the national anthem; said she would never go to the White House and feuded with Trump; and argued for the inclusion of trans players in women’s sports— ironic given that the U.S. women’s soccer team lost to high school boys in a 2017 match-up. She also missed a crucial penalty in the Women’s World Cup final in New Zealand last year that lost the US the title. Perhaps she should focus less on woke, and more on scoring.

But the US National Women’s Team has a very woke pro-LGBT culture. Back in 2015, the team found themselves facing a similar controversy, one that lasted several years. On June 26 2015, same-sex marriage was established in all 50 states.

Then USWNT-defender Jaelene Hinkle took to social media to air her frustration, citing her religion as her reason for opposing same-sex marriage altogether. "This world is falling farther and farther away from God," she tweeted. "All that can be done by believers is to continue to pray."

She became public enemy #1. In 2017, Hinkle was called into the national team, but withdrew she did not want to wear U.S. Soccer's rainbow jerseys honoring Pride Month.

Hinkle has not featured for the national team since.

As a Breakpoint commentary says

Her obedience came at a price. Playing for the North Carolina Courage team in the National Women’s Soccer League, Hinkle is the recipient of boos and jeers almost every time she touches the ball. And in the run-up to this year’s Women’s World Cup, U.S. Coach Jill Ellis invited Hinkle to try out for the team. After three days of workouts, Ellis, who is gay and “married” to her lesbian partner, cut Hinkle, citing “footballing reasons.”

Jaelene has what’s called an Even If faith. Even if the consequences are bad, I won’t compromise my faith.

And you probably haven’t heard of another women’s soccer player Korbin Albert.

According to a report in The Daily Signal:

Korbin Albert, a 20-year-old picked to be a midfielder for the women’s team for the Paris Olympics, is no Rapinoe…

On her Instagram account, Albert’s bio proclaims “Jesus is [king],” using the crown emoji. Her main photo shows her with an American flag,

But she’s “controversial”, Can you guess why? You’ve probably already guessed from her Instagram account.

The Associated Press reported in April about “a controversy over midfielder Korbin Albert’s social media posts,” while the New York Post headlined a June article, “Controversial USWNT star Korbin Albert named to Olympic team.” USA Today dutifully noted, “Albert became the center of controversy in March …”

So, what exactly did this young woman do? Well, the word “controversy” became glued to her when it emerged that Albert … held Christian beliefs.

The soccer star reportedly also shared a video on social media of a person, seemingly in a church and wearing a “Jesus wins” shirt, discussing with regret how he had pursued same-sex attractions and a transgender life.

Her activity caught the attention of Megan Rapinoe, who wrote: “To the people who want to hide behind ‘my beliefs’ I would just ask one question, are you making any type of space safer, more inclusive, more whole, any semblance of better, bringing the best out of anyone? … because if you aren’t all you believe in is hate. And Kids are literally killing themselves because of this hate. Wake TF up! Yours Truly, #15.”

Poor wee buttercup, Megan. That sounds real inclusive. Not. Also very hateful because someone is sharing their own testimony – their own personal reality. Rapino is a hypocrite. She seems to be just trolling Christians to have a go at them.

You see the other reason Rapino doesn’t like Korbin Albert is that when Rapino played her final game and badly injured herself, she said

“I’m not a religious person or anything, and if there was a God, like, this is proof that there isn’t, This is f—ed up.”

Have a watch

So she insults Christianity, God, Christians for their faith.

And Korbin Albert dared to defend her own personal faith and simply ‘liked’ a post on Instagram that read 'God taking time off performing miracles to make sure Megan Rapinoe sprains her ankle in her final ever game'. 

It’s what you call a roast. A comeback that puts Megan’s disrespectful statement in its place.

But remember – tolerance and inclusivity only go one way. It was Korbin that apologised. But not Rapino. No – of course not.

The report also says:

Albert also posted a video during the 2023 Fourth of July weekend on TikTok “showing her family taking turns stating that ‘their pronouns are U.S.A.’” according to The Athletic, a sports news site owned by The New York Times. 

But guess what. Korbin got the last say.

She was part of the gold-winning team – and provided the assist for the winning goal over Brazil 1-0.

The other hilarious bit is that Korbin has Rapinoe’s number of 15.

It’s finally being worn by a real winner – who also loves God and knows who has actually given her the talent she has!

And just finally, did you hear about the Australia breakdancer?

No, nor did I.

This is what it’s supposed to look like

Then there was this one. From Australia. The best woman breakdancer in Australia.

The DailyMail reported:

Rachael Gunn, whose stage name is RayGun, went viral across the world after the 36-year-old failed to score a single point in Paris on Friday. Gunn is a lecturer at Sydney's Macquarie University and has a PhD in cultural studies - focusing on the 'politics of gender and gender performance' and 'the methodological dynamics between theory and practice.' Gunn's LinkedIn page notes she is 'interested in the cultural politics of breaking.'

In her paper, titled The Australian breaking scene and the Olympic Games:  the possibilities and politics of sportification, Gunn argues that this commercialization is against the spirit of breakdancing, which is rooted in local communities, centered around street battles, cyphers and block parties.

The paper states: 'This trajectory points towards an increasing loss of self-determination, agency and spontaneity for local Australian breakers and will have profound consequences for the way in which hip hop personhood is constantly "remade and renegotiated" in Australia.'

Chef de mission Anna Meares says Gunn should be applauded for her courage. And she likened the criticism to historic misogynistic abuse directed at female athletes as they fought for recognition in the sporting world.

Yeah nah. Let me quote what feminist commentator and woman Hannah Berrelli says in a post on X

So I looked into this. I thought maybe I should feel sorry for the woman, athletes can choke, and maybe it was cruel for people to be making fun of her. Alternatively, I thought it may be possible she was led up the garden path, told she was good break dancer when she wasn’t, and I can’t imagine anything more humiliating than realising you are in fact not a talented athlete on the world stage.

Turns out Rachael Gunn here has a PhD in cultural studies, with a speciality in the gender politics of movement and breakdance. She has written about how including break dance in the Olympics changes it from a practice within an alternative subculture, to a hegemonic one that incorporates the dance into what she sees as Australia’s settler colonialist project.  I am 100% certain what she is doing here, in wearing the Australia kit even, is trying to make some subversive point she can later write journal articles about. 

This whole episode is demonstrative of the supreme selfishness of woke identity politics studies. Her little stunt diminishes Australia on the world stage. Hundreds of Australian athletes who will have dedicated their entire lives to athletic excellence will be forgotten, because Rachael wanted to bulk up her ResearchGate profile. Rather than their medals and efforts, this is what Australia will be remembered for. 

Not to mention the disastrous effect this will have on break dancing as a sport. Its position in the Olympics is not secure, and surely won’t be taken seriously after this. Good job Rachael, you really showed those chauvinist nationalists, hundreds of women and girls will not get their Olympic opportunity now.

Rachael represents so much of what is totally lecherous about cultural studies academics. Pick a subject area that will be under-studied in your context, so you can rise through the ranks quickly (how many break dancing academics will there be in Australia?), and wreak absolute havoc in lives of the people you want to study. There is no limit to the sheer disrespect they will dole out, purely for self-advancement.

So next time an Australian friend tells a joke about you, just say two words - “break” “dancing”. They’ll soon go very quiet.

So there’s our three Olympic stories for you.

A woke academic breakdancer from Australia. A non-binary masked shot putter from the US. And a committed Christian soccer player (2 of them actually) standing for their faith.

Are you glad the Olympics have finally finished?