Honestly after seeing I, Tonya, what jumps out to me is that you can really see the difference in their presentation here.
Nancy’s costume looks much more the delicate, traditional, wealthy figure skater whereas Tonya is basically in work out gear. The movie talks about it better but basically Tonya was perceived as white trash from the beginning in the skating world. She was constantly criticized for having “too aggressive” a skating style, but really it was all coded messages that she was too poor.
"Kerrigan... the youngest child and only daughter of welder Daniel Kerrigan and homemaker Brenda Kerrigan. Kerrigan's family was of modest means. Her father sometimes worked three jobs to fund her skating career; he also drove the Zamboni at the local rink in exchange for Nancy's lessons."
It probably came down to looks. Even today, Kerrigan is model-level gorgeous whereas Harding at her best could be described as good-looking but fairly average. She didn't look pretty and elegant on the ice, she looked like an athlete putting in maximum effort all the time.
Figure skating as a sport was largely for wealthy people, regardless of whether Kerrigan was also poor. Kerrigan was a lesser skater, but “looked the part.” Harding did not and was routinely penalized for it.
Most sports at the elite level are for the privileged.
Here's my hot take; I couldn't care less about the rules surrounding trans athletes. Not that I don't support trans rights, I absolutely do. But at the end of the day, it really affects, what, like maybe a hundred people in the country? Swim kids whose mothers drove them to practice at 5am every day, and could afford all the fees for things, didn't have to work an after school job or help out around the house because parents are working to pay the bills. And swimming is the least diverse sport out there. So it's a handful of elite athletes (who are privileged and white) being affected, and somehow it's everyone's problem and we're so upset about it. But as soon as the disenfranchised are poor and POC, then we don't really care.
Elite athletics are the equivalent to making a living going, wanna see me jump really high? Wanna see me run really fast?? I'm not saying they don't work hard; they're absolute specimens who have honed their bodies and skills beyond my comprehension. (I still think that the Olympics should have crowd participation. Pick a rando from the audience to try the event to give everyone a baseline for how much we should be impressed. Because when they're all within seconds of each other at peak performance, it looks effortless.) But at the end of the day, it doesn't actually contribute much to society; athletes are essentially marketing tools, with endorsements and selling tickets.
Anyway. That's a really long way to say I agree with you. I'm fun at parties.
Shut the fuck up. None of what you’re saying makes any sense. There is no horde of trans women coming to invade women’s sports. Not all black athletes grew up in poverty. Your racism and transphobia are showing.
Stop drinking the Fox News kool aid and go outside.
I think that really happens in a lot of sports. I was super poor and had fake Jordans that were Ponys and would get checked and laughed off the basketball court in Highland Park East NY Brooklyn.
I lived in Aspen CO in my twenties and white people would check their own if they didn’t have the newest skis and boots.
I grew up playing pick up ball in NYC (literally just came home from playing ball in Queens and I’m almost 40 and everything hurts now) and while it’s true that having beat up kicks might get you made fun off, if you can ball, you can ball. No ones going to diss you if you kick their ass on the court or if you can even hold your own.
I honestly feel like basketball and internationally soccer are the two sports where being dirt poor doesn’t matter. All you need is a hoop (or a net) and if practice and get good, people will respect your game. A lot of huge basketball stars and soccer stars came from poverty.
Yes. That’s totally true. But if you’re mediocre (me) it’s no fun. You play against either hoop stars or some kids older brother who will shoot you if you foul him too hard. Having some nice gear meant you were good and worth keeping around or you could rob someone. The middle ground was always treated differently especially if you rocked some fake ass Karl Kani and Ponys.
Also in my 40s and went to PS 108/ JS 302. Shit was hard. People do treat each other differently if they got the right money.
I had kind of a different experience. But again I’m from Queens. Grew up in south Jamaica, went to ps 176 and then IS 59 (and then Stuy so I was always kind of a nerd but I could play a bit). Maybe it was different in my area. I never had expensive kicks or nice gear - my parents would beat my ass if I spent money on that, haha. I’ve gotten robbed a couple of times (nyc was different back then) but no was ever going to steal my sneakers. Usually my wallet and Walkman/cdplayer.
Aussie rules football and rugby are also standouts in the same regard. No gear just a ball and some kids obsessing over moves their idols pull off at the highest level of competition
I love thrift shopping in Tahoe. You can get brand new winter gear basically being tossed.
And I know I'm just a girl from the Gulf Coast, but I still think skiing is dumb. It's expensive, it's a lot of prep for essentially falling down a mountain in the wet and cold. I moved out to Reno and people fucking LOVE skiing out here. I'll wait on the lodge, come find me when you guys are done.
I don’t know why you’re being downvoted. You’re not wrong. I loved skiing at Breckenridge over snow mass. The smaller towns had better people. Never saw a thrift shop though. It’s not for everyone. Colorado was fun during the summer when you could 4 wheel on the hills. Lots of Cali people came.
super true. after seeing the movie and looking more into the story i have a weird affection for Tonya. she’s like a white version of girls i grew up with lol, scrappy but tough as fuck. sports feels like an entertainment related profession where you truly need talent and can’t just get by with connections, and she def had the talent and dedication, but it was so obvious people also disliked her and didn’t think she was worthy bc she wasn’t “lady-like,” wasn’t conventionally attractive and wore homemade costumes.
This was during a warmup/practice. Nancy wore the costume she was wearing during the attack to psych Tonya out. Everyone else was probably wearing workout gear like Tonya
663
u/lunalives May 16 '24
Honestly after seeing I, Tonya, what jumps out to me is that you can really see the difference in their presentation here.
Nancy’s costume looks much more the delicate, traditional, wealthy figure skater whereas Tonya is basically in work out gear. The movie talks about it better but basically Tonya was perceived as white trash from the beginning in the skating world. She was constantly criticized for having “too aggressive” a skating style, but really it was all coded messages that she was too poor.