Ironman and women
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Anton posted 46 weeks ago.
Should a male marathoner be a marathonim?
The event isn't about gender. Ironman is it's title. It's what it is. It's what the event distance is called.
I lean pretty far left politically, and I find it refreshing that this isn't an issue. While being politically correct has it's place,(although I think it's over done) for crying out loud, not here!
"A little nonsense now and then is cherished by the wisest men."
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honguito posted 46 weeks ago.
Dear friend !
Surely there are more importnat problems, but just imagine the sport of triathlon had been invented be women, and the event had been called ironwoman from the beginning. How would you feel to compete in an event like that ?
Gunter
Gunter
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RV posted 46 weeks ago.
A definition of Man is : A human regardless of sex or age; a person
Maybe we need a new word for 'human' --- it has man in it too...
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scottbland247 posted 46 weeks ago.
I asked the question when I first joined the forum about if women were announced as ironwomen.....the overwhelming response from the female triathletes was "why would you say something different for me, we all just went the same distance?"
it was almost angry (although still polite)
I think the point is that at that level, we are all just tired humans.....man is not meant to be an exclusionary term to women but an all-encompassing term for human athletes
It is better to hurt from doing something than from doing nothing...
First Triathlon (400m/20k/2.75mile) 1:39.15 including 33 minutes in the water
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Anton posted 46 weeks ago.
honguito wrote:
Dear friend !
Surely there are more importnat problems, but just imagine the sport of triathlon had been invented be women, and the event had been called ironwoman from the beginning. How would you feel to compete in an event like that ?
Gunter
Why, I don't feel at all bad about not being able to compete in the "Irongirl" series, which is Women only...or the RRCA's woman's distance festival races, which are women only. I'm also comfortable enough with my masculinity to race in a series called Ironwoman if there was one.
Lastly, as per RV, I do remember reading somewhere That "Man" is simply old Anglo Saxon for "Human," woman, simply indicating a human of a different gender. I Think it was in Bryson's book "The Mother Tongue." but I'm not taking any more time to look it up....it's a B-E-A-utiful day outside and I'm going out!
Alle im Spass, Gunter!
"A little nonsense now and then is cherished by the wisest men."
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brittda posted 46 weeks ago.
I could care a less, and quite frankly don't like being singled out as a woman. I would rather compete with the men but that's just me. :)
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jonovision_man posted 46 weeks ago.
"Garbageman" became "sanitation worker"...
"Manholes" became ... nothing, right? I think they're still manholes. Personholes?
"Policeman" became "police officer"... Ironofficer? Doesn't work.
"Fireman" became "firefighter"... Ironfighter? :) I think we have a candidate!
Or just leave it.
jono
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cuds posted 46 weeks ago.
Is this thread for real? No... it just can't be. Can it?
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Semper Tri posted 46 weeks ago.
I saw this on active.com or beginnertriathlete.com too, maybe on both now that I think of it. All started by the same person and answered the same way but by different people.
i dont know what today will bring to me, but thats just fine.
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TonisTri posted 46 weeks ago.
Oh I am so tired of the PC stuff! How about a return to CS (common sense)! I am all for changing our language to edit out the truly offensive stuff, but otherwise, get over it! I have not done an IM yet, but when I do someday, you can call me an IRONMAN all day and you won't hear me complaining!
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." -T. Roosevelt
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firegirl posted 46 weeks ago.
+1 tonistri.
i know i'm a girl; if i have to tell you, i have bigger problems than syntax.
when i was a waiter, i called myself a waiter..but i didn't mind being called a waitress.
when i was fighting fire, i called my self a firefighter (because that was the actual rank/job title) but i never minded being called fireman, because with all the gear on if you're doing your job right, no one can tell who's who.
now that i'm a doctor, if someone tried to call me "doctress" i think i'd be irritated...of course i'm often called "nurse" so i'm sort of used to that.
if i ever get to finish an IM, you can call me any darn thing you want.
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Tamara posted 46 weeks ago.
What a ridiculous question. Seriously. First, as Anton pointed out, "You are an Ironman" is part of a trademarked event. period. And if I ever cross that magic 140.6 line, like Toni, I'll be thrilled beyond belief to be called an Ironman.
Second, in the English language we don't really have many gender-neutral nouns. Mankind, for example, is gender neutral yet it contains the word man. Let's not over-PC ourselves here.
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tmhagen posted 46 weeks ago.
I can't wait to be called an Ironman!! Like Firegirl said...if I ever complete it you can call me whatever you want.
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Star posted 46 weeks ago.
I like to be called an "IronMAN" because there aren't that many chicks (compared to the number of male IM entries) who can hang with the big boys.
"I'm more fun than an iPod!"
My blog:http://starsnextbigthing.blogspot.com/
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wannakona posted 46 weeks ago.
Interesting that all these questions are raised mostly by males.
I never heard a woman complain after finishing IronMan distance triathlon, that she is not being referred to as IRONWOMAN
Konstantin
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beads1985 posted 46 weeks ago.
jonovision_man wrote:
"Manholes" became ... nothing, right? I think they're still manholes. Personholes?
*snickering* you said "manholes"
I couldn't get past that ;-)
Now back to your regularly scheduled thread.
'Nothing to it, but to do it!'
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beads1985 posted 46 weeks ago.
Man (from Proto-Germanic *mannaz "man, person") and words derived from it can designate any or even all of the human race regardless of their sex or age. This is indeed the oldest usage of "man". The word developed into Old English man, mann "human being, person," (cf. also German Mann, Old Norse maðr, Gothic manna "man"). Few argue that the term man is derived from Manu, the first human according to Hindu beliefs.
'Nothing to it, but to do it!'
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TryScott posted 46 weeks ago.
I'm amazed by the people out there that will go out of their way to BE offended. Surely these people have other things to occupy their time. Or maybe I'm missing out on how important these issues are to our society...
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JohnieTri posted 46 weeks ago.
It's called an "Ironman" b/c the first overall finisher is always a man. If and when a woman ever finishes any "Ironman" race 1st overall, I feel certain the powers-that-be will look into an immediate name change for that race. Until then, those women will have to live with being called "Ironman".
P.S. Having my butt handed to me, by many women, in just about every race distance I've raced in, IM included, I must add that I'm just trying to make a joke.
-Johnie
Dear friends !
I have always wondered why our long distance events (1/2 Ironman and Ironman) are called like that. Thousands of women have shown all around the world that they are well able to do Iron(wo)men just as good as men can.
So why do we still call it IronMAN and not, p. e., Iron(WO)MAN ? Why do female triathletes not stand up and demand a change of this word ?
Any suggestiones ?
Regards
Gunter
Gunter