Apparently, having your hair slicked back is a crime, but vandalizing a gas station and lying about it is completely acceptable. Every Olympics, controversy tends to rise over several players and their actions during the games. Gabby Douglas and Ryan Lochte, respectively a gymnast and swimmer, both sparked heated debate on the Internet through their actions. However, Douglas’ actions caused an unnecessary amount of commotion and the public should have given Lochte more heat for his actions.
Social media blew up, astounded over the fact that Douglas went on television with her hair not naturally done. According to the Washington Post, even in the past Olympic Games, she was bashed on for slicking her hair back, when it should not truly concern the public.
The general public should only be concerned if she is representing the U.S well. Her hair does not affect her performance or anyone negatively, so the general public was being unnecessarily critical. Those who disapproved took it to Twitter to express their dislike for Douglas’ hair.
“Gabby Douglas hair actually a little too OC. Looks hella crunchy. Hahaha,” Twitter user @YouFell Fornell said.
However, there were several people who were expressing the stupidity of the issue over her hair. The Olympics, they claim, should be about the sportsmanship of athletes and their overall representation of their country. As long as the athletes’ actions are not detrimental to anyone else, it should not be of concern.
“It’s just silly. These young ladies having to worry about the way they appear while they’re doing a sporting event,” a 20-year-old Air Force veteran, John Lewis said.
Evidence has recently exposed Lochte for telling lies to the media about his drunken ways. He lied saying that he was actually robbed during his stay at Rio at gas station when in reality he and his friends vandalized the station and kicked open a locked bathroom door. They had an altercation with the security who shortly arrived after the scandal. He even had his mother confirm his fake story.
Lochte’s actions do not automatically deem Douglas as a complete saint. Douglas made minor mistakes during her Olympic performance as she ignored tradition and did not put her hand over her heart while she was standing with her peers at the gold-medal podium.
She chose to pout in front of everyone instead. Although this was wrong on Douglas’ part, she did genuinely apologize and yet the media still continued to bash on her.
Douglas also did not cheer on her teammates and encourage them while they were competing, which led to the trending hashtag “#CrabbyGabby” on Twitter in response to her so- called ill mannered ways. Her minor acts are incomparable to actual crimes of Lochte.
The fact that Lochte had the audacity to completely lie to the media, despite his awareness of the microscope that he is currently under, due to it being the Olympics, reveals that he does not hold much respect for anyone.
At such an important time for athletes around the world, he gave the U.S a bad reputation, which also led to many of his sponsorships rightfully dropping him, some of which include Gentle Hair Removal, Airwave, Speedo, and Ralph Lauren. One would think that after these confirmed lies, the media would antagonize Lochte and make sure there would be no excuses made for him.
“”Let’s give these kids a break. Sometimes you take actions that you later regret. They are magnificent athletes. Lochte is one of the best swimmers of all times. They had fun. They made a mistake. It’s part of life. Life goes on. Let’s go,” said Mario Andrada.
People are making excuses for a situation in which all fingers point to Lochte and his friends. Their acts reeked of pure immaturity and lacked reverence, yet they are dismissed with no consequences from the media.
Lochte, a 32-year-old male is being called him a “kid” and is being defended. Douglas, 20-year-old black female was practically dragged on social media for something as simple as her hair and apologized for acts that were barely offensive. Lochte’s actions were legal
transgressions, paired along with the fact that he did not even come clean until he was exposed. Despite his apologies, it is clear that he is not genuinely sorry for his ways.
According to the Huffington Post, the excuses that are being made for Lochte have created the popular question to surface the Internet: Is there white privilege in the media? Based on how blown out of proportion Douglas’ actions were in comparison to Lochte’s crimes, it is definitely justified to say that there is white privilege in the Olympics.
The lines of morality are blurred when it comes to Lochte, a white male in his mid- thirties, yet when the public eye is faced with the minor mistake of a black 20-year-old woman, the media magnifies and creates an ordeal and, truly scrutinizes her. They accept Lochte’s apologies with open arms, but Douglas is ignored and made into a laughingstock.
Our society needs to be able to face the problems of this world colorblind and look at a situation objectively. The contrast of Douglas and Lochte’s controversies and the consequences are prime examples exposing our society’s flaws and the unwritten laws that discriminate based on gender and ethnicity.
