Put a sock in it Steffensen, and start acting like a man.

Admiral Ackbar says:

12:40pm | 16/07/12

Mine get through because I’m one sixteenth Navajo, and one quarter lesbian.

M says:

01:20pm | 16/07/12

Admiral, I feel for you, really I do. For I too, am a lesbian trapped in a man’s body.

Admiral Ackbar says:

01:45pm | 16/07/12

Although the intention of my comment was to put a light hearted spin on nihonins own post after someone (P Walker, if that is your real name) got a bit carried away and completely missed the point, I believe our special group of man lesbians requires a club. A very exclusive, in no way sexist, and not weird at all club / support group.

M says:

01:52pm | 16/07/12

I’ll bring the scones, you bring the tea.

stephen says:

06:38pm | 16/07/12

The Admiral eats muffins, not scones.

Nick says:

07:25am | 16/07/12

Talk about missing the point

marley says:

07:27am | 16/07/12

Did someone get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?  See the little smiley thing beside Nihonin’s comment?  It’s not there just to finish the sentence.

Michael says:

07:34am | 16/07/12

I think he was joking, no?

nihonin says:

07:43am | 16/07/12

‘Do you remind your kids of past brutalities to instill hatred, ensuring they cannot move forward?’

Seems I’ve rubbed a bigot the wrong way, P. Walker, thanks for the advice, take some of it yourself, move on and get over yourself.  Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t use my heritage as an excuse, everything I have, I’ve earnt. 

Besides if you look at my comment with both eyes, you will see it was meant jokingly and reversing the usual ‘I’m discriminated against because I’m Aboriginal’ rhetoric.

nihonin says:

07:53am | 16/07/12

Michael, yes I was joking.

Sickemrex says:

08:07am | 16/07/12

Somebody didn’t take their irony supplements this morning.

Sickemrex says:

08:08am | 16/07/12

Somebody didn’t take their irony supplements this morning.

Sue says:

10:46am | 16/07/12

Looking ast the comments to your blog nihonin, it reminds me of he two students in my tutorial group who swore that the lecturer was racist because when they went to see him he didn’t open the door. When I asked if that had called to announce who they were or if they had checked that the time was allocated to consultation with the lecturer or if the lecturer could see them, I was told “no”. So the next question was “no people of your ethnic background knock omn doors any differently to Australians?”
That race card is used too frequently when commonsense and personal integrity would have best been served up.

nihonin says:

11:21am | 16/07/12

Agree Sue, usually the person calling racist on another person is the racist themselves.

Dieter Moeckel says:

12:39pm | 16/07/12

If your camp out in Arnhem Land and lay a spear across the track that leads to your camp it tells visitors you don’t want company. A closed door and a no reply means the same - it applies to everyone.
So if person A is on the other side of the spears it’s racism but if B is on the other side its not ...

Leah says:

01:11pm | 16/07/12

Nihonin was clearly being sarcastic, P Walker.

P. Walker says:

04:30pm | 16/07/12

@Leah , thanks, I never saw him as a sarcastic person, but will look out for that in future posts.

...and apologies to those who fell on the floor cracking your skulls

nihonin says:

06:26pm | 16/07/12

P. Walker ‘I never saw him as a sarcastic person, but will look out for that in future posts.’

Only do it when I feel something needs to be pointed for the obvious crap it is.  No hard feelings.

Cheers

Greg says:

09:25am | 16/07/12

AA seriously dropped the ball with this one and it’s good that they eventually righted the situation, but people must realise that the only reason the LaCaze issue got so much attention is because she is smoking hot

marley says:

12:34pm | 16/07/12

@Greg - and smoking quick, too.

nihonin says:

07:52am | 16/07/12

‘AA should have come out a lot stronger, even done a press conference and called him a racist whinging idiot. He needs them more than they need him.’

Reverse racism, the fall back of the whinging loser or the incompetent, cause they didn’t get what they believed they deserved.  This is one of the lowest forms of racism in my book, basing your loss of a spot in the team on your heritage, shame John Steffersen.

Greg says:

09:33am | 16/07/12

haha the Ali G line cracked me up.

‘Is it cause I is black?’ No Jon it’s because you is slow

Everyone now days is so quick to jump on the racist bandwagon to try and make excuses for their own shortcomings.  This should be a non issue, we get one runner in the individual 400m and AA picked the faster younger bloke, even if they ad run the exact same time they should of still picked the younger bloke.  But the ungrateful loser decided to play the race card.

If he put as much time into running faster as he does to sooking over his career he would be one of the all time greats

Fiddler says:

08:40am | 16/07/12

what race issues actually exist? Sick to death of the liberal guilt. I deal with aboriginal communities every day and have yet to see one of them in a problem that they hadn’t either caused themselves or their family had.

I have however seen plenty of benefits such as full scholarships awarded to allegedly aboriginals who perform moderately well and probably wouldn’t gain an acceptance let alone funding had they not claimed their race.

We need to just shoot down anyone who claims race without outright details or proof. Calling race is a trump card in many peoples minds

Ben says:

01:32pm | 16/07/12

@fiddler - well said

M says:

01:51pm | 16/07/12

See, the people I see setting back the cause of indigenous affairs are like the woman who yelled at me on saturday night.

““Gib a smoke ya whaite c***”

So get stuffed with your liberal guilt.

Fiddler says:

08:51am | 16/07/12

I think that he is being discriminated against for being a douchebag. Surely the douchebag vilification act prevents this

marley says:

09:03am | 16/07/12

Well, I watched Steffanson’s little rant in a clip on TV and my immediate reaction was - for god’s sake, get real, man. Two guys didn’t do a qualifying time, one is over the hill, the other is on the cusp, who the heck do you think should be chosen?  He’s just the male equivalent of Tamsyn Lewis whatever her name is, and it has nothing at all to do with the colour of his skin.

Susan says:

09:42am | 16/07/12

Yes..indeed… http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2006/s1597512.htm

I must admit that I always thought he presented himself as indigenous but apparently not.

Colmac says:

02:12pm | 16/07/12

One can only wonder why he would present himself as indigenous?
Am I being too cynical?

Tim says:

02:37pm | 16/07/12

I don’t recall him ever saying he was indigenous?

Susan says:

04:19pm | 16/07/12

Tim, I think it’s arisen as a misconception.  I just Googled and found a couple of journalist’s articles referring to him as Aboriginal.  It’s people who’ve commented who have corrected the error so I think it’s been partly a media mistake.

Btw, in my search I note he was asked to be on Dancing With the Stars this year but he turned it down because of track commitments.  But he may do it in 2013.  Not sure why I am explaining this…but it’s just..quirky.

Mahhrat says:

09:20am | 16/07/12

@Susan, you’re right, but I was waiting to see if anyone else picked up on it.

The term is offensive, in that it suggests he should be an “ideal” of a man at all times.  Nobody is that perfect.

marley says:

09:35am | 16/07/12

Interesting. I guess I missed the conversation about “manning up.” 

In the context of this particular article, I took the “act like a man” comment to be along the lines of “act like an adult” rather than anything gender-specific.  And in that sense, I agree entirely with Ant’s viewpoint.  It’s one thing for eight-year-olds to whinge and whine about not being selected for the first team;  it’s another to see a 31-year old do it.

VVS says:

09:36am | 16/07/12

I have no problem with the phrase, and use it myself occasionally. It is the same as “harden the f*ck up”.

However I can see how women might not like the phrase, as it may imply that by not acting like a man he is acting like a woman. And it is women who whinge etc

I don’t see it that way. I see it as him acting like a boy/child and not an adult.

Tim says:

09:36am | 16/07/12

Susan,
the author didn’t use the phrase “man up”.
He used the term “act like a man” so he could make a comparison with “The Man” Mundine.
Not even close to being the same.

Susan says:

09:48am | 16/07/12

@Tim. I never said he said “man up” but I presumed the phrases were similar.  You say they’re not the same. But clearly some here think they are.  That’s why I raised it, for discussion.

In the previous incident I was responding to a male poster and at the end I said something like “and man up!” and various male posters took exception to the phrase. They agreed with my entire post but didn’t like me using the phrase.  I meant it light-heartedly but I took the reaction on board.

So, I thought “act like a man” wasn’t that different to saying “man-up”.  I don’t think they are that different but, once again, Tim doesn’t think they’re the same. Mahhrat finds both offensive. VVS doesn’t mind and nor does Marley in the context.

It’s just a discussion.  No rights nor wrongs.

Tim says:

11:02am | 16/07/12

Susan,
I think you need to look at the context of usage.

Sharwood has used the phrase “act like a man” so he can make a silly comparison to Anthony Mundine “The Man”, which is why I don’t think it’s that bad, just a bit lazy. I think he was simply saying that he needs to act like an adult.

If he had simply said that Steffensen needs to accept his omission and “act like a man” then I would have agreed that it was a bit off.

Susan says:

11:39am | 16/07/12

@Tim… hmmm…fine lines I guess. I went up and read again:

“He’d be better off acting like a man instead of “The Man”, and copping his selection omission on the chin.”

I think this is precisely within your latter zone of concern however, it falls within both areas really and is in the interpretation of the beholder I guess.

I was just interested to see if it bugged people and..in the main..no it doesn’t (given the comments thus far).

Susan says:

01:32pm | 16/07/12

Well, that effectively brought an end to the conversation.   The sock thing didn’t even strike me.

Kev says:

03:56pm | 16/07/12

I’ve always thought the phrase “act like a man” or “man up” was another way of saying grow up and act like an adult. I would like to meet those people who had a go at you for using that because I would like to hit them over the head with a dose of “get over it and stop looking for hidden signs of sexism in everything”.

Jason says:

06:02pm | 16/07/12

There is definitely a stereotype in the phrase though.  “act like a man” implies being able to override your emotions (disappointment in this case) and be rational rather than giving in to emotion.

Whether or not you see it as a stereotype or a general truth about the nature of men vs. women depends on your experience in life and whether you can look up “masculine” in the dictionary.

marley says:

10:07am | 16/07/12

@Ron - if you’d trained most of your life, achieved an “A” time, and been left off, you’d have the right to complain.  If you’d trained most of your life,and failed to achieve an “A” time, you should be grateful you’re getting a berth in the relay team.

Paulie says:

10:09am | 16/07/12

Perhaps the administration is bad - but if Steffenson was fast enough to run an A-Qualifying time this wouldn’t be an issue. He wasn’t fast enough, so he had to rely on the discretion of the selectors. Perhaps he’s just burned too many bridges in the past?

Greg says:

10:15am | 16/07/12

Ron the problem with the athletics ‘trial’ is that it is really just another event where competitors can attempt to make the ‘A’ qualifying time, AA do not have the luxury of swimming Australia where they know most events will have at least I A qualifier so they can use first on the day selection.

Most aths events don’t have an Aussie make the A time all year so really the event should be renamed to be just another event, trial gives the false hope of qualification, where none is ever promised.

The Razor says:

06:16pm | 16/07/12

Yes Steffensen did win the trial, but his time now is not good enough, or as good as the times this young kid is running now. The qualifying trial is a guide only and it is always at the discretion of the administration, but to come out and say ” Yo man, it’s my colour man, you know what i’m talkin bro ” is just copycat “racist ” card calling, he like many others have been taught and encouraged to use that card first !

Rose says:

08:58pm | 16/07/12

I didn’t realize there was a problem with Australian born persons of South African heritage abusing medical staff, or are you just making shit up?
If you want to receive respect first you must give it….looks like you’re the one on the wrong side of your one way street!

marley says:

12:33pm | 16/07/12

Maybe our record is poor because we pick over-the-hill guys like Steffansen instead of kids with potential like Solomon.  I think the reason the AA chose Solomon is pretty obvious.

Sickemrex says:

02:36pm | 16/07/12

Is it only me that thought of Caster Semenya upon seeing “running”, “chick” and “South African” in the one paragraph?

sams says:

01:17pm | 16/07/12

i am a racist i hate everyone equally

Shep says:

07:47pm | 16/07/12

That’s very brave of you.  I thought I was a racist, as I’m often quite uncomfortable when confronted by some indigenous people, if i cant understand them or theyre agressively confronting me about something and don’t feel I know how to respond.  Then I was able to be involved in an in-depth profiling project and found out that not only am I apparently not racist but that I am remarkably tolerant when it comes to race, I was pleasantly surprised.

So It would seem that I’m simply intolerant of rudeness, or overt aggression based on supposed racial indignation and apparently I’m equally intolerant of this regardless of skin color.  I just don’t take dickheadedness well. 

I do however find it really tiring always trying to be politically correct, especially when faced with false indignation and presented with the race card or the need to sublimate my own racial heritage as though I am not guilty enough of past injustices.  My personal hate is the concept that merely by identifying with a racial group allows you to claim it as your own regardless of actually ethnicity. Its difficult to judge the validity of the claim, especially as to question it, is to be immediately considered racist and anyway by that reasoning I claim Goth, and not the spooky, eyeliner and black lipstick wearing kind either, sounds like a fun race and I identify with them!

Each to his own I think, it’s just important to be a good person, not a good white person or a good yellow person, just a good person.

ProfoundBS says:

02:20pm | 16/07/12

wrong, that is

Bindare says:

02:09pm | 16/07/12

Why should we - he hasn’t!

stephen says:

08:52pm | 16/07/12

Carnivals that include the three-legged race ?

This Games hasn’t even begun and this lot whinge more than Miners do.

(Methinks they haven’t had it hard enough, like Miners do.)

Jay says:

04:01pm | 16/07/12

Are you referring to one being Hayley Beresford of the Dressage Team who went to court?

Actually, the   two Oatleys who are granddaughters of billionaire Bob Oatley, a generous sponsor of Dressage grand prix events , have both been chosen as reps for this sport.
It has also created some outright hostilities at the perceived influence of wealth and patronage that has upon the selection process.

Kristy Oatley gained her spot at the expense of Hayley Beresford under a “discretionary” selection process.
Beresford was ranked 111th in the world,while Kristy Oatley’s ranking was 283, as judged by the Federation Equestre Internationale. Both women represented Australia in Beijing.
Beresford also recently, beat Kristy Oatley in Aachen in Germany hours before the Court of Arbitration in Sport in Sydney gave the unsurprising nod to Oatley.
So Hayley outranked and outrode Kirsty Oatley, but the billionaire sponsor’s grandkiddie still makes it ahead of Hayley ????? (wtf..)

I’ve a daughter who rides dressage and we chose this sport away from show hacking because, like many others, in many cases to win it came down to ‘who you know’ (bff type relationships that Judges form with competitors -sometimes fellow judges outside the ring) not ‘what you know’.  So she started dressage where you where given scores on your performance, seemingly a fair system.
The whole Beresford-Oatley saga has now just confirmed in our minds, it is also a case of ‘who you know’ and that the average ‘joe’ without money or connections in this sport won’t ever be a serious prospect who can make it on their own merit. It stinks!