"Hub Bride First Gal to Run Marathon"

“If I can show that a woman can run 26 miles, and run it well -- stride for stride with the men -- that is going to throw all the rest of the prejudices and all the misconceptions and all of the so-called reasons for keeping women down that have existed for the past how many centuries? Centuries of this stuff! And so I sort of chuckled to myself and thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be fun! I'm going to turn the whole thing on its head.’ ” 
Bobbi Gibb



Roberta Louise "Bobbi" Gibb applied for the Boston Marathon in February 1966. She received a reply from the race director Will Cloney who informed her about the "fact" that women were not physiologically capable of running twenty-six miles and apart from that were not allowed to (Heminsley, 2013). “And that's what everyone thought. I mean, this was a universal truth. Women can't be doctors, it's too much stress. Women can't be lawyers, it's too much stress. Women can't be in the government.... women can't run long distance. Women can't do anything except stay home and clean the house. It was like being in a cage. It was horrible.... It was just everywhere. It was ubiquitous.” During her training she waited to see what would happen to her physically as the "conventional wisdom" was that running more than a mile could be deadly to women (via).



Her running turned from a personal challenge into a question of principle. "I was running to change the way people think ... If women could do this that was thought impossible, what else could women do? What else can people do that is thought impossible?" The only problem was that Gibb was not allowed to participate and hence could not show what was possible (Heminsley, 2013). She borrowed old shorts from her brother, put on a swimsuit and a blue hooded sweater and hid in the bushes. When the gun went off she jumped into the crowd of runners. After a while, the men who were running behind her realised that she was a woman and reacted positively. Despite the temperatures she was afraid of removing her hoody, of revealing that she was a woman and being thrown out. "We won't let them throw you out. It's a free road.", the men behind her said.

"That was another item on my agenda, to end this stupid war of the sexes. Why do we have to be fighting a war of the sexes? We're on the same side in this! Men can have feelings. Women can have physical bodies that are strong.... you can be who you are.” 

She took the hoody off, the crowd went wild (via) and cheered. "One woman standing near, with several children, yelled 'Ave Maria'. She was crying. I felt as though I was setting them free. Tears pressed behind my own eyes." (Hemnisley, 2013)



Bobbi Gibb made headlines ("Hub Bride First Gal to Run Marathon") and contributed to changing the way people think about men and women. Her time (3 hours, 21 minutes), however, was not officially recorded; "the record books did not take note of her achievement, no matter how many newspapers did." (Heminsley, 2013).



- Heminsley, A. (2013). Running like a girl. London: Hutchinson
- photos via and via and via and via

related postings: Merry Lepper & Kathrine Switzer

3:37:07

“Now therefore, the City Council of the City of Culver City, Calif. hereby congratulates and commends Merry Lepper, a shining example of how one person can overcome tremendous hurdles to fulfill a dream and, in the process, pave the way for generations to come.” 
Jeffrey Cooper, Mayor of Culver City (via)

Merry Lepper, in 1963 a student at San Bernardino Valley College (via), is often referred to as the first woman who completed a marathon race (Culver City Marathon in December 1963 finished in 3:37:07). At that time, women were not allowed to run more than 880 meters, for their own good, since running longer distances "would hurt their ovaries". Her training partner Lyn Carman was warned that she would never have babies again. Lepper comments: "I really had to laugh about that because I was hearing the reason that men gave that women couldn't drive automobiles in Saudi Arabia was that it would hurt their ovaries. Whose ovaries are these?" (via)


20-year old Merry jogging accompanied bei training partner Lyn Carman, watched by two of Lyn's children.

Merry Lepper ran the marathon to show the world that "women can do this without dying or fainting or something." But the world did not pay much attention to her achievement (via). There were no retrospective stories, no tributes (via). Some sarcastically assume the world was still too focused on her ovaries (via). Her achievement, however, was an important one considering the fact that women "could legally vote in presidential elections long before they could officially enter a marathon." (via)

In March 1896, during the Summer Olympics, Stamata Revithi ran from Marathon to Athens, unofficially, since officially she was not allowed to compete (via). According to Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the visionary of the modern Olympic Games, contact with women's athletics was bad for male athletes and a woman's greatest achievement would be "to encourage her sons to be distinguished in sports and to applaud a man's effort." (via). In September 1918, Marie-Louise Ledru completed the Tour de Paris Marathon (via). In October 1926, Violet Stewart Louisa Piercy became the first woman to be officially timed in a marathon. 37 years later Merry Lepper followed into these pioneers' footsteps (via). No matter who gets the credit for being the first woman, each made a great contribution.

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photo via 

follow up posting: Bobbi Gibb

Blended

A "dark" aspect of intergroup relations is that group membership tends to yield stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination of "the other". The question is whether an individual’s beliefs and practices about diversity (i.e. diversity ideologies) play a role in the positive and negative outcomes of intergroup reactions.



Two of these ideologies are a) colourblindness and b) multiculturalism. Colourblindness refers to the approach of gaining equality by downplaying group distinctions. In US-American society, it can be traced to the movement that opposed segregation and inequality verbalised by Martin Luther King’s famous words that one day people would "not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character". Multiculturalism, on the other hand, gains equality by acknowledging and valuing differences, by focusing on positive consequences of group memberships. This approach opposes the idea of the melting pot which has one cultural ideal and hence leads to assimilation.



In general, members of majority groups tend to adopt the colourblind strategy (in order to appear unbiased) more than members of minority groups do. This "avoidance strategy" (for instance not mentioning someone’s ethnicity) is perceived as positive – in the sense of the group member being less biased – when ethnicity is irrelevant but negative – in the sense of the group member being more biased – when ethnicity is relevant.



According to research findings, comparing the effects of the two diversity strategies, colourblindness leads to less stereotyping whereas multiculturalism leads to less prejudice. And, colourblindness of majority workers can lead to less engagement of minority co-workers...



The authors compare research findings and come to the conclusion that "these diversity ideologies affect virtually every aspect of intergroup relations" and that "there is more consensus in the data showing that a multicultural ideology benefits minorities".






Kate T. Parker's photo series "Blended" shows her sister's adoption of the little boy Sam. “We are so in love with this amazing little man who has brought such joy into our lives. There are so many wonderful and interesting things I am documenting, the power of love, the agonizing wait (and then elation) of adoption, the welcoming of another life into our clan, and what it means to be a biracial family.” (information and photographs via).



- Rattan, A. & Ambady, N. (2013). Diversity ideologies and intergroup relations: An examination of colorblindness and multiculturalism. European Journal of Social Psychology, 43, 12-21

repost (originally posted as "Diversity ideologies: Colourblind or multicultural" on Google Science, 1 April 2014, link)

International Lefthanders Day

On 13 August 1992, the Lefthanders Club - which was founded two years before - launched the International Left-Handers Day. This day aims to promote awareness of "the difficulties and frustrations left-handers experience in everyday life" by organising events such as "left-v-right sports matches, a left-handed tea party, pubs using left-handed corkscrews (...), and nationwide "Lefty Zones" where left-handers' creativity, adaptability and sporting prowess were celebrated, whilst right-handers were encouraged to try out everyday left-handed objects to see just how awkward it can feel using the wrong equipment". (via)



James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (1942-1970) was left-handed, much to the dislike of his father who told his son that playing left-handed was "the Devil's work". Hendrix started playing right-handed guitars ... upside down (Roby & Schreiber, 2010). The left-handed guitarist played a right-handed guitar strung for left-hand playing - a combination that produced a special sound (via).



- Roby, S. & Schreiber, B.(2010) Becoming Jimi Hendrix: From Southern Crossroads to Psychodelic London. The Untold Story of a Musical Genius. Cambridge: Da Capo Press
- photos of Jimi Hendrix via and via

Sharon's First Merry-Go-Round Ride

28 of August 1963 is the day of the March on Washington, the day Martin Luther King held his landmark speech "I Have a Dream". It is also the day 11-month-old Sharon Langley went on a ride on the merry-go-round at Gwynn Oak Amusement Park on the outskirts of Baltimore, the day the owners of the park agreed to end the segregation policy (via).



The Langley family had planned to go to the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom but changed their mind because they could not find a baby-sitter for Sharon and thought that the civil rights rally would not be suitable for the toddler. They decided to go to Gwynn Oak instead (Nathan, 2011).



Sharon Langley became the first black child to go on a ride in Gwynn Oak. Her father, Charles C. Langley, Jr., stood by her side, two white children, a girl and a boy, sat on horses on either side of her. The girl's mother asked Charles Langley to keep an eye on her daughter. He was glad to help. The next day, newspapers covered stories about the March on Washington but also about Sharon's merry-go-round ride. The three children riding together and the parent-to-parent cooperation were examples of what Martin Luther King meant when he talked about his dream (via).



"As the merry-go-round's creaky wooden platform picked up speed, skin tones blended in a blur of happy faces." (Nathan, 2011)



A little girl in a pink dress made history. It was a huge step that she and her family could enter the amusement park at all without being beaten or arrested. Gwynn Oak Park had a centuries-old tradition of segregation. It opened in 1894 and was a whites-only park from the beginning (Nathan, 2011).



The owners' decision to finally put an end to segregation was a reaction to almost ten years of continuous prostests. Black and white activists, "collge students, teachers, professors, social workers, housewives, union members, lawyers, religious leaders, community organizers, journalists, teenagers, elementary school kids, and even some politicians" protested, wrote letters, carried signs, walked picket lines and tried to reason from 1955 to 1963. Some were assaulted, others arrested before the park finally opened up to all (Nathan, 2011).



Access to an amusement park was surely not the most serious problem black US-Americans were facing. Nevertheless, a great many people spent much time and energy to fight for the expansion of civil rights in recreational spaces. "It was symbolic." (Nathan, 2011).



"Gwynn Oak stood out as a symbol of all the evils inherent in the system of segregation ....It was a symbol that had to be faced and challenged."
Rev. Frank Williams, Letter to the Editor
The Sun, August 22, 1963
(taken from Nathan, 2011)



Years later, bankruptcy (after desegregation the park lost white customers) and Hurricane Agnes (in 1972) damaged Gwynn Oak Amusement Park (via). It closed. The merry-go-round was bought by a company and in 1981 it was moved to Washington's national Mall. It was renamed "Carousel on the Mall" and is located right in front of the Smithsonian's Arts and Industries Building (Nathan, 2011). Sharon Langley's name was engraved on a brass plate attached to the saddle of the horse she rode in 1963 (via).





- Nathan, A. (2011). Round and Round Together: Taking a Merry-Go-Round Ride into the Civil Rights Movement. Philadelphia: Paul Dry Books
- photos via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via

Hot Pink with Black Tiger Stripes

"Between your faith and my Glock nine millimeter, I'll take the Glock." 
Arnold Schwarzengger as Jericho Cane in End of Days (1999)



"That punk pulled a Glock 7 on me. You know what that is? I's a porcelain gun made in Germany. Doesn't show up on your airport X-ray machines, here, and it cost more than you make in a month."
Bruce Willis as John McClane in Die Hard 2 (1990)



Glock produces more than two dozen models of handguns which are used by law enforcement agencies and military organisations worldwide (via). Originally desigend for the Austrian Army (via), the Austrian weapons manufacturer produces "the" firearm brand which has become "America's gun". Two thirds of US-American police departments, the FBI (via) and a great many civilians use it. One author refers to it as "a pop-culture symbol"(via), slogans such as "In Glock we trust" are more or less widely known (via). A few weeks ago, the company sent out a survey and asked its customers which frame colour they would choose if they "were to purchase a pistol as a gift for a female family member or friend"; the collection included a Glock 19 Gen 3 in hot pink with black tiger stripes, in Tiffany Blue and Sniper Grey (via and via).
It is not the first time that weapons manufacturers apply gender marketing by offering pink guns for women. Since pink, yellow or orange guns could be mistaken for toys, in 1992, a law was passed to ensure that the line between toy weapons and real weapons was not blurred. Apart from concerns about weapons in general, there are concerns about gender stereotypes. Weapons marketed to women are presented as neat lifestyle products (via) and pretty accessories using the pink gender cliché ... pink Glock, pink Taser. The evening checklist? "(L)ipstick, wallet, keys. Taser." (via). And 50.000 volt.



photographs of Doris Day as Calamity Jane (1953) via and via and via

A Beautiful Project: Speaking Exchange

CNA language schools started the project "Speaking Exchange". The idea is to pair up Brazilian students who want to learn English with native speakers who happen to be residents of the Windsor Park Retirement Community in Chicago. Students and teachers have conversations via webcam and the English lessons seem to much more than just English lessons ... (via)



"You are my new granddaughter."
"Oh you were good looking when you were younger. And you're still good looking!"
"If you were here I would give you a big hug."

Related clip: watch



photos via and via

Born this day ... James Baldwin

James Baldwin was born on 2 August 1924. He was an essayist, a playwright and novelist who was particularly known for his essays on black experience. With his texts he educated white US-Americans on what it meant to be black. Baldwin encountered discrimination in public because he was African-American and witnessed much violence. He moved to France: "Once I found myself on the other side of the ocean, I see where I came from very clearly...I am the grandson of a slave, and I am writer. I must deal with both." (via)



"If you fall in love with a boy, you fall in love with a boy. The fact that Americans consider it a disease says more about them then it says about homosexuality."

Baldwin was black and gay - two labels he refused to accept: "Those terms, homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual are 20th-Century terms which, for me, really have very little meaning." (via). He was well aware of the difference between what it felt like to be 'white and gay' and 'black and gay': "I think white gay people feel cheated because they were born, in principle, in a society in which they were supposed to be safe. The anomaly of their sexuality puts them in danger, unexpectedly."
James Baldwin died in exile on 1 December 1987.



"A Talk to Teachers", delivered on 16 October 1963 as "The Negro Child - His Self-Image":

(...) Now, if what I have tried to sketch has any validity, it becomes thoroughly clear, at least to me, that any Negro who is born in this country and undergoes the American educational system runs the risk of becoming schizophrenic. On the one hand he is born in the shadow of the stars and stripes and he is assured it represents a nation which has never lost a war. He pledges allegiance to that flag which guarantees “liberty and justice for all.” He is part of a country in which anyone can become president, and so forth. But on the other hand he is also assured by his country and his countrymen that he has never contributed anything to civilization – that his past is nothing more than a record of humiliations gladly endured. He is assumed by the republic that he, his father, his mother, and his ancestors were happy, shiftless, watermelon-eating darkies who loved Mr. Charlie and Miss Ann, that the value he has as a black man is proven by one thing only – his devotion to white people. If you think I am exaggerating, examine the myths which proliferate in this country about Negroes.



(...) Later on when you become a grocery boy or messenger and you try to enter one of those buildings a man says, “Go to the back door.” Still later, if you happen by some odd chance to have a friend in one of those buildings, the man says, “Where’s your package?” Now this by no means is the core of the matter. What I’m trying to get at is that by the time the Negro child has had, effectively, almost all the doors of opportunity slammed in his face, and there are very few things he can do about it. He can more or less accept it with an absolutely inarticulate and dangerous rage inside – all the more dangerous because it is never expressed. It is precisely those silent people whom white people see every day of their lives – I mean your porter and your maid, who never say anything more than “Yes Sir” and “No, Ma’am.” They will tell you it’s raining if that is what you want to hear, and they will tell you the sun is shining if that is what you want to hear. They really hate you – really hate you because in their eyes (and they’re right) you stand between them and life. I want to come back to that in a moment. It is the most sinister of the facts, I think, which we now face.



(...) What passes for identity in America is a series of myths about one’s heroic ancestors. It’s astounding to me, for example, that so many people really appear to believe that the country was founded by a band of heroes who wanted to be free. That happens not to be true. What happened was that some people left Europe because they couldn’t stay there any longer and had to go someplace else to make it. That’s all. They were hungry, they were poor, they were convicts. Those who were making it in England, for example, did not get on the Mayflower. That’s how the country was settled. Not by Gary Cooper. Yet we have a whole race of people, a whole republic, who believe the myths to the point where even today they select political representatives, as far as I can tell, by how closely they resemble Gary Cooper. Now this is dangerously infantile, and it shows in every level of national life. When I was living in Europe, for example, one of the worst revelations to me was the way Americans walked around Europe buying this and buying that and insulting everybody – not even out of malice, just because they didn’t know any better. Well, that is the way they have always treated me. They weren’t cruel; they just didn’t know you were alive. They didn’t know you had any feelings.

For the full text click here



On 27 August 1963 thousands of US-Americans headed to Washington - it was the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. On 28 August 1963, Martin Luther King delivered his speech "I Have a Dream". James Baldwin was "prevented from speaking at the march on the grounds that his comments would be too inflammatory" (via). The march was supported by celebrities such as, for instance, Marlon Brando, Charlton Heston, Harry Belafonte (via), Burt Lancaster, Josephine Baker, Joan Baez (via), James Garner, and Paul Newman (via).

23 seconds James Baldwin on YouTube: click



photos via and via and via and via and via and via

Quoting Maggie Smith

"When you get into the granny era, you're lucky to get anything."
Maggie Smith



"I don't think films about elderly people have been made very much."
Maggie Smith



"It seems to me there is a change in what audiences want to see. I can only hope that's correct, because there's an awful lot of people of my age around now and we outnumber the others."
Maggie Smith



"I've been playing old parts forever. I play 93 quite often. When you've done it more than once, you take the hint. I think it's a great burden if you're one of those fantastic stars who've always been beautiful; then I think it's hard."
Maggie Smith



photos via and via and via and via and via

International Day of Friendship

The International Day of Friendship is "based on the recognition of the relevance and importance of friendship as a noble and valuable sentiment in the lives of human beings around the world." 



The Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace adopted in 1999 set 8 areas of action for nations, organizations and individuals to undertake in order for a culture of peace to prevail:
- foster a culture of peace through education;
- promote sustainable economic and social development;
- promote respect for all human rights;
- ensure equality between women and men;
- foster democratic participation;
- advance understanding, tolerance and solidarity;
- support participatory communication and the free flow of information and knowledge;
- promote international peace and security (literally via)



Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks have been friends for more than sixty years. In 1950, a TV show brought them together (via). For some years, they eat together and watch TV together in Carl Reiner's living room every night (via).



photos of Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner via and via and via