General

A double standard for hard-partying female athletes?

Vancouver’s poet laureate nails it

double standardBrad Cran, the poet laureate of Vancouver, chose to boycott the 2010 Games after what he calls a “muzzle clause” was inserted into the contract of artists taking part in Olympics-related events requiring them to “at all times refrain from making any negative or derogatory remarks respecting VANOC, the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Olympic movement generally and sponsors associated with VANOC.” In an essay, Notes on a World Class City, that outlines his stance, Cran said the one poem he has written on equality involving the Olympics was about the female ski jumpers being denied the right to participate in the Games. Now, on his web site, he’s weighing in on the controversy surrounding the gold-winning women’s hockey team’s on-ice celebrations. He makes an excellent point.

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