Breaking barriers

August 10, 2024 10:23 AM

Manizha Talash (previously) of the Refugee Olympic Team was disqualified in the first round of the Breaking competition for displaying a cape emblazoned with "FREE AFGHAN WOMEN" in the middle of her head-to-head with B-girl India.
posted by The corpse in the library (25 comments total)

I saw this match and it was so glorious. Talash and India were basically playing for the 16th spot before the first round really started. They were both really good but India (to my eyes) was the one who had more skills, doing a lot more spinning work and more different freeze moves etc. Since breakdancing scoring is all about how you are perceived to be doing versus your opponent, the differences in their skill levels worked against Talash. But it was joyous to see Talash ditch her outer layer and show off her cape (really pretty much knowing she was going to be disqualified), and also the support she seemed to receive for India for doing this. She was always a total longshot but just her getting to compete was huge and I am glad she made the most of it.
posted by jessamyn at 10:50 AM on August 10 [19 favorites]

Thanks for posting this. We watched the later stages of this event yesterday, but they didn’t make any mention at all of this.
posted by nat at 11:29 AM on August 10

Its one of my bugbears that something like "Free Afghan Women" earns a disqualification for being a political statement, as if to justify the complete spiritual, and in many sad cases physical beat down and erasure from public life of approximately half the human population as a legitimate political stance. It only protects abusers and the immoral regimes of the world and does nothing to uphold any "spirit" of the games.
posted by WeekendJen at 12:48 PM on August 10 [39 favorites]

I watched this on demand this morning, and I was glad to see it. "Free Afghan Women" indeed.
posted by cupcakeninja at 1:54 PM on August 10

I only caught the Japan/Lithuania contest for the gold, so yes, thanks for posting this. And exactly what WeekendJen said.
posted by maxwelton at 1:56 PM on August 10 [1 favorite]

I didn't realize she had been disqualified. She and India were the lowest ranked and danced (breaked? battled? I am definitely way to uncool to know the right terminology) to compete for the final slot in the qualifiers. Talash was nowhere near as good as India. Did I cry like a lil baby when she unveiled the cape though? Oh you bet I did.

Maybe if she had been up against the dead fish flopping Australian Raygun the disqualification would have been more noticable.
posted by phunniemee at 1:58 PM on August 10 [1 favorite]

If she'd been up against Raygun nobody would have noticed her cape. On my sofa, at least, all eyes would have been on Raygun. She deserves her own FPP.
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:00 PM on August 10 [4 favorites]

Interesting to hear you say that, The corpse in the library. I went in expecting to be amazed by Raygun, based on the buzz, and I wasn't. I'll look forward to an FPP to see what I missed.
posted by cupcakeninja at 2:13 PM on August 10

I think the amazing thing the buzz is about is that she was in the Olympics.

The nicest thing I can say about Raygun's dancing is she has a PhD, and it really shows.

#notallphds
posted by phunniemee at 2:26 PM on August 10 [13 favorites]

(In case you're wondering, the song is Shaquille O'Neal f Fu-Schnickens - What's Up Doc (Can We Rock). Shaq's not much of a rapper, but he did win an Olympic gold medal, so I'm going to say it's a solid choice.)
posted by box at 3:08 PM on August 10

Saw this on live TV and was overwhelmed by emotion. I think she definitely knew she was going to be disqualified - what she did will be remembered so much more than a medal. B-Girl Talash is the coolest.
posted by capricorn at 4:14 PM on August 10 [4 favorites]

You go, grrril! It doesn't matter how she finished, she's got twice as much grit and heart as most people. I wish there were a popular uprising that could remove her disqualification. Wouldn't change the finish, but that's ok. I'm of the belief that the Olympics should be a place where politics is forgotten and it's only about skills and the good kind of competition, but as WeekendJen said, we're talking about a moral issue that needs to be LOUDLY addressed and brought into the public light over and over.
posted by BlueHorse at 4:36 PM on August 10 [1 favorite]

I keep reading that one of the competitors is a rapist. Just googled it and indeed, one of the Dutch volleyball players was convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl in 2016, when he'd have been... 21, if my math is accurate? Guess nobody thought that was counter to the "spirit of the games". Sorry, I know everybody worked really hard and it's cool to see people performing at the Olympic level, but that puts it well into the 'burn the whole thing down' category for me.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 5:17 PM on August 10 [10 favorites]

i know it's almost meaningless, but yesterday i changed my facebook cover photo to the image in the fpp. i watched her do it and was thrilled by her courage. she pretty obviously was not as skilled as India (who was my favorite) but wow - that's how you make a statement. with a winged cape, no less! she shoulda garnered style points, at least.

by the way, the censoring of politics can be as convoluted as banning any signs or shirts with the name or image of Taiwan on it - China's great foot stands on that neck, and so the Olympics committee requires it only be referred to as “Chinese Taipei”.
posted by lapolla at 5:27 PM on August 10 [2 favorites]

I was watching it live, and when I saw that, I said to Mrs. Ghidorah, "oh, they'll be disqualifying her for that" but there was no real reaction to, or mention of it on the Japanese commentary. As Weekend Jen says, disqualifying her only benefits the abusive regime she had to escape, the reason she's on the refugee team in the first place.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:38 PM on August 10 [3 favorites]

‘Chinese Taipei,’ pka Formosa. Under Protest.
posted by box at 5:40 PM on August 10 [2 favorites]

Afghanistan was banned from the Olympics in 2000 because of the Taliban's oppression of women. I guess everything's fine now.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:52 PM on August 10 [3 favorites]

Afghanistan is in the games because the IOC works with the Afghan National Olympic Committee in Exile. They do not work with the Taliban, and only one of their athletes lives and trains in Afghanistan. Three of the Afghani athletes were women.
posted by oneirodynia at 7:20 PM on August 10 [10 favorites]

oh and thanks for the motivation to look up Raygun! i'd been pretty confused by her performances, but now, i'm a fan!
i'm feeling oddly proud of the women in the Olympics Breaking.
those B-girls are crafty!
posted by lapolla at 9:47 PM on August 10 [1 favorite]

That's it right there, why I have mixed feelings about break dancing and other forms of expression like skate boarding from non conformist roots taking part in the Olympics. This institution will help promote them but will also, immediately in this case, slap them on the wrist and fundamentally change their nature, pushing them towards the polite mainstream and away from counter cultural expression. At schools in South Africa, Hip Hop dancing is promoted and run as Dance Sport. Great that the kids can take part, but also keeping them in the lane.
posted by BrStekker at 12:40 AM on August 11 [4 favorites]

My wife and I watched all of womens' breaking yesterday and it was super fun. It did not appear to me that Talash really had a shot at winning (India was one of the top competitors in the end) and it seemed to me like the cape was an excellent use of her platform.

I am also confused by Raygun but I appreciate us dorks being represented on the world stage, and I would delightedly buy her a drink.
posted by restless_nomad at 5:24 AM on August 11 [1 favorite]

> Afghanistan is in the games because the IOC works with the Afghan National Olympic Committee in Exile

Yeah, I was overly irritable; the piece I linked to is more fair. It pisses me off but I don't know what the best solution is. My instinct is to go "for fuck's sake, of course a country can't enter the Olympics if they're going to prohibit girls and women from participating in sports," which I guess is why I'm not in charge of things.
posted by The corpse in the library at 6:59 AM on August 11 [1 favorite]

BrStekker: This institution will help promote them but will also, immediately in this case, slap them on the wrist and fundamentally change their nature

I think something that's worth noting here is that while the Olympics are a further shove in that direction, most of this progression has already happened. Almost all of the Olympic competitors in the B-Girls Breaking event are multiple-time winners and/or top-3 finishers in the world championships, which are sponsored by Red Bull. For better or for worse, competitive breaking appears to have stopped being a grassroots, countercultural thing long ago.
posted by capricorn at 8:08 AM on August 11 [3 favorites]

(Even B-Girl Raygun is the reigning Oceania champion. She isn't a random Australian who decided to start breaking just because it seemed like it would be fun for the Olympics.)
posted by capricorn at 8:11 AM on August 11 [2 favorites]

Competitive breaking appears to have stopped being a grassroots, countercultural thing long ago.

Fair, but I’m not 100% convinced that news has made its way to Afghanistan.
posted by box at 5:49 PM on August 11