"You Don't Look Like A Gymnast"

[d0nut_l0ver]

Has anybody ever told you this? Because people have told me that before.

I was in the locker room, changing for gym, and one of my FRIENDS said, "Hey, don't you take gymnastics?"

And I said proudly, "Yes."

Then she and her friend (who is kind of my friend, but also kind of a brat) told me, "You don't look like a gymnast."

I felt like crying. I mean, I love gymnastics and I've always thought that I had a good body for gymnastics. (I mean, I'm very flexible and I'm in good shape.) And I don't think she meant to be mean, but she was giving her honest opinion.

Then, trying to switch subjects, I told them, "I also take ballet lessons."

And guess what they said? "You're a ballerina?! Really? I never thought you'd be good at ballet!" Which, of course, made me even more sad.

So I went over to one of my OTHER friends and told them what happened. She gave me a hug and told me that they probably didn't think about hurting my feelings.

I think she is right, because my friend that said that is actually a really good friend, she's always there for me and she can always cheer me up, and that is the ONLY time she has ever said something like that.

Has anybody else been told this?

 

[mustlovejumping]

I've actually gotten the opposite before. I was a dancer not a gymnast when I was younger but people always said I looked like a gymnast. Now that I'm in gymnastics, a lot of people ask if I was a dancer and they say I look like one. Haha I don't know?? I think the reason people thought I was a gymnast before is because I've always had really good upper body strength, which may explain why bars is my best event :]

And don't worry about what the girl said. Who knows what her intentions were. Some people aren't always the best at giving compliments and having them come off that way, especially when the compliments are about something they don't know much about (I'm guessing they don't know much about gymnastics?)

 

[d0nut_l0ver]

I've actually gotten the opposite before. I was a dancer not a gymnast when I was younger but people always said I looked like a gymnast. Now that I'm in gymnastics, a lot of people ask if I was a dancer and they say I look like one. Haha I don't know?? I think the reason people thought I was a gymnast before is because I've always had really good upper body strength, which may explain why bars is my best event :]

And don't worry about what the girl said. Who knows what her intentions were. Some people aren't always the best at giving compliments and having them come off that way, especially when the compliments are about something they don't know much about (I'm guessing they don't know much about gymnastics?)

Yeah, they don't know anything about gymnastics.

That's interesting about what people told you. They never seem to get it right!

 

[gymnast695]

My physical therapist told me I have practically no calf muscles, and I was so insulted! But I told myself it's probably because I've been out for two months due to an ankle injury and must have lost my muscle, haha. I would hope I have calf muscles if I train 15 hours a week and compete a L8 equivalent! But yeah, I know it's hard to work so hard and then be told you don't look like a gymnast, but don't let it bother you!

 

[NYgymfan]

Well, here's the thing. What exactly does a gymnast look like? They all look different to me. Some gymnasts are big and have lots of muscle, other gymnasts are tiny and just as strong. But who cares as long as you can do gymnastics well!

So its really just what people THINK a gymnast should look like. Not everyone looks like the sterio typical average gymnast, and thank goodness because it would be boring if everyone looked the same. Everyone is unique in their own way, looks, personality, gymnastics style, and that's a good thing, not a bad thing.

To d0nut_l0ver, I'm sure it wasn't meant to be hurtful. You should be like, "Yeah, isn't it amazing that people who don't look like gymnasts can still do gymnastics?!?!" So don't take it personally when someone says something like that. If its a friend, maybe you should tell them how it made you feel. If they are a good friend, they won't do it again. If they still do it again, then they aren't a good friend.

I get the "woah, you go to a gymnastics gym?" as if I'm an alien from a different planet because I'm a guy. I guess I don't "look like a gymnast" either, but I am one, and proud of it!!!

 

[d0nut_l0ver]

My physical therapist told me I have practically no calf muscles, and I was so insulted! But I told myself it's probably because I've been out for two months due to an ankle injury and must have lost my muscle, haha. I would hope I have calf muscles if I train 15 hours a week and compete a L8 equivalent! But yeah, I know it's hard to work so hard and then be told you don't look like a gymnast, but don't let it bother you!

Yeah, I didn't let it bother me. I wasn't mad at her, and I think she understood that she hurt my feelings and she never said anything like that again.

I sprained my ankle pretty bad once... it's pathetic how I sprained it. I was doing a round off. But I landed on my foot funny, and for a month and a half later, it hurt like crazy. But I didn't stop gymnastics, it wasn't that bad. Yeah, it's too bad you had to stop for a while!

And yes, that would be insulting! I'm quite short for my age, and my doctor first told me that the shortest people often grow to be very tall. The next appointment, he's like, "You're not gonna get any taller than 5"." What the heck?!? But I'm almost 5 feet and I'm sure I'm not going to stop for a while.

 

[d0nut_l0ver]

Well, here's the thing. What exactly does a gymnast look like? They all look different to me. Some gymnasts are big and have lots of muscle, other gymnasts are tiny and just as strong. But who cares as long as you can do gymnastics well!

So its really just what people THINK a gymnast should look like. Not everyone looks like the sterio typical average gymnast, and thank goodness because it would be boring if everyone looked the same. Everyone is unique in their own way, looks, personality, gymnastics style, and that's a good thing, not a bad thing.

To d0nut_l0ver, I'm sure it wasn't meant to be hurtful. You should be like, "Yeah, isn't it amazing that people who don't look like gymnasts can still do gymnastics?!?!" So don't take it personally when someone says something like that. If its a friend, maybe you should tell them how it made you feel. If they are a good friend, they won't do it again. If they still do it again, then they aren't a good friend.

I get the "woah, you go to a gymnastics gym?" as if I'm an alien from a different planet because I'm a guy. I guess I don't "look like a gymnast" either, but I am one, and proud of it!!!

Wow. That was deep. But you're totally right! Yes, it WOULD be very boring if everyone was the same. Some gymnasts are short, some are tall, and I'm one of the short ones and proud of it!

 

[gymnastbeth]

I sprained my ankle pretty bad once... it's pathetic how I sprained it. I was doing a round off.

That's nothing. I badly sprained my ankle on a.... CARTWHEEL. It happens!

 

[d0nut_l0ver]

That's nothing. I badly sprained my ankle on a.... CARTWHEEL. It happens!

Lol yeah, it seems that no matter how easy the skills are that you're doing, there is a way to sprain your ankle!

 

[gymnastica9]

the only people that would say that are the people that have no idea about gymnastics, they think all gymnasts have to be short and super skinny. at my gym I am the 2nd tallest, but everywhere else I'm in the "short" catagory. Just brush it off. One of the girls on my team always says sort of rude comments without thinking, and she is really skinny, she will just randomly come up and say "im jealous of your chubb" or something like that. I just forget about it

 

[flipandtwist]

She's probably just jealous. I've been told plenty of times I don't look like a gymnast. I just tell them to come show up at my gym and see what I can do. They never tell me that again.

 

[gymgurl]

That's nothing. I badly sprained my ankle on a.... CARTWHEEL. It happens!

Guys i think i win i tore a ligament doing.......drum roll........a split leap

 

[haggy]

I get the same thing all the time! i'm five foot six right now and dont LOOK very muscular so whenever people find out i do gymnastics, they're really surprised and always comment on how gymnasts are supposed to be way shorter. It gets REALLY annoying!

 

[gymnast695]

Guys i think i win i tore a ligament doing.......drum roll........a split leap

I tore a ligament in my ankle doing straight jumps on tumble track... lol

 

[d0nut_l0ver]

I get the same thing all the time! i'm five foot six right now and dont LOOK very muscular so whenever people find out i do gymnastics, they're really surprised and always comment on how gymnasts are supposed to be way shorter. It gets REALLY annoying!

Aw, that's really mean! Gymnasts can be short or tall! I'm very short for my age but that doesn't determine if I'm better than other people. I have a friend who is like 6 inches taller than me and she is REALLY good at gymnastics!!!

Plus, some of my friends tease me about being "weak." Not in a mean way, but, well, it does kind of upset me. Even my friends that are dainty and are as fragile as a stick tell me this. No, I'm not making fun of them. They just aren't nearly as strong as me, but they tell me I'M weak.

 

[d0nut_l0ver]

She's probably just jealous. I've been told plenty of times I don't look like a gymnast. I just tell them to come show up at my gym and see what I can do. They never tell me that again.

lol! Wish I could do that, but they'd get bored staring at the gym for 2 hours. XD None of my friends really care that I do gymnastics. Except my gymnast friends. But even my gymnast friends tease me about being "weak." AND they don't care when I get new skills. Except for one of them... she's a year younger than me, and is my one friend's little sister. She is WAY better than my 2 gymnast friends. Well, not WAY better... but she was doing level 6 at age 11 while my other friends didn't get all their level 6 skills until they were 13. She congratulates me every time I tell her I got a new skill, and she gives me tips on the skills that I can show her. (Not vault or bars, obviously! But she has a beam at her house.)

Sorry, that was kind of random... oh well!

 

[bribri514]

Ohmygosh I am so sorry! Girls in high school are so mean. There was one girl in my group of friends who would follow behind me in the hall and mock some of the "Deaf noises" I make. My sister told me about it. She was even meaner to girls who weren't her friends. Most of the time even friends say those kind of things because they're insecure. Your "friend" may be having issues with her own body. Not that it matters because they shouldn't say them at all. But still they're motivated out of bringing you down so they feel better and definitely not in any reality or even anything about you! I'm in college now and there's still a couple girls like that.

And anyway who says what a gymnast looks like! All my Deaf friends said there's no way I could ever be a gymnast because "Deaf people just don't do gymnastics". Even my high school gymnastics coach freshman year told me I should do the Special Olympics and all the other girls supported her (they were all L 5-8, I was the only L 10).

But anyway gymnasts have a million different looks. Short like Shawn Johnson, tall and skinny like Svetlana Khorkina, strong/stockier like ASac, and every ethnicity and nationality (it's so cool how many different countries send gymnasts to international meets!) So that's just a really ignorant thing for her to say.

:hug:

 

[Mack_the_Ripper]

Guys i think i win i tore a ligament doing.......drum roll........a split leap

I once BROKE my foot jumping off a mat. Okay, I was going to jump off the mat and do a front tuck (it used to be part of our strength). I told everybody I landed funny AFTER the flip.

I haven't been told this, since all of my friends are really polite, and I definitely have gymnast shoulders. I'm no way skinny enough to look the way a "traditional gymnast" does - it's just not how I'm built, and that includes having a big butt and bulky legs. I'm never making the Olympic Team, or probably level 8 even, but I'm having fun training and competing until I go off to college. Gymnasts have all kinds of different body types, and yes there are some that are more beneficial than others, but it doesn't matter unless you're trying to go elite or something.

 

[iBleedChalk]

First of all, since when is "gymnast" an ethnicity? Not all gymnasts are meant to look the same, just like all people are not meant to look the same. Some gymnasts are short, some are tall. Some are slim and some are curvy. Why doesn't matter what you look like? If you work, act and feel like a gymnast, that's all that matters Now if you're really concerned about "looking like a gymnast," think this over: If your friend that said you didn't look like gymnast, what would they know? YOU'RE the gymnast in the situation, I think you'd know better than they do

 

[d0nut_l0ver]

First of all, since when is "gymnast" an ethnicity? Not all gymnasts are meant to look the same, just like all people are not meant to look the same. Some gymnasts are short, some are tall. Some are slim and some are curvy. Why doesn't matter what you look like? If you work, act and feel like a gymnast, that's all that matters Now if you're really concerned about "looking like a gymnast," think this over: If your friend that said you didn't look like gymnast, what would they know? YOU'RE the gymnast in the situation, I think you'd know better than they do

Thanks, but I don't really care anymore that she said that. So I'm not concerned about not looking like a gymnast; I love the sport and that's what matters!