Let me apologize for this departure from my normal subject matter. I'd much rather write about leotards and bad hair and hilarious ABC Family shows. However, given recent events, I feel it's important that we, the gymnastics community, continue to focus our efforts on eradicating these people.
And by these people, I mean the perverts.
It's terrible and horrifying and no one wants to think about it. But there are a number of creepers out there who, left to their own devices, will do whatever they want. The police and authorities cannot be everywhere all the time, but we, the gymnastics community, can help.
A few weeks ago, I was linked to a gym video on Youtube. It was your totally normal, run of the mill Khorkina splat montage video. Nothing strange about that at all. However, on the side of the page, you know how Youtube suggests videos that are similar? There was one titled something like "Gymnastics Ass" or something equally nasty. Why I clicked on it, I don't know, but I'm glad I did. I found what was an entire channel of close up home videos of gymnasts at meets. And make no mistake, they were not videos of the routines. That's all I'm going to say. Granted, they appeared to be mostly NCAA gymnasts, but still. That shit is fucking gross, and it's wrong.
This exact same issue happened in my very own high school, about a year after I graduated. The main girls being filmed were fifteen. This sort of behavior certainly does not abide by age laws.
I immediately reported the Youtube page, and posted the link on Twitter, hoping others would do the same. They did. GGMB took action IMMEDIATELY, and had the entire page removed by the time I woke up the next morning. Such is the power of the gymnastics community. Say what you want about GGMB, but those bitches got shit done. In record time. And they continue to bring these issues to light, so that fewer gymnasts become victims of these nasty pervert assholes.
Members of GGMB went so far as to contact the FBI Cyber Crimes Against Children Division, and came back with these suggestions on how we, the community, can help.
If you find a website with inappropriate photos or videos:
1. Report the site to the host (e.g., YouTube, Go Daddy, etc.)
2. File a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx. This will allow the FBI to begin a formal investigation, track the IP address and identify the site owner.
If you witness or suspect inappropriate photo/video taking IN PERSON:
Call the police and report the person. The police will have to file an incident report. They can also ask the man to show them his camera (of course he doesn't have to comply, but that's irrelevant for our purposes). The agent told me that they have caught many offenders (a shocking number according to her) simply by asking to see their cameras or computers, scrolling through the pictures and finding child pornography on the device. Reporting the person therefore accomplishes three goals: the possibility of finding child pornography, starting the all important paper trail, and harassing them so that they know not to come back.
I copy/pasted this from GGMB, and I implore anyone reading this to copy it from here, and paste it wherever. The more people who are aware means the more people who can help.
Instead of being the whiny, annoying gymnastics community, let's be the awesome, vigilante gymnastics community that gets shit done.
Yes power to the gym fans! Taking out perverts and Fake Facebook Brossys everywhere!
ReplyDeletePreach it, sista-friend!
ReplyDeleteI was watching a fabulous video of Vanessa Atler's fx at 1998 Copa Gimnastica and saw a video creepily similar to the one you mentioned under suggestions...I assume it's still up and I can't find it again. So be on the lookout for a user with the name "mag2b".
ReplyDeleteAppreciate your point but why the reference to Jewish in the title? That's very offensive ... what do you mean?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 9:25, it's a quote from Glee, as are all the titles of my posts. They're all random, I don't pick them to match the subject matter. As a Jew, I'm not about to start associating my own kind with child molesters. That would make me a terrible Jew, and I already enjoy bacon. I have too many strikes as it is.
ReplyDeleteThanks Spanny for clearing the Jew reference up. I am Jewish as well and wasn't sure what you meant by it...and I don't watch Glee...
ReplyDeleteEverything is better with bacon!
I do not think that your explanation makes this any less offensive given the content of the article. I have reported this story to the Children of Zion who will be investigating in due course.
ReplyDeleteGGMB would know perverts. They are full of them.
ReplyDeleteOkay people getting pissy over the Jew comment need to get a life.......it was a quote from Glee. Period. Is this your first time reading the blog? Have you not noticed all the titles are random?
ReplyDeleteLet's look at some of the other Article titles:
1. i've put plastic on your chair, so feel free to wet yourself with excitement.
2. you sing like diana ross and you dress like you own a magic chocolate factory.
3. enjoy your enormous bowl of disgusting creamy pasta.
4. did you know new york city was built on top of old york city?
So, do you have a problem with those titles too? Do you think someone who eats big creamy bowls of pasta or has bladder control issues is going to bitch about the titles? Probably not. It's a joke. So kindly, STFU. Smooches.
From the reference to the Children of Zion, it's pretty clear that exchange ended with a joke with no hard feelings. Anon 4:09, *you* might want to lighten up and read for context.
ReplyDeleteAlthough for future reference, as far as I know people who eat big creamy bowls of pasta or who have bladder control issues haven't been literally hunted down throughout history, so it's a little more complicated than just saying OMG calm down, it's juss a joke!!!! You don't get to dismiss millennia of persecution by accusing Jews of being "pissy" when they are questioning what something/someone means. Smooches!
To the person who made the nasty remark about GGMB-no, GGMB is not full of perverts, unless you are referring to ADULTS who are attracted to other ADULTS of the same gender. Those are not PERVERTS. Those are NORMAL people.
ReplyDeleteGGMB is full of perverts. There is more to being a perv than just being a kid perv. That whole group is racist and digusting.
ReplyDeleteTHANKS for getting that taken down.
ReplyDeleteIt's OK if I'm attracted to Chelsie Memmel though, right?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I saw the Youtube video you are talking about, but honestly I wasn't THAT revolted by it. I figured their piers were goofing around -- not that it is polite or anything, just not worth getting worked up over. At that age guys are pulling sexual innuendos out of thin air. If the gymnasts were all wearing sumo wrestler costumes, I'm sure they would find something sexually appealing about it.
ReplyDeleteBut if the videographers were 30-year-old men, then yeah there would be a problem. (It would't be adolescence, but pedophilia at that point.)
Sad and pathetic. That is what GGMB is. Their head bitch just recently said they wished Rachel Flatt would get killed. They are sick bastards.
ReplyDelete"Although for future reference, as far as I know people who eat big creamy bowls of pasta or who have bladder control issues haven't been literally hunted down throughout history"- are you serious??? I had NO idea. Thanks for the Wikipedia style history lesson. Hugs.
ReplyDeleteThere is a man at Facebook that comment every single pic from the Romanian junior gymnast with comments like "beautiful gorgeous" that scare me a little but don't know if we can report that??
ReplyDeletei wish i could read GGMB for just...a day. lol.
ReplyDeletethanks for reporting this. gross.