Glass houses
At first I thought that the "all bend, no strength" discussion on EZboard was a joke. Here we have a video of the most flexible person whom I have ever seen, writhing and bending herself into shapes that would make Elastigirl envious, sometimes doing so while standing on one leg or balancing on her forearms, and instead of marveling, we have snarky criticism: "She absolutely suxxors at doing the worm. no upper body strength." And that's just the first post.
It sounds like jealousy to me. Envy. What is the Sanskrit word? Aparigraha? It's like looking at Cindy Crawford and saying, yeah she's pretty, but damn, she really needs to see a dermatologist about that mole. It's like saying that Carl Lewis may be fast, but that his long-distance skills need work. It's like pointing out that Einstein may have been good at math but that he really could have used some help with his writing.
Then there's the post on the "Woohoo" thread from someone who was psyched about holding a handstand in a vinyasa, and instead of congratulations, he gets the unsupportive "I hate to rain on your parade but...." reply, which I realize, in retrospect, was actually inevitable, given the general "vibe" of the EZBoard, which is snarky, judgemental and generally unsupportive and unwelcoming of newbies.
I have never been particularly popular on the EZBoard, and I am sure that this won't ingratiate me to anyone who posts there. But I felt it needed to be said.
YC
16 comments:
yeah i think your spot on. i rarely read it anymore becuase pretty much every post turns into a cat fight. not to mention that the usual cast of charcters on the board are these self styled experts on EVERYTHING. i do have to say that rosebud is hilarious... n
Snarky is one of the biggest understatements of the
year! Snarky! HAHAHAHAHAH. Snarky...
Ahh you're killing me here.
I couldn't agree more. I've only looked at that board a few times, and it seems like there's a lot of judgement going on. i saw that video a while ago -- at a point where i felt my backbends were starting to open up a bit-- it was humbling. but really, why can't we just appreciate the beauty of what she can do? she doesn't claim to be doing ashtanga, so why even say "she needs to do some chaturanga..."?
I don't care if she's strong or just flexible or what. That whole worm thing she does just gives me the heebie-jeebies!!
YC, you are right. Part of it is certainly envy. But I think also ezboard people were commenting out of a concern that what the super-bendy woman was doing was not really ashtanga. Lots of newbies come here, so I thought it was important to point out that ashtanga requires strength as well as flexibility, and I really did not see much strength in her routine. Possibly I am wrong, but that's my opinion.
Suzi...I totally was not talking about you...just wanted you to know that...also, want to emphasize that the girl was dancing, not doing ashtanga or any kind of yoga for that matter...something akin to Cirque du Soleil or the Momix dance troupe.
L
I understand. I too thought the girl was a circus perfomer.
Speaking of the woo-hoo thread, I posted some time ago that I had done stand-ups and drop backs in Tim Miller's studio, and no one ever responded. But I didn't really care--the point was that I had done them! I guess what I am saying is that anything said in the woo-hoo thread, or not said, should not be taken seriously.
Wow, I'm kind of surprised to hear how people feel about ezBoard. I think of it as a community where friends (or acquaintances ;-) with a similar interest can chat. And obviously, if there are lots of people, there will be a bunch of opinions. The bendy lady discussion seemed innocuous enough--just something to chat about on a Sunday afternoon.
Hey SC - I didn't realize, when I read that, that you hadn't done them before. For some reason I read that and thought that you were just saying that you did them there... Belated Congratulations!!!
As for EZBoard... the way I look at it... it's judgmental to judge anyone so I take what works for me and leave what doesn't. :)
Yes, congrats S!
And good point J. Good points all!
L
Oh thanks Julie....You are one of the people who has totally inspired me. The way I look at it, I have met some great people thru Ezboard, and for 3 years I have read it with avid interest.
Wow, that post triggered a great number of comments. I followed the thread on EZboard. I think jealousy is the best word...people don't know when to congratulate because they don't want to help inflate someone's ego. My jaw was on the floor that entire clip...that was incredible. I don't think people should get all particular about it, she's not doing ashtanga and it's not like she claimed she was...it's just fascinating to watch and see and very humbling.
Some people get so caught up in criticism that they miss all the fun. I agree with those of you who said that there's no point in saying "she needs to do some chaturangas" or things like that - she isn't doing yoga, after all. Or maybe she is, in her mind! Why do some people have to have an opinion on everything?
On the subject of the board itself, I must say that I don't think I'll ever get hooked up on it. For the most part, I don't like the tone of the discussions and though I know there are many friendly people there, most of them don't seem to be that welcoming.
I am so in agreement. There seem to be a group of the "popular people" and they are not welcoming at all to some of the other posters. I can't figure out their social(caste?) system at all. But then again I don't really care to anyway, they seem like a bunch of bitchy nincompoops most of the time.
I read every once in awhile, but the overall negative
tone keeps me away. I just can't imagine some of those people would have any friends if they acted that way in public.
Given the general nasty elitist tone of ezboard I'm embarrassed to refer anyone there. There are a few people that are helpful and nice but they're overshadowed by the bungholes. It's no wonder the board is basically dead.
samasthiti said...
There seem to be a group of the "popular people".
Actually that seems to be the nature of discussion boards. Thought not as amusing as the Astanga place on EZBoard, Yoga.com's forums have only about 7-10 regular posters which makes it a pretty boring place after you figure out who they are. They seem to have been there for years and really have nothing new to add after awhile. I don't see these boards as a great revelation in options or views considering the amount of people regulating posting.
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