Visual Description: Jumping for joy!
KEPYR = PERKY, OTAIP = PATIO, MIFYAL = FAMILY, UTPADE = UPDATE — Giving us: PEPTOFILUD
Clue/Question: When the gymnastics team won the competition, they – – –
Answer: FLIPPED OUT
(Ya know . . . this could have – just as easily – applied to a men’s gymnastic team. Are we seeing another form of blatant sexism in our male dominated society? Should we shame Hoyt and Knurek for not acknowledging the abuses that so many girls have suffered at the hands of the USA Gymnastics team doctor? Maybe we should look into any “raunchy talk” our guys may have used 30 years ago! Stop the world! Yer uncle really wants to get off! Or, maybe I should say step off, because “get off” could be construed as something sexual. We have so many double standards in our society, that it should make all our heads spin. Obesity in America is the #1 health threat. Ooh, but don’t you dare body-shame anybody! Kids today totally lack discipline Ooh, but don’t you dare spank them! Advertisers sell us a slew of products with sex, while music videos and other popular media show girls/women bending over, twerking and pelvic thrusting, all while scantily cladded. Ooh, but don’t you dare say she looks good in that sweater! Really? Can we just get a hold of ourselves? Let’s at least acknowledge the notion of cause and effect here, folks. Living our lives, constantly worried about maybe possibly offending someone, with something that we say or do, is no way to live. How about we all strive to develop thicker skins? When my Filipina mother-in-law said: Ooh, Nazi! when I told her half my heritage was German, I didn’t demand an apology from her. I just laughed, and explained to her that the words/people were not synonymous. Let’s stop looking for fault all the time. Rick Warren said: “The blame game is a waste of time. Any time you’re busy fixing blame, you’re wasting energy and not fixing the problem.” Take a breath, people.
All new jumbles once again today! I saw all the words immediately, though. The answer letter layout was also a nifty jumble. Not obvious. The girl in the foreground of Jeff’s cartoon told the whole story! Be well and do good, friends.) — YUR
Images courtesy of Google
Unclerave's Wordy Weblog 
Well, I’d say we’re more in danger of too little politeness, especially when it comes to racial slurs these days….I’ll take political correctness over expressed racism any day. Also, most sexually harassed women are at their workplace, dressed appropriately…..The music videos can’t be blamed for men talking and behaving in sexually inappropriate ways. Sometimes, when something has been wrong for so many decades, it takes an overboard reaction to call attention to it. So, for now, don’t mention the busty sweater look, unless you really know she is okay with it as a compliment. Another example: the football players kneeling during the anthem did call attention to the blatant racism in our judicial system. It takes actions outside the mainstream to cause people to notice the ills in our society. As for obesity, pointing out that they are fat is not going to change their behavior. Michelle Obama handled the issue very well from a public perspective. It’s up to the person’s medical team and support system to help in a supportive way, assuming they have a food source beyond the local mom and pop store that has no fresh, healthy food to offer. I get your point that sometimes it seems we’ve gone too far. But I’m still for good old fashioned politeness and sensitivity and I push to include sexist, appearance, racial remarks as off limits for a polite, sensitive person. .
The current scandal aside, I think Women’s Gymnastics is more popular and has a larger viewership than Men’s Gymnastics. At least for me, starting with Olga Korbut and then going on to Nadia. Speaking of Nadia, she really filled out and married Bart Conner. I think they live in Nebraska. 🙂
I agree. It definitely is, Damid. For numerous reasons too. Nadia, like a lot of retired athletes, tend to put on weight. And, if she is a mother, that is also a factor. The hormonal changes that motherhood causes are really tough to battle. Didn’t Olga also move to the U.S.? — YUR
Joy,
I will get to your comments a little later. There’s much more to respond to, and I want to get to today’s spoilers first! — YUR
Oh Unc! I so agree with you. People need to get a grip.
I ran through this puzzle!!! And the answer in absolute record time for me!! Yet another grand Jumble day!
LL
Your blog is great for giving us the answers, when we’re frustrated trying to solve the daily puzzles, but also for some thought-provoking comments. In today’s political/social climate, I’m more reactive than usual, but I consider you a thoughtful person from what I have read over the years. …nothing personal in my response. Thanks for all you do.
I hear what you’re saying, Joy. But that’s not what I was saying. I also think that people should strive to be polite, and I try to practice what I preach. There are some, and I’d say they are on the fringe, who resort to racial slurs, but the world is full of entrenched biases, that have existed since the dawn of man. There are many groups of people who have traditionally considered themselves to be superior over others, some even openly calling them selves “God’s chosen people”. It’s an ancient tribalism, that is not quite as prevalent as it once was, but unfortunately it does still exist. But, things are much MUCH better than they used to be. I think that you’d have to agree with me on that. Sure, this current administration has emboldened some of these less enlightened holdovers, but some of our reactions to them has actually made things worse. The racists seem to thrive on the backlash attention. Experts say that when a young child blurts out a vile expletive you shouldn’t overreact to it, because that overreaction is what the child is looking for. They say you need to calmly explain to them that that kind of language is very impolite and improper. You could argue that children and adults are different, but all bad language stems from a combination of anger and ignorance. I don’t espouse racial slurs, but I do think that too much of our political correctness has just resulted in today’s racial backlash.
The sexual harassment issue is a murkier double edged sword. There is no defending the rapists, and the true sexual assaults, of Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly, and others (and to an extent Charlie Rose and Matt Lauer), but the claims against Al Franken and Garrison Keillor and George H.W. Bush, and some others, kind of cheapens what I consider to be the real crimes. Coercion is never a good thing. But, they leave out the women who actively seek out men of power. There are many women who know that men are weak, and they willingly use their feminine wiles to get what they want. There are women in the workplace who are willing to – and please excuse the expression – screw their way to the top. And, there are still some women – even professionals – who are looking to marry the boss, so in these case they are the aggressors. People have long known of the “casting couch” when it comes to the entertainment industry. It’s a seedy side of industry, but it is a known thing. A lot of the women go into this knowing this unfortunate truth, and they make their “choice” in order to get the part. So, some of this is “buyer’s remorse”, for lack of a better phrase. As unscrupulous as the practice has been, a lot of these women could have just said no, and walked away. But, they weighed what they might gain against what they were “willing” to give up. A boss/superior should NOT put an employee/subordinate in uncomfortable sexual situations, and arguably even equals shouldn’t, but often it is a matter of “misreading signals”. People have been meeting people at work for eons. Sometimes things are just innocent small talk, and other times there are “flirtations” that are meant to be taken as cues. The coercive quid pro quo type of behavior is dead wrong, but just as often it’s a miscommunication. I think it’s sad that the former should override the later, to the point where no one can broach the possibility of a non-work relationship. And, I think you realize that I didn’t bring up music videos as an excuse for some men’s talking and actions. It was brought up to show how over-sexualized our society has become, and very few object to it. I don’t appreciate the overboard reaction, because it amounts to throwing out the baby with the bath water. It’s punishing the many for the sins of the few. That’s not fair. And, I worry that this could also result in a very ugly backlash. Possibly even an increase in violent rapes.
I never had a problem with the Colin Kaepernick led protest. I always thought that it was a legitimate way to bring up the injustice of far too many police against people of color. The problem is the people that are trying to make it an issue of being unpatriotic and/or disrespectful of the flag and/or veterans. I can sort of see your comparison, but I don’t think it’s really the same thing as what’s going on with the “inappropriate sexual behavior” issue.
With the weight issue, I wasn’t talking about bullying the overweight with insults. I’m not for that. That is cruel. But, I think there was a huge overreaction to Maria Kang’s photo with the slogan “What’s your excuse?”. There was not a fat person in the photo! That’s not “fat-shaming”. I know for a fact that I’m overweight, and by the federal guidelines I’m – technically – obese, but I don’t consider that phrase fat shaming. I know my “excuse” is that I like beer and chocolate chip cookies too much. And, I also need to get my beer gut back into the gym. The phrase/photo is a challenge, it’s not fat shaming. For Megyn Kelly, or anyone else, to tell her what her photo should’ve said is borderline fascism in my book. But, I am also not for glorifying the overweight with some of these plus-sized models. Just as I don’t think the more anorexic models are a positive role models for girls/young women, I don’t think promoting overweight models is a healthy thing either. It’s contrary to what the medical community has been telling us, as this country is facing an epidemic of obesity.
I think we can all be polite without having to parse everything we say, so as we don’t offend someone. I think there is a big difference between being polite and being politically correct, because given people’s devices someone can usually interpret anything said as being “offensive”, and that just shuts down constructive communication.
— YUR
I’m far from being a professional writer, Joy, so I understand that I might be being a little too concise sometimes, and not fully explaining myself, as I probably should. I probably bit off more than I could properly chew with yesterday’s Jumble spoiler. I try not to take comments too personally. Especially, when they come from friendly regulars, such as yourself. — YUR 🙂
Well the truth is, LindaLee, I’m not necessarily right about everything. LOL! But, I do pretty much have an opinion about just about everything. Sometimes I’m just not fully explaining myself as well as I could.
— YUR
Thanks for explaining! I’d say you’re a great writer. Of course, some women have used their sexuality to get what they want. I also agree our culture has come a long way toward equalizing races, sexes, even in my lifetime (1948), but we still have work to do. I’m a bit “top heavy”, if you will, and sensitive about picking clothes that don’t emphasize it. But when I was young, I was very self-conscious and embarrassed. That’s why I reacted to the “looks nice in the sweater” compliment. But I’ll take a more general “you look great” compliment with pleasure. Take care, Joy
You’re too kind, Joy. Yes, there is still plenty of work to be done. I have a cousin who went through what you did. (Apparently, she took after her grandmother, on her dad’s side.) She didn’t want to live that way, so she had reduction surgery. So, I get it. Guys CAN be jerks, sometimes. You take care too. — YUR