Little Girls in Pretty Boxes

"Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters" is a 1995 nonfiction book by San Francisco Chronicle sports writer Joan Ryan detailing the difficult training regimens endured by young women in competitive sports such as gymnastics and ice skating, published by Doubleday Books. Ryan’s material was largely derived from personal interviews with nearly 100 former gymnasts and figure skaters as well as trainers, sports psychologists, physiologists and other experts, focusing on the physical and emotional hardships young women endured for the sake of Olympic glory and was ultimately critical of training practices. [cite news | first=Jim | last=Abbott | coauthors= | title=TV drama looks at gymnastics, sees pain not glory | date=1997-01-19 | publisher=Sentinel Communications | url =http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:ORLB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EB4F36583419830&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated4&req_dat=0D0CB57AB53DF815 | work =The Orlando Sentinel | pages =F3 | accessdate = 2007-09-06 | language = ] She argues that the image of these athletes’ beauty, glamour, class and sophistication conceals a troubled reality, with physical problems of eating disorders, weakened bones, stunted growth, debilitating and fatal injuries, psychological issues such as depression and low self-esteem, and life sacrifices of dropping out of school, losing the chance to "be a child", and becoming isolated from their peers and families. [cite news | first=Ann G. | last=Sjoerdsma | coauthors= | title=A sad comment on what seems a happy sport | date=1995-07-23 | publisher= | url =http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:SPTB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EB52D91A2950122&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated4&req_dat=0D0CB57AB53DF815 | work =St. Petersburg Times | pages =6D | accessdate = 2007-09-06 | language = ] While decrying these practices, Ryan advocates for systemic change in figure skating and gymnastics, calling for raising minimum-age requirements, mandatory licensing of coaches and careful scrutiny by national governing bodies, and requiring athletes to remain in regular schools at least until they are 16. [cite news | first=Bob | last=Ford | coauthors= | title=How elite girl athletes are shaped, misshaped | date=1995-09-18 | publisher=Knight-Ridder Newspapers | url =http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:MWSB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EB8290747548B1B&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated4&req_dat=0D0CB57AB53DF815 | work =Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | pages =4 | accessdate = 2007-09-06 | language = ] While it was noted that Ryan presented a relatively one-sided, bleak view of the sport, ignoring successes like Kristi Yamaguchi and Mary Lou Retton, [cite news | first=Philip | last=Hersh | coauthors= | title=Abuse amid glamor in name of sports | date=1995-06-01 | publisher= | url =http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:CTRB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EB426C4AE9E819B&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated4&req_dat=0D0CB57AB53DF815 | work =Chicago Tribune | pages =7 | accessdate = 2007-09-06 | language = ] and also appeared to save particular vitriol for Bela Karolyi, [cite news | first=Mark | last=Chapman | coauthors= | title=Fall from balance beam | date=1995-06-11 | publisher= | url =http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:BNHB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EB426C4AE9E819B&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated4&req_dat=0D0CB57AB53DF815 | work =Boston Herald | pages =063 | accessdate = 2007-09-06 | language = ] Ryan’s general points have some support by medical experts, as in the New England Journal of Medicine’s 1996 report that described emotional and physical harm suffered by elite female gymnasts. [ cite journal|title=Physical and Emotional Problems of Elite Female Gymnasts|journal=New England Journal of Medicine|date=1996-07-25|first=Ian R.|last=Tofler|coauthors=Barri Katz Stryer, Lyle J. Micheli, Lisa R. Herman|volume=335|issue=4|pages=281–283|id= |url=http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/335/4/281|format=|accessdate=2007-09-06|doi=10.1056/NEJM199607253350412 ]

Film adaptation

A made for television movie based on the book and starring Swoosie Kurtz and Courtney Peldon aired in 1997 on Lifetime Television. It portrayed a fictionalized account of a teenage girl whose family relocates to Los Angeles to pursue Olympic Gold with a difficult coach and rigorous schedule, drawing on many of the stories Ryan recounts in the book. It depicts young female gymnasts dealing with prescription painkiller abuse, skipping meals, enduring intimidation, and generally pushing their bodies to the breaking point in order to achieve perfection.

See also

*Julissa Gomez
*Christy Henrich

References

External links

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