Little Girls In Pretty Boxes

Little Girls In Pretty Boxes

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Preview — Little Girls in Pretty Boxes
by Joan Ryan

From starvation diets and debilitating injuries to the brutal tactics of tyrannical gymnastics guru Bela Karolyi, Little Girls in Pretty Boxes portrays the horrors endured by girls at the hands of their coaches and sometimes their own families. An acclaimed expose that has already helped reform Olympic sports—now updated to reflect the latest developments in women's gymnas
From starvation diets and debilitating injuries to the brutal tactics of tyrannical gymnastics guru Bela Karolyi, Little Girls in Pretty Boxes portrays the horrors endured by girls at the hands of their coaches and sometimes their own families. An acclaimed expose that has already helped reform Olympic sports—now updated to reflect the latest developments in women's gymnastics and figure skating—it continues to plead for sanity, safety, and an end to our national obsession: winning at any cost.
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Published
August 1st 2000
by Warner Books (NY)

(first published 1995)

Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters

0446676829
(ISBN13: 9780446676823 )

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Mar 07, 2018

Crumb

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An eye-opening account of the rigorous and often abusive training methods that elite gymnasts and ice-skaters endure in hopes of claiming an elusive Olympic medal. This book detailed the unavoidable eating disorders, injuries, and overbearing parents that skaters and gymnasts face. There were anecdotes about the rise and fall of famous athletes such as Shannon Miller, Kim Zmeskal, and Betty Okino. This book did exactly what it set out to do: Expose what the world of elite gymnastics and ice-skat
An eye-opening account of the rigorous and often abusive training methods that elite gymnasts and ice-skaters endure in hopes of claiming an elusive Olympic medal. This book detailed the unavoidable eating disorders, injuries, and overbearing parents that skaters and gymnasts face. There were anecdotes about the rise and fall of famous athletes such as Shannon Miller, Kim Zmeskal, and Betty Okino. This book did exactly what it set out to do: Expose what the world of elite gymnastics and ice-skating is really like, behind all the glitz and glam. It was a little slow in some parts, but overall I think it did an excellent job of providing the reader with an inside look into this secret society. The book focused a lot on the militaristic coaching technique that Bela Karolyi implemented. To me, it seemed flat out abusive. The long-term effects of intensive training can have devastating outcomes on a gymnast or ice skater, both mentally and physically. Here are some pictures of the gymnasts: Shannon Miller Betty Okino Kim Zmeskal Dominique Moceanu Chelle Stack And finally, in memory of Julissa Gomez . She left the world far too soon.. (November 4, 1972 – August 8, 1991)
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Jan 27, 2018

PinkAmy loves books, cats and naps

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it was amazing

Twenty years before most of us heard the name Larry Nassar, the Gymnastics who molested over 150 gymnasts and other athletes, journalist Joan Ryan wrote LITTLE GIRLS IN PRETTY BOXES about the often dark secrets behind competitive gymnastics and figure skating. I still gave my copy from 1995 which I read cover to cover the day it was released. I’ve been a Gymnastics and figure skating super-fan since watching Olga Korbut, then Nadia Comaneci. I wrote a fan letter to Tai and Randy and thought life
Twenty years before most of us heard the name Larry Nassar, the Gymnastics who molested over 150 gymnasts and other athletes, journalist Joan Ryan wrote LITTLE GIRLS IN PRETTY BOXES about the often dark secrets behind competitive gymnastics and figure skating. I still gave my copy from 1995 which I read cover to cover the day it was released. I’ve been a Gymnastics and figure skating super-fan since watching Olga Korbut, then Nadia Comaneci. I wrote a fan letter to Tai and Randy and thought life couldn’t get any better when Randy responded. LITTLE GIRLS IN PRETTY BOXES both crushed my fantasy of perfect girls effortlessly twisting their bodies in unimaginable ways by showing the abusive coaches, the eating disorders, crushed self esteem, intimidation and lack of regard these girls and young women endured. Some didn’t survive their sports. Ryan interviewed athletes, family, trainers , used news reports and footage show the tears behind the smiles and presented the stories in a compulsive readable chapters that had me wanting an update. With the news of Larry Nassar’s crimes and USA Gymnastics complicity, Joan Ryan or somebody else needs to write the next chapter in the failure of USAG and the USOC to protect its athletes from predators. Sadly, Bela Karoli’s emotional abuse of young gymnasts is clearly documented and well known internationally. Officials led the public to believe when Marta took over as USAG team coach, the sport had turned away from its abusive past to a gentler, more humane way of training athletes **children** trying to pursue their dreams of Olympic glory tumbling toward the gold. ETA I also enjoyed the audiobook.
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non-fiction ,
2008 ,
sports

more about gymnasts than figure skaters, i read the version that included the 2000 epilogue. which is great, because the first version was written in 1995, before the americans won gold in atlanta. i'd still like to read a more recent book on gymnastics/ice-skating, but wonder if the fact that the country has had more success in the olympic arena has pushed down the urge to write about it. there's a lot of heart-break in this book. girls who died as a result of bad vaults, or extreme eating disor
more about gymnasts than figure skaters, i read the version that included the 2000 epilogue. which is great, because the first version was written in 1995, before the americans won gold in atlanta. i'd still like to read a more recent book on gymnastics/ice-skating, but wonder if the fact that the country has had more success in the olympic arena has pushed down the urge to write about it. there's a lot of heart-break in this book. girls who died as a result of bad vaults, or extreme eating disorders. competing broken and battered at the age of 15. thinking your life is over at 17. in a way, i never thought of after, that they do retard their body growth so much that they never turn into physical adults. and when your career is over at 18, 22, and you have bone problems and hurt all over, what do you do? when you are done with gymnastics, or gymnastics is done with you - what options do you have? i mean, we know shannon miller won heaps of medals, but what is her life like now? anyway, this is a really good, incisive, non-apologetic look at the sports and the risks and things that we don't want to hear about. i think the most shocking chapters were about the parents, who either made the problem worse or refused to see anything - who still can't give up the dream, and the coaches. i will never look at bela karolyi the same way. i think that's good, but it makes me a little sad that he isn't the big bear hugging personality he seems to be. but it makes me more sad to think how many little girls are sent to his gym because their parents see him that way too, and then their girls are torn apart.
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Dec 16, 2021

dianne

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review of another edition

“The anachronistic lack of ambivalence about femininity in both sports is part of their attraction, hearkening back to a simpler time when girls were girls, when women were girls for that matter: coquettish, malleable, eager to please.” I will certainly never look at Olympic gymnastics or figure skating the same way. As these sports become more difficult (triple jumps are the norm) they literally rule out having grown women as participants. “The physical skills have become so demanding that only
“The anachronistic lack of ambivalence about femininity in both sports is part of their attraction, hearkening back to a simpler time when girls were girls, when women were girls for that matter: coquettish, malleable, eager to please.” I will certainly never look at Olympic gymnastics or figure skating the same way. As these sports become more difficult (triple jumps are the norm) they literally rule out having grown women as participants. “The physical skills have become so demanding that only a body shaped like a missile…a body shaped like a boy’s can excel. Breasts and hips slow the spins, lower the leaps and disrupt the clean, lean body lines that judges reward.” In 1976 the US Olympic gymnasts averaged 17.5 years old, stood 5’3.5” and weighed 106 pounds. That was before Karolyi. By 1992 they were: 16 years old, 4’9”, and a whopping 83 lbs. The coaches, especially in gymnastics and exemplified by the archevil Karolyi (the Romanian coach transplanted to Houston, Texas) have become crazed and abusive, demanding complete subservience. One of the reasons they prefer their gymnasts young: “It is far easier to work with small, mute creatures who look at a coach as an idol and perform everything without ever talking back.” The necessity to remain essentially prepubescent in shape (and mentation) leads, of course, to eating disorders and psychological abuse. “And there is no creature on earth more desperate for approval than a girl inching toward puberty….she is a mass of insecurities looking for an identity.” Karolyi used this cruelly. He called his finest gymnasts idiots, cockroaches, pigs, pathetic, pregnant spiders or gravid goats, overstuffed Christmas turkeys, among other hurtful and damaging names. “He was successful in great part because he had no conscience as a coach.” One young gymnast who left Karolyi due to his abuse, unfortunately did not escape - her mother called another coach (Steve Nunno): “Get her up here right now, Nunno warned. If she steps out of the gym, she’ll see what she’s missing and you might never get her back.” The mother put the young anorexic and bulimic gymnast on a plane the next day. This mother, who had often sent her daughter to the gym despite fever, stomach aches, even the flu, later spoke of her obsession: “It was to the point where if one girl quit the gym, you wouldn’t let your daughter spend time with her. You didn’t want her to find out there was more to life.” Years later this ex-gymnast, still struggling with severely disordered eating, said: “My appearance was the number one thing I was concerned about. If I didn’t look the way somebody wanted me to look, then I must not be that great.” Another parent recognized in retrospect what he had done… “It was child abuse what we did, what the coaches did. It was the psychology of war: stripping people of their egos so they can go out and kill somebody.” These two ridiculous sports demand absolute fealty and perfection. “Most sports build in a cushion for failure, an opportunity for redemption” . Runners and swimmers can make up for a bad start by being faster later on in the race. Pole vaulters and high jumpers get 3 attempts to clear a height. Long jumpers get 6 tries. Gymnasts and skaters get one shot - any flaw, tiny as it might be, in any part of their routine - can shatter their life’s dream. Not to mention their sense of self - as most of these young girls have been made to feel that their performance determines their worth. Worse yet - skaters are judged on punctuality, ethics, appearance, and rapport with other skaters, coaches and judges. How is that athletic? Can you imagine what would happen if appearance and amiability were applied to the NBA, the NFL or MLB? “Damn, we’ll have to fire that fantastic shortstop; he’s simply not cute, he argued once with a player on the Giants, and I think I see a zit.” How’re those hockey players getting along with the opposing team? Don’t get me started on how I would judge the sweetness and appearance of the Packer’s defensive line. ‘Nuf said - it is ridiculous. I vote for taking silly, subjective and impossible requirements out of these “sports”. Overall an important and incredibly readable book. Suggested for anyone interested in the development of girls as they become women.
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Aug 20, 2008

Meave

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Not nearly as tawdry as promised. In the prologue it was all sexual abuse and this and that all over the place, but the book was mostly eating disorders and injuries. Eating disorders, eh, the ways losing 10 pounds in a week affect your gymnastics skills, no surprise there. Maybe it was more shocking in 1995 when this book was published. The effects of hardcore training on little bitty bodies, that was pretty horrifying, and how nearly all coaches everywhere were all WORK THROUGH PAIN & INJURY OR
Not nearly as tawdry as promised. In the prologue it was all sexual abuse and this and that all over the place, but the book was mostly eating disorders and injuries. Eating disorders, eh, the ways losing 10 pounds in a week affect your gymnastics skills, no surprise there. Maybe it was more shocking in 1995 when this book was published. The effects of hardcore training on little bitty bodies, that was pretty horrifying, and how nearly all coaches everywhere were all WORK THROUGH PAIN & INJURY OR GO TO BABIES' GYM, FATTY LAZY SPIDER PIG-DOG, rough times. Still, I think it's the parents' fault here and they do not get enough blame in the book. How any parent could this kind of invective screamed at his/her itsy bitsy daughter (it's always girls! HA HA abused little lambs!) and continue to pay the screamer $1k per month (in mid-90s dollars!) to continue to scream at said daughter: it is time to call CPS and give the girl to a relative because you clearly do not have her best interests at heart. And the coaches? Clearly inhuman. She touches on figure skating a little, but not much; mostly she makes fun of Nancy Kerrigan for being nearly as white trash as Tonya Harding, but because she was the bashed instead of the basher, and because she chose to play the game instead of fight it, she became a golden girl and got married at Disney on Ice dressed as Snow White and nobody remembers her family is all blue-collar beer-drinking pretzel-eating football fans, because figure skaters are born of pixie dust, angels' tears, and the teeny slivers of ice sheered off the rink when another skater lands a perfect jump. Anyway, I wasn't looking forward to reading about child abuse, I just felt that the prologue was misleading, and the bits about figure skating ought to have been saved for another book, so that she could have gone further into gymnastics. It was too short. STILL: well written, obviously well researched, she got amazing quotes from almost every single person she mentions, and although the foreshadowing tends toward heavy-handedness, she weaves a bunch of stories into a hideous tapestry of abuse abuse abuse. Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be gymnasts. Unless they start later, around age six, and promise not to compete higher than college-level.
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as a former gymnast (although nowhere near elite), this book petrified me. it's hard to believe what young girls and their parents are willing to sacrifice to be the best. i'm going to find it really hard to indulge my guilty pleasure of watching gymnastic and ice skating competitions on tv after this enlightening read.
as a former gymnast (although nowhere near elite), this book petrified me. it's hard to believe what young girls and their parents are willing to sacrifice to be the best. i'm going to find it really hard to indulge my guilty pleasure of watching gymnastic and ice skating competitions on tv after this enlightening read.
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This book was published in 1995. Larry Nassar had already abused his first of hundreds of victims. A coach featured prominently in this book, because two of his gymnasts DIED, is still coaching gymnasts *this weekend* at the U.S. national championships. We need to pay better attention.

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Who knew gymnastics was so horrifying? Joan Ryan’s Little Girls in Pretty Boxes is a chilling, sobering look at the world of women’s gymnastics, where the coaches yell and taunt at young gymnasts while their parents overlook – or exaggerate – the abuse, creating a culture of destroyed confidence, eating disorders an. It’s an unflattering portrait. Ryan tells of the sad fates of several promising girls who were sucked into this world by their talent, chewed up and used by ego-driven coaches and, on
Who knew gymnastics was so horrifying? Joan Ryan’s Little Girls in Pretty Boxes is a chilling, sobering look at the world of women’s gymnastics, where the coaches yell and taunt at young gymnasts while their parents overlook – or exaggerate – the abuse, creating a culture of destroyed confidence, eating disorders an. It’s an unflattering portrait. Ryan tells of the sad fates of several promising girls who were sucked into this world by their talent, chewed up and used by ego-driven coaches and, once they proved too weak or useless for coaches, disgarded like scraps, often the worse for wear. It’s names like Julissa Gomez and Christy Henrich who resonate throughout the book. All young gymnast prodigies, all three were
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