Is this real… or is it just really convincing trolling? It’s difficult to tell these days.
Over the weekend, a number of conservatives who are concerned about the current culture war issues centered around sex and gender, were sharing an absurd video of the opening ceremonies of the European Figure Skating Championship being held in Espoo, Finland. The video featured a 59-year-old Finnish man dressed in the costume of a female figure skater and attempting a routine. This was supposed to be an appeasement the gods of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” but it revealed something else entirely.
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Samantha Chang wrote an opinion piece in the Western Standard about the epic fail that was the trans performance.
Markku-Pekka Antikainen, a transgender farmer who took up figure skating at age 50, now performs under the name “Minna-Maaria Antikainen,” according to the Finnish Figure Skating Association.
Despite his obvious maladroitness, he headlined a showcase celebrating “diversity” at the opening ceremony of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships at Espoo Metro Areena in Finland on Wednesday.
The performance was an epic disaster, as Antikainen wobbled on the ice and had trouble maintaining his balance.
At one point, Antikainen fell on his knees while doing a routine turn and floundered around on the ice until a female figure skater helped him to his feet.
Source: Western Journal
Jack Posobiec of Human Events posted the video to his nearly 2 million Twitter followers:
BREAKING: Finland has introduced the world's first transgender national figure skater
They fall down in the first 45 seconds and no one is allowed to act like anything at all happened pic.twitter.com/12n8ubKZ1c
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) January 29, 2023
Not only is it insulting that Antikainen took the place of a woman in the opening ceremony… he wasn’t even that good.
Antikainen’s routine was an insult not just to female figure skaters but to figure skating as a whole.
There are some incredible male figure skaters out there — Brian Boitano, Scott Hamilton, Elvis Stojko, Brian Orser, and Kurt Browning all immediately spring to mind.
This performance didn’t even rate as amateurish, it was an utter embarrassment to the sport.
It was clear that the inclusion of Antikainen had nothing to do with ability and everything to do with identity.
It seems that “transgender women” are celebrated for their identity alone and not because of any accomplishments. Being “trans” seems to be the only accomplishment. The ability to skate at the same level as women that Antikainen might compete against is irrelevant.
Not only are some “trans women” claiming to be better than women and taking away opportunities for women — they apparently don’t even need to be very good at the thing they’re doing.
The responses to the video were pretty similar — shock that this lackluster performance would be included at all.
Now that the Yoel Roth team of Twitter censors is (largely) gone, people are able to criticize the absurdity of this video.
What annoys me the most about this is WHY is this person there at all? This event celebrates excellence in figure skating with people who have spent years crafting their skills in the sport. This just makes a mockery of it all. This person belongs in a public skating rink only
— Todd Headlee (@ToddHeadleeAZ) January 29, 2023
That dude has all the grace of a mathematician.
— Sean (@WhaaaDaFk) January 29, 2023
Good lord, that's sad as hell. To be that pathetic after nine years.
— Sean (@WhaaaDaFk) January 29, 2023
Remember when we used to make fun of the absurd authoritarian dictatorship of North Korea because everyone has to pretend that Kim Jong-il had scored 18 hole-in-ones or whatever https://t.co/yfk7aTli79
— Auron MacIntyre (@AuronMacintyre) January 29, 2023
You know… I understand when a society gives a gift to people with disabilities, providing the opportunity to performe at opening ceremonies, for example. But this? He took the place of a real woman who's been training for years, right? He shattered years of work of some woman.
— Inki (@Inki_FairyTales) January 29, 2023
Several other videos of Antikainen began to surface online…
(Continued)
Antikainen previously competed in the 2020 Juna Cup in a performance titled "Geisha," during which he painted his face white, dressed in kimono, and skated to traditional Japanese music. pic.twitter.com/N51YQIKJAF— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) January 29, 2023
Finnish transgender figure skater Minna-Maaria Antikainen lives out "childhood dream" pic.twitter.com/j7HfigPUR2
— ImAOak (@baldwin_jet) January 30, 2023
The Finnish Figure Skating Association insists that Antikainen is a real competitor and even profiled the skater’s journey in an April 2020 article on its website.
“I’m always ready to accept factual criticism, for example about my skating skills, but when my identity is violated, it almost feels like sacrilege,” said Antikainen in the article.
The glowing report included the full video of the “Geisha” routine at the 2019 Juna Cup competition. In the video, it shows that Antikainen was “currently in 2nd place” but it’s unclear how many competitors there were below him, if any.
Despite this, some social media users still think that this is one heck of an elaborate troll. One provided more video evidence as proof.
While it’s very difficult to tell parody from reality these days, (I certainly don’t envy the Babylon Bee team trying to come up with parody in 2023!) it seems like Minna-Maaria Antikainen is the real deal. And by “real deal”, I mean fake.
Sorry if that hurts that guy’s feelings, but he probably should feel bad for taking the spot from a talented figure skater that deserved it — female or male.
Sources:
1. Chang, Samantha. “59-Year-Old Male ‘Ice Princess’ Is Trans Centerpiece in Figure Skating Diversity Showcase – But Then He Starts to Wobble.” Western Journal. January 30, 2023. https://www.westernjournal.com/59-year-old-male-ice-princess-trans-centerpiece-figure-skating-diversity-showcase-starts-wobble/
2. Skating Finland. https://www-skatingfinland-fi.translate.goog/henkilot/minna-maaria-antikainen-elaa-rohkeasti-unelmaansa/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Is this real… or is it just really convincing trolling? It’s difficult to tell these days.
