Interview with Nina Mozer

[Meoima]

Bring the quote from Golden Skate here because it's so relevant

They are questionable because she is using these statements as a scapegoat. I don't find any conclusive studies that prove her statements.

In fact:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2795070/

Asian females have the smallest skeletal muscle mass.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262020856_Ethnic_and_geographic_variations_in_muscle_mass_muscle_strength_and_physical_performance_measures

A measure of speed and strength between ethnicity showed that all Asian values for muscle strength was lower. In terms of measuring speed, Asian and Caucasian values were similar.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonentine/2012/08/12/the-dna-olympics-jamaicans-win-sprinting-genetic-lottery-and-why-we-should-all-care/2/#3ab274fc2315

ACTN3 is a gene that is found in a lot of athletes who are good at sports that involve power and speed. This is a gene that makes fast twitch muscles twitch quickly. Given that she says that Asians have more muscles and are fast by nature, then should Asians have the muscle strength/mass? Shouldn't Asians have more of the ACTN3 gene than European/White ancestry?

According to this article that explains a study by Human Molecular Genetics (Oxford Journal), the trend says no.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_nature/2008/12/white_men_cant_jump.html

The RR variant in the gene is found more in European whites than Asians. The opposite variant, XX variant, is found more in Asians than Europeans.

Of course all of these studies and articles provide evidence, not proof. The evidence provided above show her statements about Asians are likely unfounded. In addition, this season didn't go so well for her teams because
a) Fedor was injured horribly and competed at worlds despite being unable to lift his arm 2 months prior
b) Max and Tat performed below par at Worlds.

If she wanted to defer to ethnicity as an explanation for their mixed seasons, then Asians and her teams should have performed perfectly and Asians would have gotten the higher score. But no, S/H fell on their 4STh attempt and botched the 3S. S/K messed up a couple elements and could not perform to their GPF caliber due to Fedor's injury. V/T messed up a lot of elements included 2 footing the throw in the SP, didn't get the jump combination and completely invalidated a lift.

Also what Chinese Canadian won? Patrick came in 5th. Meagan and Eric are not Chinese-Canadian last time I checked. If anything, Meagan is probably the most muscular out of all competing females right now :laugh:

Her skaters couldn't bring their best to Boston. Was race/ethnicity a factor? I highly doubt it.

Fedor Klimov
I think they should have made the decision to let S/K sit out of Worlds. Ranking points/berths aside, think about the long-term and not aggravating Fedor's shoulder is probably a wiser idea. S/K are in their mid-20s and could go for 2 more Olympics.

Russian females

While I don't think anyone can deny that historically women have been at home more than men, I think it's pretty far fetched to use this as causation in a sport.

 

[dinakt]

... and what does it have to do with the 3 specific issues i covered: translations of the words "homemaker" & "white people" and the subject of "skeletal muscle differences"?

Only that none of the points you made change that most of Mozer's statements do not survive the simplest fact check. Whether she calls Asian female athletes "keepers of the homestead flame" or "home makers" is irrelevant. The big picture is that Asian women's athletic achievements do not corroborate Mozer's statements.

Personally, I do not see a big difference in meaning between "housewife" and "female keeper of homestead flame". One has a more positive sound, but both imply staying at home, and not being a World or Olympic champion.
Neither do I see the difference between "white people" and "white race" in the context used by N.M. (and neither stands to a simplest scrutiny)
Point #3 I am not ready to discuss, but nothing in the interview gives it factual credence.

Wait a minute. I rarely agree with anything Timani posts, BUT she is only pointing out translation issues. There is a huge difference between 'housewives' and 'keepers of the homestead flame'. I think it's important that the words are translated carefully. The interview is UGLY regardless, full of chauvinistic and racist comments - but lets have a correct translation to base our opinions on.

I do not see much difference in the context it was used, and I am also a native speaker.

No problem, dear. Once I get payed for the translations I will make sure to translate each word super carefully..Till then you can either use google translate or live with 'type English while I read Russian' translations.

This. It's been discussed on boards before, but locating articles, translating them and posting them here is incredibly time consuming and a huge public service. I think as long as meaning stays the same, it is not worth pointing out mild word variations. If the meaning is different, there's nothing wrong in correcting the translation, but only politely because none of us did this service to the board. Luckily there are enough Russian speakers on FSU that there is no chance that anything faulty would not be pointed out, in any translation. However, it is important to keep in mind that finding fault is much easier than translating.

To be accurate, Mozer never said Russian women were considered 'keepers of the homestead flame'; rather, she implied that asian women are.

And to be fair, it's not an uncommon perception. Once during my grad school years, there was an informal question/answer session between grad students and a Chinese female professor of biology at an American university. In response to a question about work-life balance, her answer was something like "I'm from northern China, and yes it's traditional that the men work outside the home and make the money and the women are expected to stay at home and take care of kids. But it's also different across regions in China. For example, Shanghai women are the opposite. I have a friend from Shanghai, and she makes her husband wash her feet. That would be unthinkable in northern China!" I glanced at a fellow grad student from Shanghai sitting across the room to see what she thought of this answer -- she caught my eye and nodded in agreement. It was .

Sure, it is not an uncommon cultural perception, but in this particular case it is not so relevant, because again, Mozer was talking about elite athletes. If she was using gender stereotypes to justify why Asian Men win more than Asian women, she has an extremely short memory span.

 

[arakwafan2006]

If V/T can't find motivation they shouldn't be competing. If your heart's not in it, there's just no point.

Wouldn't that be for them to decide ?

 

[arakwafan2006]

I choked on my spinach salad after reading the first paragraph.

After a few sips of water and cleaning up pieces of spinach off of my desk, I continued.
She has quite a way with words. Interesting read.

Thank you for the translation!

Thanks @claireclouter for the American cripple info.

And I just choked reading your comment

 

[arakwafan2006]

Nina F'in Mozer can clear a room! Damn. I mean, I'm hoping this was mistranslated or something because if it's not, I could say some unpleasant things.

I have never heard that being white was a disadvantage in anything before. Smh. They need to start testing the damn coaches for drugs because this b&$?h is either crazy or high... Lol

 

[arakwafan2006]

And when the hell did Javier become Latino? Lololol. Unbelievable.

 

[eurodance2001]

Seriously! I want a job where I can say random, incorrect, and generally offensive things, yet still be considered successful in the eyes of many! Oh to dream!!!

There's still time for you to throw your hat into the mix and run for President. Seems to be working already..

 

[arakwafan2006]

Her students probably run the other direction when they see a reporter interviewing her.

Moskvina: one of the most intelligent people on the planet

Tarasova: genius and a legend in the sport with tremendous insight presented in the most frank way possible

Mozer: lunatic

Lol. She's. Good coach but she should keep quiet. Zueva is a bit out there but she knows how to not embarrass herself. Nina is a loose canon lol

 

[hanca]

Her students probably run the other direction when they see a reporter interviewing her.

Moskvina: one of the most intelligent people on the planet

Tarasova: genius and a legend in the sport with tremendous insight presented in the most frank way possible

Mozer: lunatic

Lol. She's. Good coach but she should keep quiet. Zueva is a bit out there but she knows how to not embarrass herself. Nina is a loose canon lol

Zueva knows how to not embarrass herself? Since when? Have you forgot her interviews about the fosters couple in the worlds, with two beautiful pairs of blue eyes?

 

[aftershocks]

Lol. Your post is almost as crazy as Mozer's interview

Almost? Just as crazy imo.

Yes, it was totally worth interrupting your projects, now the interview totally makes sense and Mozer no longer comes out an idiot.

She's probably completely spooked from Worlds and had to hit the booze because she knew what kind of questions would be coming. She also has the Elton John glasses which blurs her vision, everybody has a color tint about them and probably appear 8-10 times larger/smaller in size.

Is it at all possible that Mozer thinks American 'cripple' Haven Denney is a Latina Keeper of the Homestead Flame, whilst her partner, Brandon Frazier is a Latino fighter??

I was stumped thinking the interview was about pairs, but then it was somehow about the men's podium, but not necessarily this year's? And what was that about 'white people can't jump?!' Are D/R Chinese Canadians ...? Are a Ukranian and French team skating for Germany somehow Kazakhs? Did Mozer have ulterior motives for bringing Robin Szolkowy aboard to work with T/M that had something to do with anthropology?

... the Chinese girl was skating with -8 sight on one eyes,...

No one has as yet explained what is meant by '-8 sight on one eyes', or maybe it's just me who doesn't get it, and this is the only crystal clear comment in the entire interview?

... the Canadian world champion wanted to perform 2 quads but gave it up after she injured her chin, ...

This is news to me. I thought Meagan and Eric ditched their second quad throw because it was causing havoc on timing/ rhythm of their triple throw. When, where and how did Meagan injure her chin?

... This year I let them decide themselves what do they want to do. Different choreographers. Only Ksenia and Fedor are working with Nikolai Morozov, the rest is a secret...

Might the secret be that one team will be skating to selections from Lost in Translation? And another team to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? And maybe Nikolai Morozov has more rockin' classical hip hop transformations up his sleeve?

 

[ginsengtea]

No one has as yet explained what is meant by '-8 sight on one eyes', or maybe it's just me who doesn't get it, and this is the only crystal clear comment in the entire interview?

I believe she's referring to when Wenjing Sui competed at Four Continents after hitting her head on a quad throw attempt and couldn't see out of one eye.

 

[Daena]

'-8 sight on one eyes'

It's eyesight metric in diopters. Well, not eyesight, but lenses. Like, for your eyes to see normally, it needs lens of -8 diopters

 

[Prancer]

-8 would be extremely nearsighted.

 

[kirkbiggestfan]

Does Mozer speak english well? It would be interesting to have her in TSL.

 

[giselle23]

"Besides, Asians have different mentality for men and women. If a man is a fighter, a woman is a homemaker."

Will she say the same when some Asian ladies take a flight to Russia and have a serious talk with her to see who's the fighter?

I think by Eastern, she meant Russian (Eastern European). Still jaw-dropping.

 

[Xela M]

I think by Eastern, she meant Russian (Eastern European). Still jaw-dropping.

I thought that too, but then her description of a Russian woman as someone who would walk through fire etc made no sense

 

[giselle23]

I thought that too, but then her description of a Russian woman as someone who would walk through fire etc made no sense

I think something was lost in translation because a lot of it didn't make sense.

 

[Xela M]

I think something was lost in translation because a lot of it didn't make sense.

I read the interview in Russian and it still made no sense. The translation was spot on.

 

[MsZem]

I thought that too, but then her description of a Russian woman as someone who would walk through fire etc made no sense

Maybe one of the Russian pairs is planning a Buffy tribute?

Now that would be worth watching.

 

[Daena]

I think by Eastern, she meant Russian (Eastern European). Still jaw-dropping.

Absolutely not. Totally not.
Russian never call themselves Eastern. In Russian language the word "eastern" like "eastern man", "eastern tradition" or "eastern mentality" always references to Asia (from Center Asia to Far East), Caucasus Mountains, Arabic countries or Turkey.
When Russian talk about Eastern European they say Slavic or Eastern European.

 

[Vash01]

In addition to everything else, I also object to her classifying Asian women (not just skaters) as housewives (or whatever fancy term she may have used). This woman is so ignorant and/or biased, it's hard to believe she lives in the 21st century. She needs to go back to the 16th or 17th century.

 

[bluebonnets]

"Keeper of the homestead flame" sounds like the Russian version of "domestic technician"......

How many posts do I need to switch my title over from "new member" to "keeper of the homestead flame"?

 

[babayaga]

I read the interview in Russian and it still made no sense. The translation was spot on.

Same here. I was reading the interview in Russian and couldn't make any sense of what she was saying.

 

[TAHbKA]

Same here. I was reading the interview in Russian and couldn't make any sense of what she was saying.

The same here. I was translating and thinking wtf did I just read and type in almost every sentence.

 

[Taso]

You know, these comments are making me wonder...anyone familiar with the interviewer? Is this from a sensationalist press of some kind?

 

[TAHbKA]

No, no idea who the person is

 

[kittyjake5]

Maybe one of the Russian pairs is planning a Buffy tribute?

Now that would be worth watching.

I can just imagine.

I was a big Buffy fan, not a fan of the newer versions of vampire shows. Some of my friends would
role their eyes at me when I said I have to go Buffy is on telly tonight. lol

 

[zebraswan]

Does Mozer speak english well? It would be interesting to have her in TSL.

I had a brief convo with her at TCC in English and she obviously knows enough to communicate with Robin Szolkowy, so she speaks some, although I don't think she is super fluent. Somehow I can't imagine her doing TSL, but she and Dave would probably get along quite well, given some of the idiotic things he's said himself.

 

[hanca]

You know, these comments are making me wonder...anyone familiar with the interviewer? Is this from a sensationalist press of some kind?

Or maybe they first got her drunk, to ensure that it will be 'interesting' interview and that she won't hold back.

 

[Jammers]

T/M need to leave Mozer and get a coach who is interested in making them the focus and right now in Mozer's group T/M are only Russian team number #3. Despite the fact that V/T don't even seem serious about competing anymore they will always be the main focus of this group and the same thing is true of S/K. T/M are the future of Russian Pairs but the Russian fed seems more interested in older teams who don't even seem to want to compete.