... Firstly there is the racial component. When all the NBC commentators are talking about how the Chinese gymnasts don't "look" 16 or they "look very young," there is a subtext of "they don't look like a Western girl does at 16." In fact, Asian women often appear younger than Western women. The evaluation of age based on what people look like is neither a scientific method nor an unbiased assessment. (But I'll indict myself and disclose that I think they "look" hella young.)

Then there is the sexism component. This takes two parts (at least). The "because they are girls we must protect them" part and the "policing what female bodies are supposed to do and look like" part. I admit to being less troubled by the former, even when I intellectually recognize it's importance. It is true that we are more reactive about protecting 14 yr old female bodies than male bodies, it is true that we hype up the rhetoric of vulnerability around female atheletes in a way we don't with men. It is true that this is unfair. But I also think it is true that young women are more poorly served by the realities of elite athleticism when it comes to psycho-social body image issues, and therefore deserve heightened attention. ...