Kristian Ipsen is a young man rising quickly up the world of diving. At a Bay Area meet yesterday, Ipsen received a perfect score: 10s from all five judges. He was recently named to the USA Diving roster, teamed up with Troy Dumais in the men’s 3-meter synchro. He recently beat Dumais for gold at the USA Diving Spring Nationals. The kid’s on fire.
He’s an emerging world-class athlete and will likely be an Olympic athlete in three years. And he’s 16 years old. In some states he is past the age of consent, but in his home state of California he is not (it’s 18 there). Now comes the question. Is it OK to say he’s hot? Is it OK to say he’s cute? And does that apply to random fans? Publications like Outsports? Does the fact that he’s a world-class athlete change any of that? I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this.
on May 15th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
hell yes it is ok to say it. He is doll baby!
on May 15th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
it would be, if there were more pictures of him to make an honest assessment…..
on May 15th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Here is his mugshot:
https://secure.meetcontrol.com/divemeets/system/profile.php?number=10977
on May 15th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
You can admire him and still respect the fact that he’s a kid.
on May 16th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
he is very cute, and hell, why can’t we say it? i remember almost every straight guy in America lusting over Lindsay Lohan when she was just 17 in ‘Mean Girls’, and Rolling Stone even had a headline of “she’s finally legal!” or something to that effect when she was on the cover after turning 18…..
on May 17th, 2009 at 3:29 am
Sure, why not? There’s a fine line between complimenting someone of your junior and taking action…
He’s cute, but not really that cute. He looks pretty gay to me…
on May 18th, 2009 at 12:37 am
Kids cute but I’d say he will be an awesome 30 and 40 year old. Can’t wait for his type to get to 30 and have all that wonderful golden fuzz
and heavy beard/shadow.
on May 18th, 2009 at 3:05 am
Sorta pervie IMHO
on May 18th, 2009 at 9:06 am
Age of consent doesn’t mean adult. The kid still needs his mother in the car with him in order to drive. If you Google this athlete, you see that he is a kid in a Speedo. The pictures may be when he was younger but most people won’t research to find that out.
Since your readers are mostly adults (according to Quantcast) then using the term hot is inappropriate. If your readers were mostly teenagers then it would be acceptable. Cute or handsome would be fine if the article is not focused on his looks but is just a passing comment.
The gay community has a pedophile or recruiting stereotype that we often have to fight. Some opponents will use a “hot comment”, without you knowing, to support that stereotype. No matter how wrong the stereotype is, you have to keep in mind that it exists and decide if it’s an issue you want to address and if it’s the best way to address the issue. It would be ideal if you can make a stand that you won’t let what people think affect the content of the site but there are a lot of challenges out there and you should limit the number you address.
I would think twice about writing any article about a teenager unless it’s a gay teen athlete that wants to tell his story. You have adult men who think just because their picture appears on your site it means that they are gay. You don’t want to open this kid to needless harassment from his fellow classmates when you have no idea if he can handle it. It’s different if it’s an adult, they should be able to deal with it. I don’t think you should use a teenager to state that there is nothing wrong with being assumed gay or that just appearing on Outsports doesn’t mean you’re gay.
I assume when you write any article you have to keep your readers in mind, the demographics you want to attract, the prejudices that you want to challenge, the athletes who came to Outsports to tell their story, the reference and history source you are creating, and the mission of your site. I don’t see how commenting on this young diver’s looks will assist gay athletes and their challenges.
on May 18th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
I agree with Frank. This topic is an embarrassment and lowers the integrity of this website. What if it were your kid featured?
on May 18th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Is it okay to say he’s cute? Sure, there’s nothing illegal in that. And you’re not posting any pictures which are sexualizing him on purpose.
That said, if ESPN or Deadspin were to talk about some 17-year-old female athlete as “hot” or “cute,” there would no doubt be venom and an apoplectic reaction from many sites including this one.
on May 18th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
I’m not sure how raising an issue like this lowers our integrity. And based on comments so far, this is not a cut-and-dried topic for people.
Outsports generally does not link to or post images of athletes we know to be under 18 in our Picture This or Photo Galleries. Why? In essence, it’s not worth the negative perceptions that could accompany such images.
On the other hand, what if a 16-year-old swimmer wins 4 gold medals? I could see no reason to avoid using his image in a story about his accomplishments. So this is not always an easy call.
That said, we often get sent links and photos of high school athletes, which is one reason for this blog item. We were curious as to how people felt about it.
Non-gay sites also wrestle with this. There was a kerfluffle last year when sites everywhere ran images of a 17-year-old female pole vaulter wearing a tight spandex suit (I imagine it was downloaded a zillion times by straight guys). Some called it exploitation, others had no issue with it. The Washington Post even wrote about it. So the issue is out there for gay and straight sites alike.
I never think debate is a bad thing and this article ran one image of the diver in competition; there was nothing titillating about the way it was written, either.
We welcome your opinions on this.
on May 19th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
“That said, if ESPN or Deadspin were to talk about some 17-year-old female athlete as “hot” or “cute,” there would no doubt be venom and an apoplectic reaction from many sites including this one.”
oh puh-leez! Deadspin and many other sites drooled over Maria Sharapova before she was 18 (and I remember many straight guys doing the same over Anna Kournikova back in the day) and we were never judgmental pricks about it like you and Frank are with us!
on May 19th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Does everyone remember the Olsen Twins countdown? MANY publications, TV shows and radio shows - including sports shows and they aren’t even athletes - had a countdown to when they would be 18, obviously saying “I want to have sex with them now, but I have to wait a few more days/weeks/months/years.”
on May 22nd, 2009 at 4:21 am
Fact is, most of us are gay men. Gay men love to look at guys they think are hot. Since 16 is an age of consent in many western countries, I believe it to be the youngest someone can be for people to mention how hot they are… Suggesting sex with someone under 18 though… face it, its too damned dangerous.
on May 23rd, 2009 at 11:23 am
In this particular case, EVERYone is right. I know that sucks because there’s no cut-and-dry, yes or no, right or wrong answer. The truth is, modern-day society and the media is so sex-driven that when someone has their shirt off, it’s automatically sexual. In this instance, a story is run on a young male swimmer (what is his record again?). So, you want a photo of the young man in his element. WELL, that would be at a swim meet. What do men (or boys in this case) wear at swim meets? SPEEDOS! What else are you going to use? *shrug*
Again, we just have to use a tad bit of common sense. And no, I don’t think it’s wrong, especially just to say he’s cute or handsome. Those are simple words that do not suggest anything sexual so don’t be afraid to use them. Just know that there are perverts out there who will fondle themselves over these young boys even when they are fully clothed in the photos.
on Jul 19th, 2009 at 12:33 am
Hot hot hot!!!
on Jul 19th, 2009 at 11:26 am
What does the age of consent — a totally arbitrary number depending on the location you find yourself — have to do with giving a very cute guy a compliment? There, I said it. He is quite cute…wow, the sky did not fall. No laws were broken. I wish him the best in his career, looks like he will pull in a lot of medals for the US!
on Aug 31st, 2009 at 6:54 pm
kristian goes to my school
its kinda kool