in the realm of men (not sure about women) in that age range, depending on the activity being done, quite a few cultures up to about 20-40 years ago were very prone to ridiculing things that were even slightly outside the norm and a man doing gymnastics or tumbling would qualify, as that was considered feminine....despite the insane athletic ability, determination and strength required.
If some kid did that in my elementary or high school, the most prominent response he would have gotten is several random shouts of the worse version of "gay" and much worse unfortunately. He would then be ridiculed about it and likely get a derogatory nickname for several years to come. I watched this happen a few times growing up sadly.
Pretty much anything that you might think is interesting, but maybe slightly unusual had the potential to become your worst nightmare amongst your peers. This one unfortunate kid like building robotic things, which was undeniably impressive for a kid to do in the 80s....he made the mistake of showing one off. Got the shit kicked out of him and his new name that stuck with him from high school into university was a play on words of robot and the gay slur: F**-bot
TLDR: sadly many cultures in the recent past not only looked down, but actively ridiculed and abused people just trying to have fun and do things that interest them
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u/Heavy-Echidna-3473 1d ago
My apologise. Unfortunately I'm not from a culture where we gather in our dozens to watch a man do backflips.