Yes or no: The societal norms of countries within the Soviet Bloc led...

[JVS]

to the development of a better ice-skating and gymnastics sub-culture than that which developed in the West.

[JVS]

1. Dammit people! This issue is not going away!

[Ellen Forradalom]

2. Absolutely

It derives from their ballet tradition. They value these sports and have a better system in place for identifying and training talent.

[realisticphish]

3. in the west

bogus standards of masculinity shrink the talent pool by quite a bit

[democracyindanger]

4. Depends on what you consider 'societal norms.'

Soviet excellence in sport were largely due to government-established programs that took kids at young ages and essentially made them into nothing but all-athletes, all-the-time.

That, and the drugs.

[Benfea]

5. What the hell do societal norms have to do with either of those things?

In Russia, societal norms consist mostly of sharing food with friends and doing shots of vodka until you can't see straight.

In the former Yugoslavia, societal norms mostly involved either getting high and listening to Bob Marley, or complaining about people who listen to Bob Marley.

As for East Germany… well… it's Germany. Anything that invovles borderline obsessive-compulsive behavior seems to make them deliriously happy.

You can go through the list, but it seems kind of pointless. I think you meant to use a word other than "societal norm."