Monday, March 5, 2012

The Next Day

I have calm down since yesterday's post. In fact, I feel an awful lot better after I had a conversation with a lovely gentlemen who reminded me of something I should have thought about a long time ago: Sports Night.

That's right, Aaron Sorkin's Sports Night.

Now, I haven't seen it in years (probably a lot longer than I think, if I actually thought about it), but I do remember the impression it had on me. That Dana Whittaker had on me. Having said that, I plan to re-watch the show and see if it's as good as I remember (probably) and as inspiring as I remember (hopefully). This could very well be a huge disaster.

I also went back and re-read an old blog post I wrote, here's an excerpt:

***

"Anyway, the point I am trying to make, and the reason why I am writing this, is to discuss the hot topic of women in sports, and one Sian Massey. You see Massey, I once was subjected to similar controversy you face, so I know how you feel:

This one time, I made the mistake of being a girl while playing Football Manager, and all of my interviews became about me being a girl (a girl who is “cagey” at that). So, despite putting together a totally STELLAR Young Boys team (and making Marco Wölfli happy to stay with the club) all anyone could focus on was me being a girl! Kind of like, how all anyone could focus on was if an offside goal could be called by a girl.

Bare with me, I am going somewhere with this.

So in Football Manager, I made a point to say how girls could do anything, and we could do it, and I was going to do it and I am the symbol for modern sports management feminism and all that bullshit.

Yes, bullshit.

Because, you see my friends, by calling attention to the fact that I am a girl, by stating how I am special and unique, I am furthering the idea that I am different. Yes, I can do the same job, but I am also different, because I am a girl.

That’s bullshit.

I can play Football Manager (editor’s note: actually, I can’t. It constantly freezes my computer) because I know a bit about the game, not because I am a girl who knows a bit about the game. I am not going to put “a feminine touch” on things, nor bake cookies for the team, nor tell them that it doesn’t matter if we win or lose, all that matters is that we have fun. No, my girl-hood in no way would affect how I play; in fact, I am not sure why it’s even under debate.

So let’s apply this to Massey, shall we? Yes, she is a minority due to her gender in soccer, that can’t be ignored. But that does not mean people should call upon her as some sort of leader of a footie feminist movement. Maybe, just maybe, if no one pointed out, “it’s so weird that a girl is a linesmen,” then maybe it wouldn’t be so weird! And yes, I am sticking to linesmen. Currently, that is what the role is called, not linespersons.

Well, you may argue, I am furthering to enforce stereotypes by making women accept their role in male dominated worlds. Well, actually, yes, I sort of am. If you wave your hands around and complain, of course people will notice, and that can bring both positiveand negative attention. If you let things just go naturally, then they will happen naturally. It’s unfair, and unrealistic, to put the burden of change on one person. That’s not how life works. You’re just sticking Massey into a corner, pointing, and turning the wattage up on the spotlight. And that's BOTH with pro-female positions and anti-female positions. That’s not the way to do it. Instead, ignore the fact that she’s a woman and focus on the fact that she made one helluva a call, outside any point of her gender. In other words, she’s not a good linesmen despite/in spite being a girl, she’s a good linesmen because she does the job right.

You know what makes this story sexist? The fact that it is even a story. By anyone. Including rah-rah females trying to point out that we “shattered through the glass pitch.” If the glass pitch has been shattered, or at the very least, been chipped, articles pointing to the fact that Massey is female are doing a good job at repairing it. Just let it be, and pretty soon, there won’t even be a glass to break."

***

So, now along with watching Sports Night in its entirety, I am also going to rethink my position in women in sports. I’ll get back to you on both.

In the mean time, see you guys on Wednesday! Stop by and say hi. And please tell me that you like my shorts.

Hopp,
scm.

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