Feelin' all spunky and worked up about something...
Remember when I wrote my "Refeminization of America" post? That in which I proclaimed (while disclaiming that I WORK OUTSIDE THE HOME!!!) that America needs to be refeminized?
Well, recently, my teenager and I were having a discussion. I'm not entirely sure how it got brought up, but I learned something from him that day. I learned that if a girl goes out for football, she has to be accepted by the team, but that a boy can not join the girl's volleyball team. (For the record, we live in a smallish school district...no "girl's football" team [do they exist?] and no boy's volleyball.)
Now, this is something that ticks me off. If this "feminist movement" created equality among genders, then why couldn't my son go out for volleyball if he wanted? Shouldn't he be seen as an equal among peers and accepted just as a girl would be (should be) if she joined football?
(Image via Google)
Something about this seems wrong.
As in, "Yes, girl's are strong enough, athletic enough, brave enough to join football"...but boys can't join volleyball because they'd potentially "take a girl's spot on the team"? Aren't we supposed to be equals? Best athlete gets the spot, regardless of gender, right?
He also told me (and, I'm totally taking his word...I've done no research on this, none at all, so forgive me if this is incorrect) that in collegiate level athletics, there has to be an equal amount of women's to men's sports. And funding gets split 50/50 among the teams (i.e. men's hockey/women's hockey share funds...men's basketball/women's basketball share funds, etc.).
So, as is the case of our local state college, our men's hockey team is a Division 1 team...women's hockey? Well, what's the lowest division...cause that's what they are, and then a few levels down. Men's hockey = HUGE income...women's hockey = income eater.
And yet they are supposed to split funding 50/50?!
And...AND!!! (Ohhhhh, I'm not done yet!! Oh no!) If a women's team is cut due to funding reasons, the equivalent men's team has to be cut as well. So, a school is struggling, just like the rest of America, and they can't cut a women's hockey team that is not only NOT bringing in income, but draining funds on top of it, and we can't cut that team?!
Instead, this state college was on the verge of cutting it's D2 football team...which brings in a whole heckuva lot more (but still not enough) funds than the women's hockey team, because of some stupid ratio rule?! (Alas, have no fear...alums coughed up enough funds to keep the football team.)
UGH. I'm getting all fired up, again, just writing about it!!
Even if I were into this whole "feminist movement", this seems like a reverse slap in the face...like, placation (is that a word?). "Well, girls, you really suck so badly that you're draining our reserves but we can't cut your team so we'll just keep on letting you pour our money down the drain and instead we'll cut our football team, 'cuz, you know, they're guys and all and we can do that to them." And as women, we're supposed to be proud of that?!
We're supposed to jump up and down and burn our bras and wave our fists at the men, when in reality it's the women who are bringing things down?
I concluded the conversation by agreeing with him that this was insane...and, I may or may not have said something along the lines of, "the only thing the feminist movement was good for was allowing women to vote".
Excuse me now, while I go fish my bra out of the fire and put it back on.
I appreciate the thought, but your understanding of Title iX (the equal opportunity law) is not quite on par. Maybe a little more reading and you will understand. I'm not saying it's perfect, but it's not quite how you see it.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about all the sports stuff as far as the funding goes, but I COMPLETELY agree with you about the refeminzation of America. And I, too, work outside the home. I feel a blog post coming about my feelings on women's lib. Thanks for your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI believe your son is correct. They don't have to have the same sports offered, but if they have a men's football team, they might offer a women's soccer team, but they cannot officially have a men's soccer team too because the men got football.
ReplyDeleteIt is ridiculous. I'm all for not suppressing women's rights (like yes, I think we should vote) but I also think if these feminists want EQUALITY, then it has to go both ways.
On the refeminization note: I personally like traditional gender roles. It does not mean I am not an individual or independent...it does not take away my value as a person or ability to discuss things with my husband and make decisions...I feel feminists took everything way too far and are missing the point. In all reality it seemed to work a lot better...there were less divorces and problems with kids when the more traditional roles played a bigger part in society. Not to say we can't evolve a bit, but I think the basis for the traditional roles have value.
I TOTALLY agree with you! I've always struggled with this subject. Thanks for speaking out for all of us with this opinion!
ReplyDeleteI went to Penn State University, and I know for a fact we had more men's sports than women's. I just looked at our website to double check! Also, I know that the football team gets the majority of the funding, since they bring in BY FAR the most revenue for the school. I'm not sure of the technicalities of it all, but at Penn State the men did have more teams, and the most popular sports got the most funding. The poor fencing team was always having fundraisers!
ReplyDeleteThe feminist movement did more than just give us the right to vote. It has also helped us earn almost an equal wage to men (we're not there yet, but it's closer than it was). It really angers me when people act like "feminist" is a bad word and they've done no good for us. Feminism by definition is "the a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women." There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I bet there are women around the world who wish they had someone establishing and defending their equal rights.
ReplyDeleteTitle IX is a mixed bag. Yes, it's true that funding can get cut for sports that are producing money due to it, but on the other hand, the lesser sports wouldn't have much of a chance at all without it. And without funding, the women's hockey team will never have a chance to possibly get to the level of the men's team. I think there are pros and cons to every law.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the females should be let on the males' teams for that reason. Because it's not fair to let girls play on boys' teams but not the reverse, but if you were to just open both sets of teams up regardless of gender, you have more problems. You would probably end up with the females having almost no opportunities to play as the guys would get the spots. In middle school, many girls would probably back off playing because of intimidation (a little 6th grade girl possibly playing against a big 8th grade boy? It's bad enough for the smaller kids to play against the bigger ones of their own gender) and then high school would be even more segregated.
I love it when you pull out your soapbox! Your son's facts on Title 9 funding (collegiate equality in funding) aren't completely accurate but the point is certainly true. I think equality is the wrong word and the wrong idea. We're different...we have different strengths and different weaknesses. I have no desire to prove that I am equal to a man...I am better in some ways and I there are times a man has the skills needed. Wouldn't we get farther faster if we appreciated each other, were proud of what we achieved and celebrated uniqueness? Instead we are so busy convincing girls they are just as good as boys we forget to tell them they're amazing for themselves!
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ReplyDeletewomen get so caught up in the movement and defending their rights that they forget what they originally stood for. The whole equality thing frustrates me to no end. I am trying to teach my kids that if you want people to treat you with dignity and respect and to give you a chance, you have to EARN it. It shouldn't be just doled out to you because "we all have to be equal." I'm with Jennifer on this one - thank God I am different, unique, and not at all like a man. :) I enjoy being a woman and the differences that that entails. I hope my daughter learns that from me as well.
If your talking about St. Cloud state Women's hockey, they are D1 (not that THAT really changes your point about them NOT making profits) actually all Minnesota state universities have D1 women's hockey.....except mankato I think. Anyway, I remeber dealing with this stuff in high school. As a girl hockey player, you bet I was surrounded by the feminist type thinking everything should be equal. Anytime I pointed out that the ice arena actually MAKES MONEY off of the boys games and well, only our parents ever showed up to our games, it was like talking to a wall. They were dead set on 'equality' (ahem...'special attention' maybe?) and no logic would change that.
ReplyDeleteLove this post. Love reading through the comments. Really, I think feminists really did themselves, and the rest of the nation, a disservice with their movements. I think that's part of the reason why divorce rates are so high in our country, and why so many men in our nation are struggling trying to find their place - all the while, we women are probably the lesser qualified for SOME positions, but get them anyway due to our sex. Ugh....now I'm riled up again. THANKS ALOT!
ReplyDeleteYour facts on Title Nine are off. The beloved football programs do get more money and resources. Think for a second about the crazy high salaries football and men's basketball coaches get---obviously no women's volleyball coach makes over $2 million per year which plenty of football coaches make. A lot of schools have more women's sports than men's and a lot of that has to with the very high numbers of player on a football team. The system isn't perfect and changes could be made, but the INTENTION was very good. In the 70's many colleges didn't have any women's sports. I am a huge football and basketball fan and the school that I support also has a great women's team that draws an average of 10,000 fans per game. There wasn't a team 540 years ago until title 9 forced them to.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am far from a feminist. But your views are kind of short-sided I think. I kind of understand your points, but nothing is as black and white as you seem to think it is. The feminist movement isn't any more a cause of problems in this society then more traditional views are. I also think it is easy for those of us who haven't experienced the problems for females to easily see the problems with trying to make things more equal. It's kind of like race relations--you and I have no idea what it was to live in a time where blacks weren't allowed to vote. yet that was just 60 years ago. So sometimes it is hard for me to understand issues related to race and why there are sometimes hard feelings and tensions today. We are barely 3 generations away from that time.
I think, overall, we all need to realize that our views aren't always the right answer and we only have our own perspectives. We all have the right to our opinions, but a tiny bit of understanding goes a long ways.
Well, I, too, work outside of the home and blame the feminist movement for it. I wish they had never burned their bras. I actually would rather stay home with my kids than have the right to vote, because what do our votes really mean these days? We get people like Wiener in office.
ReplyDeleteLet the boys play with the boys and the girls play with the girls and put your grown up panties on and deal with it.
Here's the thing about Title IX: yes, it requires equality in the number of men and women receiving sports scholarships, that's GOOD (in my opinion), what's bad is how some schools APPLY the law. You often hear of schools getting rid of an entire male wrestling team (maybe 6 guys) "because of Title IX" when in reality they could have kept the wrestling team if they'd been willing to cut 6 guys from the enormous football roster.
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