Being a woman in the world of die-hard sports fans means you may inevitably live your life being categorized as either butch, boy crazy, or irrelevant. You’ll constantly be asked if your boyfriend bought that jersey, quizzed about your team as if you’re a poser and probably be told how “hot” it is that you enjoy sports.
To top it all off, magazines will tell everyone exactly how to talk sports with a woman – because she will never understand.
Recently, Men’s Health Magazine posted an article called “The Secret to Talking Sports with Any Woman” on their website to encourage men to talk less about statistics and more about storylines. Getting hit with a wave of angry feedback, the publication pulled the article and publicly apologized via Twitter. But is that really enough?
To give an idea of how large the female sports base actually is, we can look at the Nielsen reports that accounts women as 45 percent of the NFL’s viewership. Yahoo! Sports reported that over a third of those who tune in to major sporting events are females.The problem with the Men’s Health article is not the idea that women may not like sports, but the idea that men should talk down to women about sports.
While it may be a hard concept to grasp, there are actually women in the world who genuinely love and enjoy sports. The idea that a woman is uninterested in sports merely for her gender is disgracing. The idea that a woman does not care for the numbers involved in sports is sexist.Generalizing both men and women is unfair, but the deliberate moves to demean one gender are just wrong. Whether it involves insulting a girl’s athletic ability, or emasculating a boy for not enjoying a game of football, there is no reason for it. Men’s Health may be targeted only to men, but that does not give them the right to perpetuate stereotypes about women that honestly insult their intelligence.
This culture of isolating the female sports fan base needs to end, not only because it is wrong, but also because it is bad business.
With growing amount of women who attend games and purchase gear, the lack of attention to such a significant portion of revenue is also neglecting a boost to profit.
It is fair to say that women do not want to support teams that ignore domestic violence or to hear sports reporters drone on about how “manish” Serena Williams seems.
Personally speaking, I have been a die-hard fan from my earliest memories. My brother and I fought over Michael Jordan basketballs; I gave speeches about Lou Gehrig for class assignments, and my first jersey was a Terrell Davis Broncos jersey in the 90s. Growing up, my closet had more New York sports gear than anything even resembling the color pink.
Baseball hats still liter my room and car, stamped proudly with a Yankees, Rangers, or Giants logo. Sports mania is just as much a part of me as my name, and I cannot be the only woman who feels like that.Dealing with people who quiz my knowledge or passion for my teams is more exhausting than watching a tied playoff game in double overtime. Having to hear strangers tell me how attractive I am for liking sports is more annoying than Sidney Crosby’s constant whining.
Listening to people question my sexual orientation is more rage-inducing than A-Rod thinking New York fans will welcome his name on the roster next season.Athletics should be an aspect of life where people can bond, argue and yell together with only regional divisions between them.
Doha Madani can be reached at doha.madani@theminaretonline.com