Yesterday, the US Women’s Soccer Team lost to Sweden 3-0 in their opening match. Contrary to what pundits are saying, this wasn’t a “You go woke, you go broke” situation. No, the US team lost because the team from Sweden simply played better.
In reality, both teams knelt before the game to protest…well…I don’t actually know what they were protesting, but I’m sure it was some made-up Liberal bullshit. Because that’s what they’re always protesting when they disrespect flag and country.
Saying that the US team lost because they went “woke” diminishes the accomplishment of the Swedish team. They didn’t win because the US team was distracted. They won because they played soccer better than their opponents did.
For whatever reason, the Swedish team won. Perhaps it was because they were better prepared, more focused, better coached or maybe even better hydrated. The end result was that the US team lost because they sucked.
Maybe. I don’t really know. Because I don’t watch women’s soccer. Now, if they made it “women’s bikini soccer”, I’d probably watch it. Well, I’d watch the Swedish team anyway. The US team? Not so much.
Like I said, I have no idea what they were protesting. But I know what they should be protesting. They should be protesting the sexual exploitation of female athletes. That would at least make sense.
Yesterday, the members of the Norwegian women’s beach handball team were fined because they did the unthinkable. They wore shorts.
<GASP!>
I know, right? How dare they. Everyone knows that a woman showing too much leg has the potential to make men go crazy with sexual desire. So, it only makes sense to make the female athletes cover up.
But that’s not what happened. The Norwegian team was fined because they wore too many clothes.
The International Handball Federation’s rulebook defines the attire of female athletes as follows:
“Female athletes must wear bikini bottoms … with a close fit and cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg,” the rules state. “The side width must be of a maximum of 10 centimeters.”
Essentially, the rules demand that female athletes wear the absolute minimum amount of clothes possible, and still be rated PG-13.
Since we live in a time where we supposedly value equality between men and women, you might think that similar rules would also apply to men. Well, you’d be wrong. Men are not only allowed to wear shorts, they’re required to wear shorts.
These rules are obviously designed to sexually exploit women. Don’t get me wrong. I like looking at scantily-clad women as much as the next guy. And, if they’re bouncy, scantily-clad women, so much the better. But even I can see that requiring elite female athletes to run and jump wearing next to nothing is just a ploy to drive up male (and the US women’s soccer team’s) viewership.
Let me ask you this: If a Muslim woman wanted to play beach handball, would she be required to wear the same uniform? Of course not. She’d be allowed to wear a uniform that covers her from head to ankle, which is exactly what happened with beach volleyball.
Some of the female handball players have said that having to wear bikini bottoms is degrading. Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t understand why the modesty of a Muslim athlete should be respected more than the modesty of anyone else.
Clearly there’s a middle ground between playing beach handball in a bikini and playing it in what’s essentially a hasmat suit. As long as their uniform doesn’t give them a competitive advantage, does it really matter what female athletes wear? Of course not.
Unless, that is, you’re trying to maximize your ad revenue. Then it matters a lot.
