I am so SICK of the sexism in this world. And I am so SICK of the enablers who find excuses for it.

[FourScore]

Last edited Tue Jul 9, 2013, 04:42 PM - Edit history (1)

EDITING TO ADD: IF YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE THIS POST ABOUT THE WIMBLEDON REPORTING, THEN DON'T BOTHER. THIS POST IS ABOUT HOW WOMEN ARE TREATED IN THIS WORLD ON MANY, MANY LEVELS. KEEP READING BEYOND TENNIS, AND WATCH THE DUSTIN HOFFMANN VIDEO BEFORE YOU COMMENT PLEASE!!! THANK YOU.

I am so SICK of the sexism in this world!!! And I am so SICK of the enablers who find excuses for it!

This week the world celebrated the British victory at Wimbledon with articles like this one:

Andy Murray is the Wimbledon champion...and is the first Brit to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936...
http://msn.foxsports.com/tennis/story/andy-murray-wins-wimbledon-title-defeats-novak-djokovic-will-last-forever-070713?gt1=39002

And then we see this:



Of course, USA Today tries to spin this whole thing as "not sexist"...just logical -- because you don't GENDER jump when discussing sports!

Open a newspaper or visit any news site on Monday and you’ll find mention of Andy Murray becoming the first British champion of Wimbledon since 1936. But Great Britain has a more recent champion than that. Virginia Wade won the Wimbledon ladies championship in 1977. Is this a sexist whitewashing of history?...

...Is the ignoring of Wade’s title a dark day for sports journalism, as the Guardian suggests?...

...No, not unless you want to change the entire way we discuss major two-gender sports, like tennis, basketball, golf, swimming, track and gymnastics."
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/07/andy-murray-virginia-wade-first-brit-wimbledon/

Of course, the original reports of Murray's victory did NOT describe him as a "the first British male athlete in the singles competition to win", they said "first BRIT". But why bother to bog onesself down in details when whitewashing sexism?

Again...I am so SICK of the sexism in this world. And I am so SICK of the enablers who find excuses for it.

Each day, I read about horrific things happening to women, like being gang raped or stoned to death. Those are the extreme cases.

But increasingly, I log on to my computer, and I am bombarded by headlines that leave me so angry. Sandra Fluke is a "slut" or women are forced to have unnecessary medical procedures performed if they want a legal abortion, or they are digitally raped by police officers. I would provide links to those infuriating, horrible things listed, but why bother? We all know where to find them. It's everywhere.

If only...we were equal. And if only...people would stop claiming we were.

Let me close this rant with these words from Dustin Hoffmann. Listen, as he describes how his eyes were opened by becoming a woman...And watch this grown man cry...

If only...

[Deep13]

1. Yup, completely agree. ...

If you want to hear some really crazy shit, you should talk to my Arabic language teacher here in Lebanon. Apparently, a woman who has only daughters should keep having then until she produces a son for the family. Elderly people in Lebanon are addressed by their eldest son's name and parents with no sons are second class parents and citizens. How fucking medieval is that? I wanted to shake her lapels and ask how she can think females are little worth when she is one.

[FourScore]

2. Unbelievable! Except it's not unbelievable. Unfortunately. n/t

[truebrit71]

3. Sorry but that is total bullshit...

...it was a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE deal when Ginny won her championship, and EVERYONE knows that it has been an absolute age since a Brit last won the Men's title...

There are plenty of instances of sexism in sports, but this is NOT one of them...

No-one is over-looking Virginia Wade's accomplishment.

[FourScore]

4. Maybe in England her accomplishment is a big deal. The average American couldn't tell you who she is

or what she won.

Adding the words "Men's Title" isn't that hard. Newspapers and their editor's should know better!

It is sexism.

[truebrit71]

5. The average american doesn't give a toss about tennis...

...For most folks it isn't necessary to add the words "Men's Title" since it is fairly obvious Andy wasn't competing for the Women's title...

No. It isn't sexism.

[Sheldon Cooper]

6. Thanks for stepping in to mansplain it for us.

[truebrit71]

8. Sorry, you were confused as to which championship the man was playing for?

[FourScore]

10. You are completely missing the point of the entire post.

You've latched on to one thing and, by damn, you're right!! And you will make sure everyone knows you're right! Meanwhile, you are just proving my point in the OP. But you're so busy battling, you don't even get it!

[truebrit71]

17. And you are just determined to prove the sexism exists...except in this case it doesn't...

What the BBC commentator about women tennis players was sexist, celebrating Andy Murray's victory, the first Brit Victory in the MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP for 77 years, didn't diminish Ginny Wade's excellent win in 1977....

There are plenty of aspects of modern sport that are wildly sexist, but this ain't one of them...

[FourScore]

19. Do me a favor...let's agree to disagree about the Wimbledon thing, and focus on the second

half of the OP.

There's more than just Wimbledon. Read the rest. Watch Dustin Hoffmann. And let's just drop Wimbledon, 'k?

[FourScore]

7. Like I said...and those who enable... n/t

[hfojvt]

29. this is true

just the other day I saw Jimmy Connors on David Letterman. And Letterman mentioned a rivalry with McEngroe, but made no mention of Bjorn Borg. Uhm 1977 Wimbledon Borg over Connors, 1978 Wimbledon Borg over Connors, 1976 US Open Connors over Borg, 1978 US Open Connors over Borg. 1980 US Open McEnroe over Borg. 1981 US Open McEnroe over Borg. Yet neither of them saw fit to mention Borg. What a bunch of sexism.

Even if it is sexism to forget somebody or to leave out a qualifier. it's a fairly minor incident in the whole scheme of things. Hardly worthy of the level of outrage being expressed over it.

[Arcanetrance]

28. The problem is the stories weren't written as first male champion in 77 years it was just

written as first champion in 77 years. So yes saying it that way is sexism because it puts the accomplishment of the lady who won it before that below his.

[loyalsister]

9. No comments on Dustin Hoffman's video yet?

You should make that an original post. Rarely do we get such personally insightful text or film editorials on the subject. That is one of the very best I have seen. That admission to being retroactively wrong is powerful.

[FourScore]

11. Done! Thanks, loyalsister! n/t

[Demo_Chris]

12. OMG!!! That's horrible! They forgot about some other rich fuck who won it fifty years ago! OMG!!!

[FourScore]

13. Again, thank you for proving my point.

Hint: The OP isn't about Wimbledon.

[Demo_Chris]

15. No, it's about the persecution of women through inaccurate sports reporting. Or something. nt

[FourScore]

20. Post 19 would apply here, too. n/t

[Demo_Chris]

32. Only a fool would debate that we have a misogynistic patriarchal society...

I support ending it 100% in all of it's many forms. We stand together on that.

[FourScore]

33. Thank you! n/t

[datasuspect]

14. then do something about it

whining about it on the internetz won't accomplish much.

[FourScore]

24. Geez, why didn't I think of that?

It doesn't surprise me that your favorite group on DU is listed as the "Men's Group".

[opiate69]

30. Perhaps you also noticed ...

He's had all of one post there in the past 90 days... Oh noez!!!!! He must be an MRAer!!!!

[snooper2]

16. The only thing more boring to watch than tennis is golf

Have you called the editors of the journalistic publications yet? Or is this OP the end of it?

[FourScore]

25. Again, it's not just about tennis.

I noticed your favorite group is the "Men's Group". Interesting. Since you don't seem aware of it, most women fight these battles daily.

[Whiskeytide]

18. Wow. I kinda thought this OP was much ado about not much...

... and then I Googled "last American to win at Wimbledon", and learned a lot about the Bryan twins, Sampras and Roddick. The Williams sisters - specifically the 2012 champ Serena, who along with sis Venus have dominated Wimbledon for the last decade - didn't even bring up a hit on the first page, second page, third page - I looked all the way to the 10th page.... Nothing about a Williams. Note that I didn't Google "last American male to win at Wimbledon", but that is essentially what Google thought I wanted, apparently.

There were stories relating to Sloan Stephens being the last American standing in the QFs this year, but otherwise it was mostly about the men.

Maybe I Googled poorly - I don't know... , but I think I learned a little something today despite my age and gender. Thanks Four.

(edited to correct the italics)

[FourScore]

21. I could hug you right now. Thank you. n/t

[KitSileya]

22. The Wimbledon reporting was atrociously sexist.

Not only the case of your OP, but also the way they reported on Marion Bartoli, the female champion. Apparently, to be a worthy *female* champion, you not only have to be good at tennis, you must also have supermodel looks, be tall, blonde, skinny, and conventionally beautiful. Not only did the BBC reporter postulate that her dad must have said to her that "she'd never be a looker," but the tweets about her....

Of course, most feminists on the net know that any woman will be called "ugly, fat, b!tch, disgusting, not even pretty enough to be raped" if she doesn't look conventionally beautiful and accessible to men, especially if there's pictures posted. Perhaps some of the sexists on this thread should go to the link posted below and see what is the usual reaction to strong women. It might be an eye-opener to them, though I doubt they have the guts to go there and read these tweets.

http://publicshaming.tumblr.com/post/54864863081/womens-wimbledon-champion-marion-bartoli-deemed

[ismnotwasm]

23. Thank you

Awesome post

[FourScore]

26. Thank you, ismnotwasm!

[HiPointDem]

27. i'm sick of those who blow small things out of proportion while ignoring things that affect women

at a much more important level.

it's pretty obvious the article was about the *men's* title.

[opiate69]

31. ^^^^

[leftstreet]

34. +1

[FourScore]

35. Obvious to a man maybe...but the thread isn't just about Wimbledon.

Keep reading...watch the video...then comment...

[HiPointDem]

36. i'm a woman. i don't give a damn about this or all the other largely symbolic bullshit a certain

segment of so-called feminists devote so much time to.

[October]

37. Thank you for this post!

I so agree!!!