I think it's cool to know about sports and other "manly" things
I should note - this first part might seem like a rant because I just need to get it off my chest... but the rest is about taking small steps to equality in life... small but helpful (hopfully).
I was at a BBQ over the holiday weekend and I was part of a conversation about whether the NHL was better/more exciting than the NBA. It was a fun debate - esp. since the Hawks just won the Stanley Cup - and Derrick Rose had to sit the whole season because of his ACL (both were points used in said debate). Anyway, I jumped at the chance to give my 2 cents. How did that turn out? Lets just say they knew I was there and speaking, but that's about it. One guy looked at me when I was talking about coaching in the NBA like I had 5 heads. I'm sure, like most of us, I played basketball as long as you did pal... was your career over after you graduated high school? OK, same here. I watch a lot of sports (all kinds) and I think that should have been enough to help me qualify because I'm pretty sure that was everyone elses qualifying knowledge (I don't recall any of the people in the debate being Duncan Keith or Luol Deng). So I figured, I watched every Hawks game preseason to the final game... along with almost all of the Bulls season... I'm good. When I was brushed off a few times, only to hear my same point be made by some dude about 2 minutes later, naturally, I felt it was kind of bogus.
Silver lining --> After the debate was over everyone broke off into their own little conversations and one of my boyfriends friends pulled me aside and wanted to know my opinions about a few others things. He told me that he agreed with a lot of what I was saying and that it was refreshing to have a gal pal with similar interests. Now... was that so hard!? I'm not used to that happening when I express myself about "non-girly" things and I was just so excited to be able to have someone (outside of my boyfriend/family) not be creeped out or feel intimidated by my love for sports and talking sports with friends.
Should I have felt that happy about the continued convo? I think so. It's a step in the right direction. One guy gets it, and isn't intimidated by a womans knowledge about sports... Does this matter in the big picture? I don't know. I'm only writing to say that I was thinking on how it shouldn't even matter at all, but I know it does. A man should be super happy that his lady (or sister, or cousin, gal pal, so on...) has knowledge of things he enjoys (and visa-versa). Sadly, a lot of them are more freaked out about it and even go as far as labeling women with this knowledge as "butch" or the like.
Bigger picture - I'm still waiting for more female announcers at all ball games and just one all female "garage" show where they flip the coolest cars. That may seem small, but it should help girls realize that they are more included, it's "ok" to be sporty, and be smart about it. If you know everything about the Kardashian's, why not know just as much about the White Sox!? But really - it would be GREAT for women not be intimidated to lift the hood of their car - on the side of the road - and check to see what is going on w/out having to wait for a guy to pull up. How about not having to wait around for her dad to fix her computer? If we saw more examples of other women being sporty, tech savvy, etc... we might just take that next step towards publicly ruling the world. :) I will be that teeny tiny trail blazer that will at least force guys to hear me while talking sports - even if it's just because my 6 year old niece is listening to me be heard and treated as an equal. That's all that really matters to me :) I want these little gals to be able to be into whatever activity they want and not be intimidated by their male counterparts. That goes for building cars, sports, tech... to cooking and designing. This convo. was just a small example of what it's all about. You could replace sports with architecture, glass-blowing, or MMA fighting and I'd feel the same.
Bigger picture - I'm still waiting for more female announcers at all ball games and just one all female "garage" show where they flip the coolest cars. That may seem small, but it should help girls realize that they are more included, it's "ok" to be sporty, and be smart about it. If you know everything about the Kardashian's, why not know just as much about the White Sox!? But really - it would be GREAT for women not be intimidated to lift the hood of their car - on the side of the road - and check to see what is going on w/out having to wait for a guy to pull up. How about not having to wait around for her dad to fix her computer? If we saw more examples of other women being sporty, tech savvy, etc... we might just take that next step towards publicly ruling the world. :) I will be that teeny tiny trail blazer that will at least force guys to hear me while talking sports - even if it's just because my 6 year old niece is listening to me be heard and treated as an equal. That's all that really matters to me :) I want these little gals to be able to be into whatever activity they want and not be intimidated by their male counterparts. That goes for building cars, sports, tech... to cooking and designing. This convo. was just a small example of what it's all about. You could replace sports with architecture, glass-blowing, or MMA fighting and I'd feel the same.
So - here is a good article on feminism (read it today - sparked this post). I think that this tiny stepping stone, but equality in expressing knowledge and equal representation in/about sports, cars, tech, science, strength, etc., can help empower women. Let's destroy the Blue vs. Pink culture one conversation at a time!!
No comments:
Post a Comment