Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Competitive women
posted at 9:14 AM | Permalink |
Granting that polite and gracious behavior is always more pleasant - not to mention polite and gracious, heh - nevertheless I wonder about our reactions to Serena Williams' outburst at the U.S. Open. It is certainly true that the ideal reaction of people in the public eye, whether glad or miserable, whether winning or losing, would be graciousness. A column in the NY Times puts it well and clearly (here). It is true, however, that many people kind of chuckle when men athletes (hockey players, baseball hitters, tennis players, etc.) freak out and throw things. People voice distaste for John McEnroe's antics but there's a vague sense of amusement in their reactions, too. But Serena's yelling was "so unseemly," as someone put it to me yesterday. Why? She had received a crucial call that stopped her momentum and was likely to wreck her game, and she was angry. Who on earth would not be furious? Furthermore, as video has since shown, she was correct!!!! It was a bad call!! She lost the match and the championship on a bad/wrong call and on her reaction to the bad/wrong call. Man oh man. Fortunately she has a successful career and many other victories to savor but this must be extremely frustrating.

It's almost 2010. Women have voted for 90 years, have had personal health protection for nearly that long, have been freed from being official property of fathers and husbands for almost 40 years . . . and yet women are still expected to smile and be polite, no matter what happens, and no matter that unrestrained reactions would be acceptable for men.

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