This topic is a little old, but I've been super busy so im just getting around to it now
Arizona cardinals just hired the first female coach in the NFL, following the Spurs hire and now Sacramento Kings hire of two female assistant coaches. I do believe this is good and I do believe it's about time but my mindset is: if someone is qualified they are qualified. I don't care if it's a female, male, african american, white, 1 legged, an animal, no legged or an alien. If someone is qualified for a job they should get it. It's cool that these females have finally broken through but I really could care less about it. That might be a little jaded or apathetic but when are we going to stop saying "this was the first time _____"? Am i wrong to think that way? I paid absolutely zero seconds of my life caring that these coaches were hired, just like i gave zero seconds to male coaches that were hired at similar positions.
Great topic to post about. I'm with you in terms of thinking that whoever the most knowledgeable/qualified person is, regardless of gender (or race, age, etc), is who you want coaching you. But I think there are two problems with carrying that over successfully into men's pro sports. One is that, as we've written about on this blog, men's and women's sports can be very different even if they're playing the same game, so you're assuming/hoping that the expertise carries over. I suspect most often it's at least adaptable. Two is probably the bigger problem. One of the ways men define themselves, demonstrate masculinity, etc is via competition--which, since we aren't hunting big animals or fighting with our neighbors constantly (well, I guess the US kind of is, but I mean a decent proportion of us in our daily lives), takes the form of sports (or a big paycheck or whatever other display of masculine prowess). This obviously isn't how all men understand it, but undoubtedly some do, and so for those guys who are athletes to then have women coaching them (ie in a supervisory position, telling them what to do), women are out of place in their workplace, and especially because it's a workplace that is all about manly competition and skill. This strikes me as similar to the macho sexist BS that generates concerns about women reporters in locker rooms, gay players, etc, albeit surrounding a slightly different situation. It isn't rational and doesn't have to be, and certainly I don't think all (and hopefully not even the majority) of these players care, but those who object may be seeing things this way.
ReplyDelete