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brettdale

(12,331 posts)
Fri May 18, 2012, 09:49 PM May 2012

Sexist Old Man at Kids Rugby game (I need An American point of view please)

Im from New Zealand, I posted this over at a New Zealand message boards, I got ripped into by some people,
and told to grow up, am I being too senstive? Or did I make good points, Below is what I posted.

( FOWARDS are a position in Rugby)


As someone with a lot of younger female relatives who play sport, I hate it when people are at their kids sport event and have to yell out comments like "your playing like girls" To me that is being negative towards female sports, and demeaning it and its not a good message to the young female kids who are there.

I was out today for my daily walk and there was a kid's rugby game on in the park and this guy about 60, was yelling and screaming at the kids (Who were about 8-10 years old) he started saying "Your running like girly fowards, go faster your playing like girly forwards, stop playing like girly fowards"

I stopped and said to a person next to him "My niece has a poster in her room of the American soccer player Mia Hamn with the words,

"When you say I Play like a girl, I take it as a compliment"

Then I just walked off, Despite little kids being there, he felt the need to let fly with a few F words.

Cant believe people still scream stuff out like this in the year 2012.

20 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Sexist Old Man at Kids Rugby game (I need An American point of view please) (Original Post) brettdale May 2012 OP
You are correct, it is negative elleng May 2012 #1
cool brettdale May 2012 #2
I agree. The language is obviously gender based and assumes women are below men. ZombieHorde May 2012 #3
Well it would not have been the reference to girls that would have disturbed me zeemike May 2012 #4
Thread winner RobertEarl May 2012 #5
Humanist? zeemike May 2012 #9
He must lead a very sad life. LeftyMom May 2012 #6
unfortunely brettdale May 2012 #8
Homophobic and misogynistic obamanut2012 May 2012 #7
How do you get "homophobic"? Nye Bevan May 2012 #10
the 'girl' talk can also mean 'girlie men' Blue_Tires May 2012 #14
Bingo -- obamanut2012 May 2012 #17
It's really the same root bigotry obamanut2012 May 2012 #15
I wouldn't worry about it... Cave_Johnson May 2012 #11
Ha! I invite you to check out a girls' ice hockey game sometime. ScreamingMeemie May 2012 #20
yes it was sexist and yes it effects both genders in a negative way and society as a whole. seabeyond May 2012 #12
agree brettdale May 2012 #13
I know deaniac21 May 2012 #16
You are correct dflprincess May 2012 #18
awesome brettdale May 2012 #19

elleng

(130,126 posts)
1. You are correct, it is negative
Fri May 18, 2012, 09:53 PM
May 2012

as it MEANS to suggest that females can't play well.

As to the year 2012, you are LUCKY you're not here, brettdale.

ZombieHorde

(29,047 posts)
3. I agree. The language is obviously gender based and assumes women are below men.
Fri May 18, 2012, 09:55 PM
May 2012

The saying equates poor performances with women.

zeemike

(18,998 posts)
4. Well it would not have been the reference to girls that would have disturbed me
Fri May 18, 2012, 10:01 PM
May 2012

It would be that the idiot expected a 10 year old to play like men...there just kids and they don't need to be talked to like that...they need encouragement at that age not criticism like that...but some assholes expect kids to be fully formed when they play sports...which I think is silly as hell.
It is just a game.

zeemike

(18,998 posts)
9. Humanist?
Fri May 18, 2012, 10:19 PM
May 2012

Or someone who thinks kids should not be bad mouthed and humiliated when they are just kids?
The girls reference is not the basic problem...it is just used as a pejorative just like spastic. moron, grandma or gram pa and retard.

LeftyMom

(49,212 posts)
6. He must lead a very sad life.
Fri May 18, 2012, 10:12 PM
May 2012

Aside from being a sexist dinosaur, nobody with a life worth leading would have the time or the inclination to yell abuse at ten year olds.

brettdale

(12,331 posts)
8. unfortunely
Fri May 18, 2012, 10:15 PM
May 2012

Its not unusual at kids sports events here.

I remember going to a basketball game of my neice, (when she was 11) they were getting truly beaten, down by about 15-20 points with about 10 seconds left, her team got a three pointer, and the parents of the other team went crazy, saying "she walked she walked, and started booing like crazy" it was unbelievable.

obamanut2012

(25,906 posts)
7. Homophobic and misogynistic
Fri May 18, 2012, 10:15 PM
May 2012

Girls have enough problems from society, here and in NZ.

And, being a fan of rugby and having dated a rugger, EVERYONE who plays rugby is a badass.

Good you for speaking up.

Nye Bevan

(25,406 posts)
10. How do you get "homophobic"?
Fri May 18, 2012, 10:21 PM
May 2012

I see misogyny there. But I didn't see any references to sexual orientation.

 

Cave_Johnson

(137 posts)
11. I wouldn't worry about it...
Fri May 18, 2012, 10:31 PM
May 2012

... but your response was reasonable.

On its face, women's sports are less violent and less aggressive and thus the play style reflects that.

ScreamingMeemie

(68,918 posts)
20. Ha! I invite you to check out a girls' ice hockey game sometime.
Sat May 19, 2012, 02:20 AM
May 2012

There is nothing more violent and aggressive in the world of sports. "less violent"

 

seabeyond

(110,159 posts)
12. yes it was sexist and yes it effects both genders in a negative way and society as a whole.
Fri May 18, 2012, 10:32 PM
May 2012

a lot of coaches use derogatory female slurs on the boy athletes to shame and humiliate. nothing good about that.

i had coaches for 15 yrs in a highly competitive sport of boys and girls side by side. i was lucky. they also got excellent performance out of us. my son and i were talking recently. he has a cross country coach that would never coach in that manner and a track coach who is also a football coach that does use those terms. the cross country coach took the boys to state.

it isnt necessary in coaching

dflprincess

(28,057 posts)
18. You are correct
Fri May 18, 2012, 10:43 PM
May 2012

Several years ago the assistant coach on one of my nephew's little league (baseball) teams pulled the same sort of crap. Complaints to the head coach by me, some of the moms and even a couple dads (who also had daughters) didn't help. The kids were 10 or 11 years old.

One day they played against a team that had a girl on it. She could hit, she could pitch and she could throw - I swear she was single handidly responsible for her team winning the game. Most of the moms/aunts/grandmas/sisters on my nephews team had a hard time not obviously cheering her on. (We all swarmed the poor child after the game though to congratulate her).

After the game, as the butt-head assistant coach walked by I couldn't resist saying "I bet you wish they played like girls now."

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