Are Ladies Football Camps Sexist?

A hot topic over the last couple of weeks has been whether or not ladies football camps are sexist.

/que social justice outrage warriors on the edge of their seat to take a deep breath, and read cafefully. 

MSU held their annual Ladies Football Clinic on July 23 – another great success. Last year we got the inside scoop on what goes on at the Ladies Clinic. Basically it’s a fun time, catered to females, who get to tour the football facilities, learn more about the game and participate in physical football-related activities.

No big deal, right? Not to some.

And then Texas A&M’s Ladies Clinic happened last weekend. I’m not going to repeat what they said because it was really bad, but suffice it to say they turned what should have been an innocent slide show presentation into a display of sexual innuendo akin to what is said in a middle school boy’s locker room.

Of course, this event brought Ladies Clinics to the forefront, and some presented the notion that the entire event is sexist. Rachel Baribeou said the following:

"Until this thought that women are not equal to men changes, there will never be true cultural growth on this issue. That is what women so desperately need on today’s college campuses and in the world: Respect as equals."

So we must assume all women know what men know and all men know what women know? I guess the board game, Battle of the Sexes, won’t be fun anymore. 

There’s a lot of gray area here. If women are equal to men, then would there be this much outrage if women presented something like this to men? Well, no, because men are sexually charged and would enjoy it…so let’s use another example:

Men are considered by the courts and pretty much all of humanity as second class parents – so at a men’s parenting event (if there is such a thing) the female host used slides about how men are dumb apes who can only do one thing at a time. Would there be outrage?

I’m not a misogynist – I think those Texas A&M coaches should be fired instead of suspended for two weeks. Because, how could you be so ignorant to women and immature that you believe that is appropriate? But it brings up an interesting point…

Women are not the same as men. Both sexes have equal value, but that doesn’t mean they should be treated equally. There are certain things men cannot not say or do to a women. There is virtually nothing a woman cannot say or do to a man – and that’s okay. 

Enough women fought back against the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s that it was not ratified, because women did not want to get drafted into the military or risk losing their children in divorce, among other things.

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Most women I know don’t want to be one of the guys talking football. They like to have time with other females doing things they like to do – which probably means talking to each other and casually watching the game their their boyfriends and husbands are yelling and high-fiving over. It probably doesn’t include breaking down film of a football play or listening to their man rant about the defensive scheme. But having fun with other women at MSU’s football facilities and learning about what the players experience to prepare for the season – yes, there’s enough females who like to do that so they have it every year.

There are plenty of feminists who don’t want to be treated as a second class citizens but still like gender roles. But other feminists would like to destroy that way of living, because they feel oppressed by men.

Andrea Tantaros wrote this great piece about how many women alienate men because they want to do it all themselves. If everything is going to be equal and there’s no difference between gender, there will be a lot of unwelcome change. Like taking away Ladies Clinics because it’s offensive to a few people who don’t even want to attend. Or not having men care anymore because they don’t see where they fit in.

Women have special things just for them because they attend them. Men don’t. Women want other female friends, and men are indifferent about seeing their friends or making new ones. Ladies clinics are not about singling out women as football novices, but rather, it’s a chance to cultivate females as MSU fans…..who we want and need.  

Men want women involved with football I can assure you that. I don’t want to go to a football game with 60,000 dudes. I don’t want to go to a tailgate where no females were involved in the preparation. If my wife and daughter are more concerned with people-watching and what the cheerleaders are doing, I don’t care. I may be thinking about who will be on the offensive line and the coach’s strategy, but at the end of the day they are going to pull for the Dawgs just as hard as I will…and we all had fun in our own way.

Let’s accept having our own thing. Men don’t need to get in on female events and vice versa. They aren’t sexist. There is a difference between the sexes and that’s okay. No one is forcing anyone to do anything against their will. One bad experience at Texas A&M doesn’t speak for every school – let’s stop crying foul over nothing.