ESPN.com entitles this article about girl’s sports team coaches who commit statutory rape “The Dark Side of Title IX.” Two comments:
First, I believe that men with jock mentalities, because they’re so much more likely to thoughtlessly buy into cultural norms of masculinity, are especially likely to be rapists. (Which isn’t to say that there aren’t a log of smart, non-macho jocks who would never rape, of course). Nonetheless, I found this statistic stunning: “In the first extensive study of its kind, sociology professor Sandra Kirby of the University of Winnipeg found that 22.8 percent of respondents in a Canadian sample had sexual intercourse with a coach or other person in position of authority within their sport.”
Second: as the Oft Yielding Optimist (who pointed this story out to me) argues, it’s ridiculous to suggest that the problem here is Title IX.
I understand that they want a grabbing title that works with their headline, but in reality, Title IX gives more options to women. The more options one has, the more potential bad experiences. By following their headline’s logic, a story about a woman getting hit by a truck on her way to the polling station could be titled: “Negative Aspects of Women’s Suffrage.”
They seem to have changed the title to “High Price of Opportunity”.
…Huh. I guess that’s sorta better, since it at least doesn’t scapegoat Title IX, but generalizing to “opportunity,” i.e., the opportunity to play sports, still carries that, “Fuck with the natural order of things and pay the price,” message.
And I’m extremely skeptical of the idea that women were any safer from sexual assault when they were forbidden from participating in activities like sports and coed sports. Being told you’re too weak and stupid to kick a ball, or too worthless to expect an audience in the bleachers, can’t make you much of an agent in your own defense.
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It’s all of a piece. Much of the macho bullshit of men’s competitive sports in school involves misogynist attidues and behaviors. CU Boulder’s coach and alumni used prostitutes at player recruitment parties. The coach bullied a female placekicker, and ignored her protests of sexual harrassment by fellow players, until she just left.
It’s really sick, though, that so many women are sleeping with their coaches. While I’m sure in the rare instance it could be consensual out of a connection, placed in the larger context of the athletic culture, I find it hard to believe that nearly 23% of women just find their coach so hot they have to jump his bones. (And this figure doesn’t even count the fondling and touching that often goes unreported.)
“The Dark Side of Title IX” has a certain ring to it. And I believe that it is a dark side, when legally women have rights to athletics access but culturally they’re still just a piece of ass.
I was not able to watch that sports documentary on coaches raping their players. It is sickening indeed to see coaches taking advantage of such situation. This kind of sports news really puts down the integrity of the games being played. Something must be done to prevent this from happening otherwise, coaches will continue to abuse their girl players.