Women's Lib

Issue: Women's sports again?

Short Answer: Kind of.

Reasoning: I remember an episode of Seinfeld called The Subway, in which Elaine is on her way to a lesbian wedding in which, she, is the best man.  While on a crowded subway, Elaine engages in a conversation with another woman, who is standing next to her.  The conversation went something like this (from memory only - my apologies if this isn't exactly how it went):

• Woman on Subway: I remember 20 years ago when a man would give up his seat for a woman!
• Elaine: Yeah,  It's kind of ironic.
• Woman on Subway: What's ironic?
• Elaine: Women's lib.  We have spent all these years fighting for equality, but we have lost a lot of the "niceties" that went along with being a woman, like having a man give up his seat for you.
• Woman on Subway:  No.  What does "ironic" mean?

A story came my way this week (thanks to my brother (yes, again) and my good buddy Doug, both of whom sent me the same link within 15 minutes of each other) that gives another example of women's lib gone bad.  The story is out of Des Moines, Iowa, where a star wrestler was on his way to compete for (and possibly win) a state title.  Joel Northrup finished his regular season with a 35-4 record and was one of the favorites for the 112-pound (which is what I weighed in approximately 2nd grade) state title.  But, Northrup forfeited his first match of the state tournament allowing his opponent to move on to the next round.  Why?  Because his opponent was a freshman from Cedar Falls named Cassy Herkleman.  Yes, Cassy is a girl.  And a decent wrestler.  She finished her season with a 20-13 regular season record, is one of two girls who have ever qualified for the Iowa wresting state championship (the other also qualified this year), and, is now the only girl to have ever "won" a state championship match.

Northrup's own words as to why he couldn't compete against Cassy:  "Wrestling is a combat sport and it can get violent at times...[a]s a matter of conscience and my faith I do not believe that it is appropriate for a boy to engage a girl in this manner. It is unfortunate that I have been placed in a situation not seen in most other high school sports in Iowa."  (How about ANY other high school sports in Iowa.  Especially a full-contact, full-gouging, full-grabbing sport.)  Now, Northrup, whether he is extremely religious or not, chose a perfect excuse as to why he couldn't wrestle.  I'm not saying he made it up to escape wrestling, and possibly losing to a girl, but, in this day-in-age, questioning someone's religious beliefs puts you in the same category of bigots, as racists.  So, most everyone, including all interviewed for the article, said they not only supported Northrup, but admired his conviction.  I don't question Northrup's religious beliefs, but I do question him not competing.  See, I think everyone would agree that it is not appropriate "for a boy to engage a girl in this manner," but, somewhere along the line, women and the Iowa High School Athletic Association, decided differently.  They decided that since there isn't girl's wrestling, any girl who wanted to wrestle, would do so with the boys.  That is the only "fair" way.  And being fair (or politically correct) is where this thing went completely array.

You see, in my opinion, equality means that all parties have equal bargaining power, i.e., no one has the upper-hand.  Equality has been wonderful for women, in every outlet, since it began in the mid-1800's.  Even within the world of sports, Title IX gave women equal athletic scholarships to men (you can see my opinion on that here).  But, I wonder how anyone can think that allowing a girl to wrestle with boys makes anything equal.  Let us think for a moment about the 20 young boys who lost to Cassy this year.  How do you think they are being treated by their 16-year old classmates?  Do any of my male readers out there remember how girls made you feel when you were 16 (and possibly still today)?  Do any of you remember the changes you were going through at that age?  Could you now imagine being that age and being asked to wrestle on a mat, with a girl, both of you barely clothed, and grab, pull, grope, squeeze, and hold on tight?  No Thanks.  Joel Northrup was in an absolute no-win situation.  If he wrestles and wins, he was supposed to (and he violates his religious beliefs).  If he wrestles and loses, he makes history.  And not in a good way.  (sidenote: Cassy did not win.  She may have been the first girl to move on to the second round of the state tournament (an accomplishment that should not go overlooked), but she only did so by default.  I hope the "record book" denotes that fact.)

I hope I am not admonished for what I am about to say, but here goes anyway - women are NOT equal to men in sports [as I duck and cover].  In everyday life there is no doubt that a woman can do anything and everything a man can do.  In the sports world a woman can do everything a man can do, except, you know, dunk over Kevin Garnett, hit a homerun off of Roy Halliday, tackle Adrian Peterson, win the Masters, etc.  Women have their own sports because they cannot compete on a level with men.  And, in a circumstance where a woman can possibly play with the men (Annika Sorenstam and Billy Jean King, maybe) we should let them dominate women's sports instead of making them a sideshow attraction in men's sports (we didn't go around looking for a new species of athlete for people like Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods to compete against - we just let them dominate, and enjoy the ride while watching).  In a case where there is no women's equivalent sport, e.g., wrestling, maybe, just maybe, we should encourage girls to pursue a different sport.  Because allowing girls and boys to compete on the same playing field in a sport like wrestling, for better or for worse, equal or not, is completely unfair.