Posted on 09/29/2006 8:11:51 AM PDT by GMMAC
Let boys be boys
Calgary Sun
Fri, September 29, 2006
By JOSE RODRIGUEZ
For the love of God, turn off the gender blender.
No man in his right mind would argue that women don't deserve equal pay, equal respect and equal status.
But mandating that girls have the right to play on boys' teams has nothing to do with advancing women's rights, and if anything, it will only end up hurting both sexes.
Back in 1992, Canadian goalie Manon Rheaume made history as the first woman to lace up for an NHL team.
She gave up two goals on nine shots during her pre-season game as part of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The world treated the event as little more than a mild curiosity, the kind that attracts rubberneckers at car accidents.
It was a feel-good spectacle that made for interesting headlines and locker room debate, but it was hardly a giant leap for womankind.
Not a single woman has played in the NHL since.
Today, her accomplishment is a footnote in sports history and a five-point answer on trivia night.
The league, and indeed the entire hockey world, has moved on.
In golf, Michelle Wie is creating a similar sideshow playing with the men and stinking up the course.
Sadly, the sport-meets-gender debate has reared its ugly head closer to home and this time it may carry troubling ramifications for an entire generation of young athletes in this country.
Under the guise of human rights, a rather disturbing blow to equality is playing out in Manitoba.
A pair of twin girls who didn't want to play for their high school girls' team won a human rights challenge that allowed them to try out for the boys' squad.
The Manitoba Human Rights Commission concluded that by denying the girls the right to try out, the province's high schools athletic association was guilty of gender discrimination.
In ruling in the twins' favour last week, an adjudicator awarded each of them $3,500 in damages and or-dered the athletic association to pay for a hockey camp and one-on-one coaching for the twins.
They were also ordered to let them try out for the boys' squad, where they failed to make the cut earlier this week.
If that were the end of this story, there would be no reason to sacrifice a single tree for this column. But it isn't.
Now, Manitoba boys want to try out for collegiate girls' teams. What's good for the gander is good for the goose.
And you don't have to be a lawyer to know that by using the same rationale the twins used to win their case, it'd be hard to argue that in an equal-opportunity world, the boys wouldn't be entitled to the same.
For its part, the Manitoba High School Athletic Association says it will hold off on allowing boys to play on girls' teams until it reviews the entire high school sports system at an Oct. 12 board meeting.
But if one boy chooses to challenge for the right to try out for a girls' squad, this whole non-sensical issue could snowball.
Simple biology would dictate many of the boys trying out for the girls teams, won't be cut. It's not sexist to say so, it's a fact.
Creating gender-blender leagues in high school athletics is unfair to both boys and girls.
This isn't a battle for equality. It's a capricious tantrum with horrible consequences.
Let boys be boys and girls be girls.
We had a woman on one of our corporate league basketball teams.
She was the first person to be knocked unconscious in the history of the program - in her first game.
It was completely an accident. The guy who hit her was just slow getting around a pick. Happens every game. It wasn't intentional.
Mixing the sexes in sports is a bad idea.
Ontario, especially Toronto is pretty much a lost cause... They continually screw over the Western provinces...
I'm just glad I'm living in the USA now, I don't particularly feel like going back to Canada...
I could actually make her hit herself like you do with a small child. We both laughed and had fun with it, but I was afraid for her in Iraq.
No kidding. Meanwhile, the kids doing well in Quiz Bowl, spelling bees, etc., are practically ignored.
I am a SJ Sharks fan, so I don't really follow the Stars that closely. I am always happy when Turco flubs up in the playoffs.
Weird that they would make such a switch w/Modano.
IMHO Lehtinen should be the captain, but I agree that Modano doesn't deserve the "C", he is a good hockey play, but a leader he ain't.
GO FOR IT!
Without getting into the overall dubious merits of the public education system, physical education including team sports is worthwhile from both a health/fitness point of view as well as for the positive lessons/values it imparts to young people.
I've been thinking of filing a nuissance 'human rights' lawsuit because I got in trouble for using the womens bathroom once. It was very oppressing.
Women playing men's hockey never is fun. I recall playing on various 14-u teams where women 16-17 of age were allowed to play -- you have a very mixed mental reaction when a female cross-checks you from behind. If it were a guy in her stead, he would be bleeding from the nose and eating ice.
Combing boys and girls for sport discourages many girls from participating. This in turn fuels the obesity epidemic which in turn drains the health system and impacts negatively on economic life. Promoting good health in in the national interest. It is amazing how some people overlook this factor.
The whole concept of segregating men's and women's sports is to prevent women from having to compete with men -- because usually they can't. In other words, it's a favor to women. Duh!
If the lamebrains are really serious about equality, they should be advocating that all men's and women's sports simply be integrated. Oh, but I'll bet the women would call that unfair!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.