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A Major Victory for Women!
So, I saw a headline that begins “major victory for women!”
Well, I’m a feminist women’s studies student (and also trans, but that just means I’ve had to think about gender a lot more than most people), so I think, “Oh, wow! A major victory! Have we stopped domestic violence? Is universal childcare available? Have we lowered the maternal death rate? Do we have a woman President? Are people taking wages for housework seriously? Did women win the right to bodily autonomy? Are we taking women’s health seriously? Is it now a requirement to design things like cars and tools for all humans, not just the default cis-man?”
Nope. None of these.
It’s about sports.
Well, okay, I’ll adjust my expectations downward.
So, maybe we’re going to pay women athletes what men make, and they will attract the same TV, sponsorship, etc, deals that the men do? Maybe we’ll let men lose to women in sports where the rules do not need to reward male biology, but we have different rules just to keep men from being compared to women (for instance, luge)? Maybe we’re going to have more team sports where there are mixed teams of 50% men and 50% women, so competition is fair but integrated?
Okay, not this. Okay, I’ll adjust my expectations downward again. I mean, I’m a woman after all. Thus, I’m used to…
