Current:Home > NewsTip for misogynistic men: Stop thinking you're entitled to what you aren't -DollarDynamic
Tip for misogynistic men: Stop thinking you're entitled to what you aren't
View
Date:2025-04-17 01:26:53
This really isn’t that hard.
Whether you are the "father of a daughter" or a "#girldad" is irrelevant. Anything else that uses the women in your life as cover for your bad behavior, too.
You aren’t entitled to women’s bodies. Or their affections. Or anything that will force them to choose between speaking out and saving their jobs, their livelihoods or their self-worth.
If these concepts are still too difficult to understand – and clearly they are, given the predatory behavior of the likes of the now-departed head of Spain soccer Luis Rubiales and the soon-to-be-departed Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker – here’s a shortcut: Treat women with the same courtesy and respect as you would a man.
Better yet, treat them as you expect to be treated.
Can’t fathom being subjected to an unwanted proposition by a superior or a co-worker or, well, anyone? Then don’t do it yourself!
Can’t imagine being treated as less-than in the workplace or at school? To be paid less and forced to jump through hoops your co-workers don’t? Then why on earth would you subject women to such conditions?!
Can’t comprehend something you had no control over – your gender, the color of your skin, your sexual orientation – impacting your safety and well-being? Consider yourself blessed and maybe have some empathy for those whom it does.
It is exhausting the minefields women have to navigate on a daily basis because of men who don’t see us as fully human. It is disheartening we're still having to fight this battle for basic decency, only making progress or seeing justice when the offenses are so egregious, the evidence so overwhelming, that the wrongdoings of these misogynists can no longer be ignored.
No, all men don't behave this way. But there are still enough who do that men like Tucker, Rubiales and Spain coach Jorge Vilda believed it was OK to treat the women around them in a multitude of demeaning ways and then, when they got caught, somehow see themselves as the victim.
Rubiales trotted out the "I’m the father of a daughter!" card two weeks ago when he defiantly refused to resign amid the furor that followed him groping and kissing Spain star Jenni Hermoso without her consent. As if you can’t see women as actual human beings, worthy of being treated with basic dignity, otherwise. As if having daughters somehow inoculates you from sexism and misogyny.
When he finally did resign Sunday, Rubiales said he did so after talking with his daughters. This was a mess Rubiales and Rubiales alone created. By dragging his daughters into it, saddling them with any responsibility for any of his actions, he reinforced how little respect he has for the women around him.
SPORTS NEWSLETTER:Sign up to get the latest news and features sent directly to your inbox
Tucker is trying to blame Brenda Tracy, a rape survivor and the pre-eminent advocate for changing toxic masculinity in college athletics, for his sexual harassment of her. The "But she asked for it!" defense is maddening on its face. It’s also not very original, the same trope men have been using for centuries to get away with abuse of women.
And in Tucker's case, it looks likely to backfire. A statement Tucker released late Monday afternoon was reminiscent of Rubiales' attempts to smear Hermoso, rife with inaccuracies and convenient omissions, all of which were easily fact-checked. It also prompted a devastating rebuttal from Tracy, who said Tucker "can’t afford to go to a hearing that determines credibility of the participating parties."
No surprise, really. These guys are never as clever as they think they are.
TUCKER:denies sexually harassing Brenda Tracy in Monday statement
If they were, they’d have recognized you can save yourself most of the trouble by treating other people as you’d like to be treated. As the equals they are.
Had Rubiales kept his hands to himself, he’d probably still have a job. Had Tucker backed off the first time Tracy told him she wasn’t interested in him personally, he’d probably still be collecting that fat paycheck. And on and on it goes.
If men can’t be bothered to treat women decently simply because it’s the right thing to do, maybe they’ll be convinced when it finally dawns on them these repercussions can be avoided if they’d only treat everyone equally. Not see themselves as superior to anyone or entitled to anything.
Because they’re not. No one is.
It really is as simple as that.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
veryGood! (3998)
Related
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- Arrested in West Virginia: A First-Person Account
- New Study Shows Global Warming Increasing Frequency of the Most-Destructive Tropical Storms
- Could Dairy Cows Make Up for California’s Aliso Canyon Methane Leak?
- The FBI should have done more to collect intelligence before the Capitol riot, watchdog finds
- 6 Ways Andrew Wheeler Could Reshape Climate Policy as EPA’s New Leader
- Supreme Court clears way for redrawing of Louisiana congressional map to include 2nd majority-Black district
- New Study Shows Global Warming Intensifying Extreme Rainstorms Over North America
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- Pink’s Nude Photo Is Just Like Fire
Ranking
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- New Study Shows Global Warming Increasing Frequency of the Most-Destructive Tropical Storms
- Startup aims to make lab-grown human eggs, transforming options for creating families
- Invasive Frankenfish that can survive on land for days is found in Missouri: They are a beast
- Federal Spending Freeze Could Have Widespread Impact on Environment, Emergency Management
- Hurricane Season Collides With Coronavirus, as Communities Plan For Dual Emergencies
- Climate Protesters Kicked, Dragged in Indonesia
- American Climate Video: How Hurricane Michael Destroyed Tan Smiley’s Best Laid Plans
Recommendation
SFO's new sensory room helps neurodivergent travelers fight flying jitters
America’s First Offshore Wind Energy Makes Landfall in Rhode Island
Hundreds of Clean Energy Bills Have Been Introduced in States Nationwide This Year
Beyoncé’s Rare Message to “Sweet Angel” Daughter Blue Ivy Will Warm Your Soul
A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
Solar Power Taking Hold in Nigeria, One Mobile Phone at a Time
California library using robots to help teach children with autism
Human remains found in California mountain area where actor Julian Sands went missing