PLAYER57832 wrote:tkr4lf wrote:PLAYER57832 wrote:tkr4lf wrote: PLAYER57832 wrote:Nice try at turning it backwards. No one forces the boy to wrestle, at all.. THAT is the point. He can decide not to participate. THAT is his choice But, he cannot tell someone else they have to stay out. See, here is the problem. Today, he gets to decide that he won't wrestle women. Tommorrow, he decides he won't work with women. THAT truly is a problem.
He never did this. Did you read the article?
The kid never tried to make her not be able to play. He simply declined to wrestle against her. She moved on in the tournament.
So why all this jibberty jabberty about telling people they can play or whatever. That's not even what this is about.
Because this part:
tkr4lf wrote:. If girls are going to wrestle, they should have their own league. They do it for basketball, they do it for boxing, why not for wrestling?
Makes it clear it IS very much what this thread is about.
That's not telling someone that they can't wrestle. That's saying that they have their own leage for wrestling. Just like women have the WNBA and women only box between themselves. Do you advocate that women should start boxing men? Do you think the WNBA should be merged with the NBA? Would that be fair?
Some women want to and are capable of competing with the men. Why shouldn't they? If the men are better, the men will win. That's how sports work.
For my part, I don't do sports. My husband, however, played several sports including wrestling, as did my stepsons. My son tried wrestling, but thankfully quit. All the boys wrestled girls.
As for why I bring this up... its because I have had to work with too many of those boys, grown up, who think women "just don't belong" with the men. What is true in sports is defined as true, in their minds, within the work world.
Do I care if women and men box? No. Personally, I despise boxing, but if you are going to say women cannot box against men, its not that long a stretch to claim women cannot cut trees or drive trucks... etc. And, well, women can do all of those things very well.
Ok, well first, people who put so much damn stock in sports and/or gain their sense of identity or accomplishment through sports are rather sad in my opinion. Sports are entertainment. That is all.
That said, you are correct that there are many men who think that way. But not all do. And just because somebody thinks men and women should be segregated in sports, does not mean that they think they should be segregated anywhere else. There is a reason for thinking that way. While there are always exceptions to any rule, the general rule is that men are stronger and more athletic than women. Since this is the case, my basis for the segregation of men and women in sports is to put them on a more equal footing. To take the case of boxing, it would be absoultely unfair for any female boxer to have to box against Mike Tyson, or even Manny Pacquio (sp?). It would be unfair to make a WNBA team play against an NBA team. Etc. etc.
While this reason doesn't really relate to the case in the article, I think it's still a valid one.
And to say that it's not a long stretch to claim that women can't do any work, doesn't seem valid to me. That is a pretty long stretch. Not many, save perhaps the men who already think women shouldn't do anything other than stay home and do housework or whatever, would make the leap from segregating women and men in sports to segregating men and women in the job market. Or anywhere else, really.
Besides, this kid did this for reasons completely different than any of this. His dad explained a lot of it, and went on to say that it was completely the kid's choice. The female opponent understood and said that she respected him standing up for his beliefs. She went on to wrestle in the tournament. He got to go on as well, because I believe it's double elimination, based on the article. There was also another female opponent, but she was pinned in both of her matches, so there is no chance of them playing together. The only way the original female opponent and this kid will meet again is if they both make it to the final round, in which case I guess he would forfeit again. So, if this were to happen, she would win the tournament.
So you see, there was no harm done here. He said he did it out of respect for women and beleiving that slamming a girl on the ground and wrestling with her isn't the proper thing to do.
One more thing, do you really not care about women boxing with men? I'll admit, it would be funny to watch a dude get his ass kicked by a woman boxer, but the opposite is not true. There would be nothing cool, to me at least, nor funny, about watching a guy beat the shit out a woman in a ring. While not as violent, or painful, wrestling is the same situation I think.