The other day, a bartender friend of mine — in a rather public setting — used the phrase “like a girl” in derogatory fashion. He was belittling another friend for having to take a break during a particularly busy stretch behind the bar. And although I’m far from politically correct at times and have never been accused of being a bleeding heart, it struck me that the comment — particularly in the presence of ladies — wasn’t cool.
That got me thinking that while we’ve made progress in so many areas regarding the potentially racist, sexist and ageist comments some of us used to make reflexively, things haven’t changed enough in terms of giving women a fair shake when it comes to traditional “man” fields.
Which for relates closely to the joke of a punishment NFL commissioner Roger Goodell handed to Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice after Rice allegedly assaulted his then-fiancee. With a two-game ban — which was half the suspension he would have received had he smoked weed with the ex-fiancee in question — Goodell was once again showing a lack of priorities when it comes to player discipline.
And as ESPN’s Keith Olbermann points out in this masterpiece of a takedown, he was exemplifying a broader problem that the pro football world continues suffer from.
