illicit diversions

Things that happen often:

I read Pandagon.net for a feminist analysis of the world around me. This analysis is often combined with general pop culture. Today we got a post about the soccer and the World Cup which is about to go down soonish which much of the non-USA parts of the world Really Really Care About.

That’s nice, I think. Then I read the comments.

Thing that Actually Happened:
A commentator, oldfeminist, posted a list of links to feminists talking about the problematic aspects of soccer culture in general and the World Cup in particular. Namely, that like most mainstream sports endeavors, most of the people involved in high-powered soccer in general and the World Cup in particular are misogynist dicks.

Wow, you say. Since I am a reader of a moderately advanced patriarchy-blaming blog, I am not shocked by these developments.

OH BUT WAIT FOR IT.

COMMENT THAT WAS ACTUALLY POSTED: (emphasis mine)

Wow, can’t have fun without someone being humorless all over it. For a good example of how to acknowledge that this is a tremendous thing for South Africa while not forgetting the problems of the country and the corporatism of the tournament, check out some of the coverage in The Guardian. They don’t go enough in-depth but it’s a good start. Or look at the work Grassroot Soccer is doing to fight HIV and teach life skills to youth in South Africa.

Personally, I’d rather celebrate the good while acknowledging that more work needs to be done. Football needs more women to participate as fans, administrators of the game, and players, not less. But if you’d rather piss all over other women’s enjoyment, more power to you. I’m going to watch a few games outdoors in Dupont Circle tomorrow and enjoy myself while cheering heartily for England. Thanks for bringing footy to Pandagon, Amanda and Marc!

Comment #27: elena on 06/11 at 12:03 PM

LOLWUT?!?!?! Did someone with a rather female-sounding name just tell another someone who I also presume is female that they were being humorless? As in “A Humorless Feminist”? As in, one of the accusations that is constantly being thrown at feminsists? Was a feminist who was pointing out that there are some pretty ugly problems with the international soccer community being told to sit down and shut the fuck up and stop spoiling our fun by pointing out that it has very ugly problems associated with it?!?

OH YEAH, THAT JUST HAPPENED.

Thankfully, later in the comments, oldfeminist and elena seem to kiss and make up and agree that they were talking past each other. Which doesn’t really excuse Amanda’s multitude of comments defending the misogynist-dick-loving-lets-ignore-it-when-people-bring-up-stuff-we-don’t-want-to-think-about-right-now crowd, but whatever. This is me, wearing my whatever face.

And for the most delicious icing on this shit cake, I leave you with this one final gem:

The World Cup is probably the only thing the brings the world together (hope I don’t sound too idealistic). So criticizing it is kinda tacky/uncalled for/doesn’t help your cause/etc., that’s how I view it, anyway.

Comment #56: whiskeytangofoxtrot on 06/11 at 06:45 PM

Wow, its like there isn’t this other GIANT Sporting Festival that happens every two years, but instead of focusing on just one sport it showcases lots of other sports from around the world, is attended by people from around the world, and countries from all around the wold send athletes to compete. Now, if I could only remember what it was… OH THAT’S RIGHT. THE OLYMPICS. WHICH JUST HAPPENED. But maybe that’s too American-centric, what the fuck do I know.

What I do know is this: It’s also tacky to point out that your neighbor is beating his wife, that the nice upstanding pillar of your community also likes raping little girls, and that you would really appreciate it if your boss would stop looking down your shirt, staring at your tits, and ‘bumping into’ your ass. It isn’t polite to criticize things, unless you have a penis.

Fuck that with a stick.