Turning point

“Give us a twirl.” Egads. Show me an any athlete, professional or amateur, male or female, who wants their accomplishments dismissed with a sexist putdown. Before anyone suggests I shouldn’t get my panties in a bunch, let me ask this: When has a male competitor ever been asked such a question? I’d say it’s never happened. Even the female sportscasters I know haven’t been accused of blatant sexism because of their line of questioning.

Okay, so Ian Cohen’s excuse for asking the question was he’d been told Bouchard had tweeted about another athlete’s outfit. Well, if that doesn’t make it okay to be an idiot with a microphone, I don’t know what does. Yeah, yeah, we all make mistakes. But the more I think about the twirl incident, the more I wonder if Bouchard reacted appropriately. I’m uncomfortable with the fact that she was embarrassed and went ahead and twirled. We might have to chalk that up to her age, innocence and inexperience. Being the kind of person I am, I checked her Twitter feed to see the tweet that supposedly started it all. There it was, “love Serena’s outfit” along with “boys will be boys” —but that tweet is for another column.

As far as I could see, it didn’t look like she’d granted anyone permission to be a twit. The thing is, we have spent a lot of time and money on—and paid a lot of lip service to—gender equality. Books have been written, papers delivered, walks walked, placards raised and laws enacted. Yet in a moment it screeches to a halt when someone drives it all back down with, “give us a twirl.” We are still living in a patriarchal society.

Like many women I know, I have been on the receiving end of compliments, comments and swipes meant to put me in my place. And let me be perfectly clear about what I just wrote. “Give us a twirl” wasn’t anything more than an attempt to put Bouchard in her place. It’s a clear indication of how much the interviewer cared about the accomplishments of a hardworking, dedicated athlete who just happens to be female. Of course, it isn’t just about female athletes. When I worked for a large bank, the manager asked if I worked just for a little extra spending money. Yep. And when the time came to discuss a promotion, he suggested I make sure it was “okay with your husband.”

A male co-worker at the same bank, once told me “a bit of makeup would help”. “Help what?” I asked him. He told me the business owners we dealt with didn’t want to talk about their cash-flow problems with a woman who looked like she meant business. Yikes! I wonder if there was ever any doubt about the business of banking. Once, when car shopping, the salesman told me it was a pretty big decision for a woman to make without checking with her Dad or her husband. Needless to say, I didn’t buy that vehicle.

As trivial as “give us a twirl” seemed on the surface, it was a sexist putdown. I doubt Ian Cohen would have asked Milos Raonic about his haircare regimen or asked him to “give us a twirl.” Nope, I don’t think that would ever happen, but you’ve got to admit—Milos does have nice hair.

theresa@wellingtontimes.ca