So golf is sexist and racist?

[etherealgrace]

Okay, so in an earlier entry, I lambasted the sport of golf for being sexist, with it being divided into "men" and "ladies". Now, the LPGA (Ladies' [see, there's that word again!] Professional Golf Association) is mandating that all its players be proficient in English, according to this Associated Press article. Essentially, players will be

Comments

[hoskie]

I think they should be encouraged to learn English, but not forced. I think that not knowing English would probably put a player at something of a disadvantage and would make things more complicated, so they'd probably start picking it up on their own... but to mandate that everyone MUST know English is just going to make people resentful. Or at least, it would make me resentful.

I love golf... but it's fucking ridiculous.

[tyresias]

I think all whites living in North America should try to learn a 1st Nations dialect/language. And history courses shouldn't begin at the time colonialist set foot on Turtle Island.

If that puts off whities, well... I'm afraid I'm not catering my anti-racist belief to the privileged.

[etherealgrace]

That would be so cool. I'd love to learn Inuktitut. Problem is, I find enough people who think that learning even French is a waste of time... *sigh*...

I love you.

[tyresias]

Recent happenings on certain feminist forums, the events that lead to my resignation as co-moderator of an LJ community and the shit that lead you to this post is why I wrote
http://tyresias.livejournal.com/527557.html

Re: I love you.

[etherealgrace]

Thanks. I love you too. ^_^

I try to live up to your high standards, but sometimes I fail. For example, call me conservative, but I don't think it's a bad thing to encourage immigrants to learn English and French. I think it's only smart to encourage something that will be beneficial in the long run, like quitting smoking. But as soon as we start mandating such things, we're impinging upon freedom, and that goes against one of the core principles of modern democracy.

[etherealgrace]

But at the same time, there are those that cheer on the policy without understanding what it truly means (such as Canadian golfer Dawn Coe-Jones). In the interests of "communicating with the public", they've mandated something that's based on a subjective standard. It's not like they have official proficiency tests that golfers have to pass in order to enter the LPGA. Someone just decides whether they're good enough or not.

Take a look at the top international players on the LPGA, like Ochoa. She speaks English just fine, right? Why? She realized that as a top player, it really helps out her career. No one had to force her to do so. She took it upon herself, realizing that playing in a primarily American tour, you're not quite "on par" (ahem!) with the others if you don't speak the language of communication. But that is secondary to the ability to play the game. Do viewers care if the golfer who just scored three aces on the back nine has to speak through an interpreter? Perhaps. But I'm willing to bet they were far more glad to see

[etherealgrace]

Especially on a public post. :P

But really, I'm glad that most people seem to have some sense. Even still, things still need to get better. I just Googled "jennie finch", and the image results that show up are those of her in a bikini, not in a softball uniform. A good portion of the sites listed are devoted to how sexy she is. Now, I won't deny that she's extremely attractive, but she's also quite possibly the best pitcher I've ever seen in my life. Do you find sites devoted to how sexy the latest NHL star is? Certainly not on the first page of Google search results...