I am not a hockey fan. I am the wife of a long-suffering Cubs fan, and by marriage I have learned all I know about baseball, football, and basketball from my husband. We are not on the bandwagon, but that Stanley Cup sure is a sweet piece of hardware.
But why, why, why does this sort of crap still happen? Why did the Chicago Tribune think the best way to insult Flyers' Chris Pronger was to photoshop a figure skating skirt on him and title the mock-photo "Chrissy Pronger: Looks like Tarzan, skates like Jane"? Is it because we really believe "boys will be boys" and "it's all in good fun"? Aren't women sports fans too, or do they think stuff like this is okay? And, as a former journalist, I can't help but wonder what the editors were thinking when this made it past the first section meeting.
Men and women are both human -- physically embodied souls and gendered in God's image. That is no small thing in my book. We reflect something as humans and in our sexuality and gender of our Creator. What a horrible thing it is to know that girls throughout the world's cultures are raised to know they are less than. They are worth less than the young boys who will carry on family names and wealth. They are worth less unless their bodies are used for the pleasure of others. They are worth less, and that has meant many girls grow up to be women who in some place in their hearts believe they are worthless.
So it breaks my heart and pisses me off to see a major newspaper repeat the same playground taunts I continue to hear to this day: don't run like a girl, cry like a girl, throw like a girl, hit like a girl.
Kathy Khang is a regional director of multi-ethnic ministries for Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and blogs at morethanservingtea.wordpress.com
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