A woman is more than her sport.

Thanks for the thought-provoking post.

For me this seems to be the question that is most relevant to what you saw on UStream:

“Where is the line between “good access” and access that, to borrow from C + C Music Factory, “Makes You go Hmmmm”? As was pointed out to me, Ron Artest of the LA Lakers, got his hair cut that same day…which garnered media attention. But if the men do it, should the women follow? Should we always be trying to emulate our male counterparts?”

For me the answer is unequivocally “no”.

I would prefer that women’s sports not get to a point where we worship the athletes so much that watching them cut their hair in the bathroom is suddenly worthy of our attention.

That’s not McCarville’s fault, and it’s debatable as to whether it’s bad for women’s sports. However, it is indicative of how celebrity culture — and particularly sports culture — is spinning out of control to me. It has become a narcissistic, illusory, “cult of self” where people easily lose perspective on reality and are entertained by simplistic voyeurism instead of reflective thought about the world, as described by Chris Hedges:

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2009/07/30/book-excerpt-%E2%80%98empire-of-illusion%E2%80%99-by-chris-hedges/

I think sports should be appreciated for the combination of cognitive, physical, and social abilities that the athletes exhibit and the amount of work that goes into that. It’s a remarkable feat of humanity and appreciating athletic feats is appreciating something unique about the human spirit. I think it’s possible to appreciate that while maintaining perspective

But women’s sports certainly should not follow men’s sports deeper into this warped world of narcissistic, voyeuristic, sensationalized celebrity culture. It breeds a sort of ugly anti-intellectualism that is ultimately harmful to the well being of our society.