Feminists Say It's Sexist To Criticize Female Athletes For Excessive Celebration. That's Insanely Stupid.

The U.S. women's soccer team beat 34th ranked Thailand by a score of 13 to zero on Tuesday. It was the most lopsided victory in the history of the World Cup. Kirsten Gillibrand and some other feminists have suggested that their rout of a low-ranked opponent should earn them the right to be paid as much as male soccer stars. That's nonsense, of course.

Male soccer players, just like male basketball players, get paid more than their female counterparts because there is a lot more fan interest in the men's version, and thus also more revenue. Why is there more interest and more revenue? Because male athletes are simply better — faster, stronger, more athletic. I don't bring this up in a mocking way, but just to make the point: The women's team lost to a group of adolescent high school boys a couple of years ago. Those boys, who can already beat female professionals, will be paid more than female professionals once they become professionals. That makes sense to me.

But the pay disparity isn't the only phony sexism controversy brewing around the women's team. It seems that some of the ladies on the team felt the need to theatrically celebrate each goal they scored against a vastly inferior opponent, even when the game had become mathematically out of reach for Thailand. These unsportsmanlike antics prompted criticism from some quarters. And that criticism prompted a much louder, more shrill round of criticism of the criticism. Feminists insisted that it is sexist to accuse women of unsportsmanlike conduct. Incredibly, entire articles have been written around the patently insane premise that only women are subjected to criticism of this sort.

An article on the website PopSugar puts it this way:

...similar criticisms have yet to be lodged against men's athletic teams for ruthless, high-margin victories and repeated celebrations. The 1992 US men's basketball team defeated opponents by an average of 44 points during the Olympic Games and is still affectionately known as the Dream Team. The annual NFL Honors ceremony includes a category for Celebration of the Year.

The critical reaction to the USWNT's victory may have come in response to one game, but it speaks to a much broader issue of everyday sexism. Women are taught that they must diminish, downplay, and not take credit for or ownership of their achievements. They're taught that the measure of their character is modesty and that expression and pride are unladylike. And when they have the audacity to break out of this mold, as the women's soccer team did this week, they're promptly scolded. They're told to apologize for their greatness — something we've simply never seen asked of men. 

Yahoo! features a barely coherent temper tantrum disguised as an op-ed:

For those who are hand-wringing about Alex Morgan‘s five goals, and her audacity at celebrating each one like it was her first: F**k you! People who accuse the team of running up the score: F**k you! And those who lambast the women for daring to continue blasting balls into the net when their victory was more apparent than Trump’s ethical fouls: F**k you some more. ...

Imagine, for a moment, telling Tiger Woods to just take a beat, and maybe hug second place Masters finisher Xander Schauffele, because losing hurts. Or wait. How’s about that little upstart Tom Brady, who, after helping the New England Patriots win yet another Super Bowl 13-3, maybe instead of basking in his achievement, he should have had a cup of organic decaf chamomile tea with Rams QB Jared Goff. ...

It would never happen. Because dudes are conditioned to win.

Abby Wambach claimed that the criticism is "patriarchal" and that these same critics "would never say this about a men's team." 

This is all just completely wrong and ridiculous on every conceivable level. Male athletes are criticized all the time for excessive celebration and unsportsmanlike conduct. Men who gloat and taunt and rub their victories in the faces of defeated opponents are roundly condemned. Male athletes have been penalized, fined, and tossed out of games for unsportsmanlike behavior. One of the most common debates among NFL fans is whether touchdown celebrations — which were completely banned for many years — are excessive and boorish. Lots of people answer affirmatively to that question, and nobody is afraid to say so publicly.

Would Tom Brady be criticized for this kind of thing? Yes. That's one of the main things Tom Brady is criticized for. Would Tiger Wood be criticized? Yes, and he has been. Would Michael Jordan or LeBron James or any other male star? Yes, and they all have been.

One of the most common cliches in sports — male sports — is to "act like you've been there before." In other words, don't run around the field beating your chest every time you score a point or catch a touchdown pass. Act like it's routine for you — business as usual. The "act like you've been there before" mantra is an admonition of athletes who, on the contrary, act like every pass they catch or basket they make is a game winner. Nobody hesitates to scold male athletes for these kinds of antics. We do it all the time. With one simple Google search, you could find literally thousands of articles on the subject.

Once again, the truth is revealed: Feminists don't want to be treated equally to men. These female athletes are being treated exactly like men in this case and that fact has sent feminists into a fit of blind, f-bomb-spewing rage. No, equality is the last thing they want. What they want is special treatment. They want us to tolerate boorish and stupid behavior from female athletes even if we wouldn't, and don't, tolerate it from men.