Dem
47
GOP
53
MAGA nation has a very curious orientation toward women's sports. On one hand, they are obsessed with guaranteeing the integrity of competition in girls'/women's high school/college sports, and making sure that the several dozen trans girl/women athletes across the nation are not allowed to compete.
On the other hand, they are generally disdainful of women in professional sports, with particular derision for the WNBA. Part of the issue is that the WNBA was, at least at its outset, supported by the NBA. So, some right-wingers described/describe the WNBA as DEI basketball. On top of that, the most popular WNBA player right now is Caitlin Clark, who is white. She has been the subject of some less-than-kindly treatment from some of her fellow WNBA players, most notably Angel Reese, who is Black. This has caused many on the right to portray Clark as some version of a martyr, although she has pointedly distanced herself from the carping that has been done, ostensibly on her behalf.
A new "chapter" in hostility to the WNBA has commenced in the last couple weeks or so (and please skip this paragraph and the next two if you don't want to encounter PG-13 terms). On at least six occasions, someone in the crowd has thrown an object onto the court while the games were underway. The headlines in nearly all newspapers, which try to keep things PG, identify the objects as "a sex toy." The problem is that you actually need a bit more detail to fully appreciate the implications of the object being thrown. In all cases, it's been a dildo, usually a green-colored one.
The group ostensibly responsible for this is a bunch of crypto bros, who created a meme coin called Green Dildo Coin (DILDO). They have spoken to reporters, and claim it's all in good fun. However, it is dangerous to throw objects onto a court while athletes are running up and down; eventually, someone will twist an ankle or tear an ACL. Beyond that, one can hardly miss the sexist undertones of throwing a rubber dick into the middle of a female sporting event. And, if one DID miss those undertones, both Cosmopolitan and Glamour have published pieces explaining them in detail.
Now, is it fair to ascribe this (primarily) to right wingers? Yeah, we think so. Crypto backers, particularly those who are young and male, certainly lean pretty hard in that direction. Similarly, someone who does not see, or does not care about, the sexist message they are sending (even if it's not their intent) is more likely than not to be right-leaning, we think. And what sealed the deal for us, in terms of our conclusions, was when Donald Trump Jr. posted a "fun" AI-generated image of his father standing on the roof of the White House, and throwing a green dildo at a group of WNBA players below.
All of this is lead-up to the actual subject of this item, which we chose, in part, because there's been some interest in this subject in the last couple of Q&As and mailbags. In 1997, nearly 30 years ago, the NBA hired its first female referees (Violet Palmer and Dee Kantner). A decade ago, the NFL followed suit (Sarah Thomas). Just 3 years ago, FIFA got on board for the World Cup (Stéphanie Frappart). And this weekend, Major League Baseball will join the club, when umpire Jen Pawol takes the field for the Marlins-Braves series. She'll work the bases for both games of Saturday's doubleheader, and will be behind the plate on Sunday. This is "substitute" duty, filling in for regular umpires who are on a break. Pawol will likely bounce back and forth between the major and minor leagues for a couple of years, and then might get a full-time MLB job, if she does well.
There are, of course, many right wingers slamming the promotion as a DEI hire. That is laughable. First of all, Major League Baseball got rid of its DEI programs earlier this year, at the behest of Trump. So, either Pawol is not DEI, or else Trump and his minions must admit that when businesses and universities promise Trump they will end DEI, they are just pulling the wool over his eyes. It is also worth noting that MLB is the most conservative of the four major sports, and is run by a Trump supporter in the form of Commissioner Rob Manfred. So, you're probably not looking at a bunch of closet social justice warriors here.
Most importantly, it is HARD to move up the umpiring ranks, because it's a pretty sweet gig, and Pawol is clearly abundantly qualified. She went to one of the two umpiring academies, and graduated near the top of her class. That means she undoubtedly knows what the correct call is if a fielder takes off their glove and throws it at the ball, and that she knows what to do if the baseball and the runner arrive at first base at the same time. She has been working her way up the minor-league ladder since 2016. And while MLB does not share the scores it assigns to every umpire, Pawol clearly got good ones, because she has been promoted several times, and she's also drawn some special assignments (e.g., working championship games).
We suppose the main point here is that, whether or not you have DEI programs in the world, change is going to happen, and that includes greater representation. MAGA Nation (and others) can dislike it, and can push back against it, and can maybe slow it down a little, but they can't stop it. There isn't too much footage out there of Pawol at work, but we've seen some of the footage that does exist, and she seems solid. Good luck to her this weekend, and here's hoping she eventually does get that permanent promotion.
Have a good weekend, all! (Z)
P.S.: If a fielder takes their glove off, throws it at the ball, and misses, that's a no-call. If the glove makes contact, that is a ground-rule triple (or a home run, at the discretion of the umpire). If a runner and the ball arrive at the same moment, the runner is out. Despite the old chestnut that "ties go to the runner," the MLB rulebook makes clear that the base "belongs" to the defense until the moment that the runner takes possession, which requires arriving ahead of the ball.