I didn’t plan on writing something about Tiger Woods’ silly, sexist, juvenile joke with pal Justin Thomas on the Genesis Invitational final week. In any case, a lot of individuals have already written about it extra eloquently than I’ll. In the event you missed the second, Woods handed Thomas a tampon throughout the first spherical of the event, presumably as a touch upon Thomas’ play, presumably as a touch upon his character. Right here’s the video:

For me, the most effective half is Thomas disgustedly throwing the tampon to the bottom, as if Tiger had simply handed him a large cootie, relatively than, you already know, placing it in his bag for when some lady in his life in the end wants it, however that’s neither right here nor there.

For all of the “girls are superheroes!” and “girls can do something!” advert campaigns that pop up across the time of the Olympics or any time the USWNT performs, there are an enormous variety of males on the market that don’t get what the large deal is. I do know this as a result of a good portion of them wound up in my infield this weekend, because of this tweet:

Actually tweeted it and went on about my day. In any case, girls are used to seeing this silly joke time and again and over, typically by males with pics of their daughters of their social media profiles and #girldad of their bios. However let’s be clear, the joke is all the time “girls are weaker and worse at sports activities and also you want a tampon since you are as weak as a girl.” That’s it. That’s the joke. There isn’t any different joke. Not when males joke {that a} pitcher has his interval, not when males joke {that a} quarterback wants some Vagisil, not when males rename groups the “ViQueens” or “CowGirls.” Ladies, and our perceived power, are all the time, all the time the butt of the joke. Ironic, contemplating I haven’t seen a man but who could make it previous the “reasonable” stage of cramps on the PMS simulator.

However I digress.

Males had been so moved by my tweet, that they despatched me tearful messages all week about how I had “actually made them suppose” about how they use language that denigrates girls and the way sorry they’re, and the way cautious they’ll be transferring ahead.

Simply kidding, they really despatched me a lot of messages like this:

“Slightly overly delicate and Woke in regards to the Tiger Woods joke I see…have to be that point of month…”

And this:

“You a bitch”

And this:

“I’ll watch Tiger hand tampons to JT 1,000,000 instances over earlier than I learn what you need to say about sports activities. 🤡”

And Tiger’s apology wasn’t significantly better, to be trustworthy:

“It was purported to be all enjoyable and video games and clearly it hasn’t turned out that approach. If I offended anyone, it was not the case, it was simply buddies having enjoyable. As I stated, if I offended anyone in any approach, form, or type, I’m sorry. It was not meant to be that approach. It was simply we play pranks on each other on a regular basis and virally I feel this didn’t come throughout that approach, however between us it was — it’s totally different.”

Okay, first off, you probably did offend individuals — you offended an enormous variety of girls. I don’t suppose that’s even up for debate. And I’m positive it is totally different. I’m positive the jokes males make are all the time totally different when girls aren’t round to name them out on their sexist bullshit. You hit that like a lady, right here’s a tampon. You’re so emotional in the present day, do you will have your interval? Actually, if the joke is one thing totally different, please clarify it to me.

What actually struck me, although, in regards to the variety of males who wrote to (screeched at?) me was what number of instructed me I used to be improper as a result of their daughter/spouse/girlfriend/sister additionally thought Tiger’s “joke” was humorous. And to be trustworthy, I don’t know any of those girls. Perhaps they did discover a grown man handing one other grown man a tampon as an indication of disrespect utterly hilarious. Perhaps they’ve so internalized the sexism that girls swim in day-after-day that she genuinely discovered it humorous. Or (extra seemingly) possibly the man isn’t telling me the reality.

However right here’s the factor: Ladies discovered way back to decide on their battles in terms of stating sexism and misogyny. Some girls have a lot of it to take care of at work or at residence that, yeah, possibly criticizing one of the vital well-known athletes on the planet for making a sexist joke was not on the high of her precedence checklist that day. And if there have been a person in my life that bought so offended a couple of full stranger mildly criticizing Tiger Woods (who doesn’t want Chad from Oswego to defend him), that he instantly sits down and pens a message filled with insults and vitriol to the creator – yeah, I’d snigger it off, too. Keep away from the controversy. Keep away from the mansplaining and the “it’s not sexist” gaslighting. Is it even value it?

Tiger Woods’ lame try at humor issues as a result of it not solely demonstrates however reinforces, the concept that girls are inferior to males. In sports activities. On the job. In a bar combat (or no matter measuring stick males use to find out their machoness). And ladies being seen as inferior is how we wind up with girls’s professional sports activities leagues which might be underfunded and under-marketed. It’s how we wind up with girls being instructed they can’t present their naked arms on the ground of the Missouri state home. It’s how we discover ourselves in a spot the place girls have misplaced management over their bodily autonomy in various states. It’s how we find yourself fearing males are coming for our contraception subsequent. It’s why we had the #MeToo motion and why so many males are comfy policing, harassing, and intimidating girls. We don’t matter. We’re lesser. Ladies’s inferiority to males is on the root of all of it — be it a joke between buddies or a complete political platform based mostly on it.

And both the boys who “have raised sturdy daughters” or are “#girldads” agree with calling out sexism in all its types, massive and small, joking or earnest, among the many well-known and not-so-famous, by males they admire and males they disdain — or they don’t.