Today, politics is everywhere you look; and with that comes no lack of opportunity to blame the world’s big-bad-villain for all of it… namely “men”. Men are blamed for eating too much meat… for driving cars that are too big… and for not recycling. They’re blamed for electing Donald Trump, for Brexit, climate change, and the 2008 financial crash. Blamed for homophobia, racism, sexism, capitalism, and slavery; for not wearing masks during COVID19, and for not washing their hands. Blamed for their own deteriorating health, their low educational outcomes, for male suicide, loneliness, online trolling, for having beards, or long hair… I once read a (Guardian) article blaming ‘films that are too long’ on men, calling it a form of “man spreading”. Even if a man is assaulted on the street, people immediately reach for “well, who did it! MEN!” As if a crime hurts less when both assailant and victim have matching genitals. Yup. Everything bad, for everyone, for literally all of time… we’ll blame men. I’ve even seen men blamed for the fact women’s clothing has too few pockets (!?) And now, men are just not watching enough of women’s sports. It’s exhausting. These conversations are more suitable for angsty teenagers skiving behind bike sheds, rather than as serious points of debate for grown ups, having grown up discussions. It harms women too of course; the temperature of discourse so needlessly turned, as the endless gender war is stirred into every facet of our society. And the sad thing is, women’s sport is actually great; and has seen a huge boom in popularity that goes diametrically against the finger wagging condemnation. In fact, sponsorship in women’s sports is growing 50% faster than it is in mens, exceeding expectations, with record breaking viewing figures too. So why must this negative, overly dramatic and disproportionate boot stomp on everything, including the grass roots success of women’s sports? Because sure, more men could watch it – but there’s one group that are watching it even less than they are… Let’s take a look. ~ Source Study

2025-05-23