Hockey

Gender equality once again graces the headlines of our papers. In particular is the story of two girls who sued for the right to play in a boy’s hockey league.
The law of the land was that girls could play in boys leagues if there was not an alternative available to them. The girls did have their own league, but decided that it was not good enough for them. So they went to court where the presiding judge agreed with them and ordered the boys league to accept them. The girls won $3500 each plus the league had to pay for one on one instruction for them and let them try to make the team. Thankfully they were both cut from the roster.

Two boys have since applied to play in the girls league. The governing board has put their application on hold for the time being. But the boys, if they so choose, can sue under the same pretenses that the girls did and bring the whole thing to a head quickly. I hope they do.

I was upset some years ago when a girl applied to join the Boy Scouts and won her case in court. Sorry, there is such a thing as the Girl Scouts and that’s were this person belonged. Other examples of girls/women invading a boys/mens space include women wanting to be the King of the Prom, or Homecoming Parade, even though the opportunity of being crowned Queen is available to them. Boys/men have tried to be crowned Queen with no success. It seems what is good for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander.

No one would deny that women deserve equal pay for equal work. But at least do the same work. I remember a ‘woman on the street’ interview from years ago when women’s lib was at its height. Asked whether or not a woman should be allowed to join a predominantly, at that time, mens army, the answer was yes. I agreed with this. However, when asked if women should be sent to a war zone and participate with combat units (killing the enemy), the emphatic answer was, “No. I don’t think women should have to do the dirty jobs that men are supposed to do.” A bit of a double standard, I would say.

Women have made great strides in their search for equality and more power to them. But I still see, daily, examples of discrimination at my job. This is a man’s job, that is a woman’s job. Sorry, we all get the same wage so why separate jobs by gender?

There was a reason to separate the sexes when the Boy and Girl Scouts were formed. There was a reason to have a Homecoming King and Queen. There was a reason to bar women reporters from the hockey and football locker rooms. The reasons were valid then and they are valid now.

With our preoccupation to recognize gay/lesbian rights we are losing our sensibility of what is right and moral. We are not yet a unisex society and I pray that that will never happen. I enjoy the difference between men and women. Vive la difference! as they say in France.

If the girls can win a court case to further their cause, good for them. But the same right should be applied the other way.