How To Talk To ACTUAL Women About Sports : An Open Letter to Teresa Sagba + Men's Health Magazine

Last night, I read an incredible article about how women don't care for sports and need you to provide them with a sappy storyline to get interested. Apparently, since last night, Men's Health Magazine has taken this article down, but there's a pretty good Deadspin explanation of it here.
Dear Teresa, Men's Health Magazine, and Andrei Markovits, Ph.D.,

I recently stumbled upon your article,  if that's what we're calling the paragraph and a half of information I found thanks to Twitter. I am appalled by the content of this article for a multitude of reasons including, but not limited to, the fact that I have been a woman watching sports my entire life, that I don't always "need a story line" in order to stay interested in any topic, and that it's assumed women don't care about stats. I am quite impressed that it took you less than 150 words to upset nearly every female who has read this article.

I've been a sports fan my entire life. There was never a time in my life where the men (or any adults in my life, for that matter) ever felt the need to explain to me in small words about the back stories of players for me to be interested. They never treated me any different when watching sports than they would have my brother or any male cousins.

I cannot believe you Teresa, as a woman yourself, were comfortable generalizing women into one tiny specific niche. I cannot believe that any woman would take such a demeaning tone. If you're looking for a better guide on how to get more women interested in sports, try an angle like Sarah takes over at Venus Trapped in Mars. 

I think it's incredibly offensive to assume that the only way women will care anything about sports is if a player's wife battled cancer and he took a year off to help her fight. Please do not get me wrong, with the Ray Rice and Aaron Hernandez stories in sports, it's incredibly uplifting to hear about the NFL rallying behind Devon Still and his daughter. I, personally, would also be interested in sports if it was just about athletes working hard to make it as a professional athlete and role model.

It's completely understandable to argue that "not all women are interested in statistics" because they're not. Do you know what is also worth noting? Not all men are interested in statistics either. As a woman who does know statistics, I've "scared men off" with my knowledge and passion for sports. Just don't judge my abilities by the abysmal performance of my fantasy football team. Did I mention that I play in a league with all women?

Would you like to know the best way to talk to a woman about sports? Like she's your equal, because that's what she is. Even if she hasn't been a sports fan her entire life, talking to her like she's a five year old who doesn't understand is not going to get your point across.

Thanks for your time.
Kasey Decker, on behalf of women who are interested in sports everywhere.

Hey, that was over 500 words, so I'm linking up with Becca! Do you feel like you need a player's wife to battle cancer, or some other storyline, for you to be interested in sports?

500 Word Challenge

18 comments :

  1. I didn't read the initial article but I completely agree! I am a woman who has loved sports my whole life and I definitely do not need a story line to get me into a game so I love this response Kasey!

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  2. What's hilarious about this whole thing is that there IS a somewhat valid point buried beneath all the misogynistic crap. "Storyline" is a very offensive word -- it's sort of insinuating that women want sports to be like a soap opera, and I'm PRETTY SURE women don't have to know about an athlete's personal life to care about what he/she does on the field. Honestly, wtf. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't want some context around what I'm watching! I've watched sports my entire life and work in the sport industry, so I'm more than capable of watching a game without any background info. But it's so much more compelling an experience when you know which team is where in the standings, who's trying for what record, etc. But OMG WAIT, are those storylines ABOUT stats???????? OH MAN, I think I just broke the universe.

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  3. I read it, ran into my roommate's room and SHOUTED "this has to be a joke, right?" it was a short little paragraph that said women don't care about statistics, but if you give us a storyline about an NHL player who's wife battled cancer + he even took a year off to help her, that THEN women would be interested.

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  4. exactly! I LOVE a good feel good story, because what PERSON doesn't? I can't get over that story about Devon Still, it warms my heart so much. I don't, however, need one to be interested in any sport. I didn't need anyone to have off the field drama to get behind Kansas City making the playoffs for the first time in my lifetime. I just don't understand why they felt it was appropriate to argue that you have to discuss sports differently with women.

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  5. AHHHHHHH love this. I agree with every point you make. I get so frustrated when people assume women don't like or understand sports. Seriously I bet I have played and watched more sports than half the men out there! And I may be seriously cold hearted but I don't give a rats ass about the story line behind it - I'd rather watch the game.

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  6. right? I hate having to justify that I genuinely enjoy watching sports, I'm not just watching because I think that some athlete is a babe. I don't need a Lifetime movie about the Kansas City Royals to root for them since my team is out of the playoffs. I like them because they're not supposed to win.

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  7. What an annoying article. I hate gross generalizations and women are not attending sporting events because of a back story of a player. They are attending because they like sports, it's a form of entertainment.

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  8. That's so crazy. As if women aren't people who have varying interests. Obviously, I am not a huge sports fan, but if anyone talks to me like I'm "special", I'm even less interested. UGH PEOPLE.

    Thanks for linking up!

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  9. It's really sad that a post like this needed to even be written. I totally agree with you though. YES not all women like sports and stats, but like you said, not all men like it either (my hubby!) I get more excited about football than he does!! I'm glad you wrote this though. I hope Teresa, Mens Health Magazine, and other women out there see this!

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  10. I grew up looooving sports. I really want to read this article you are discussing, but couldn't find it through the twitter link...

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  11. a lot of those articles generalize and to be honest, can be pretty insulting to women! not all women like sports but hey, i know men who don't even like sports (and they're straight me too). people like different things, generalizations drive me crazy and i hate that people are 'categorized' based on gender /endrant.

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  12. thanks for motivating me to write 500 words! I think the sweeping generalization is the reason I felt so angry, heaven forbid we all be different people!

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  13. hahaha me too! I'm really glad they took it down. I'm sure the chick who wrote it probably had good intentions, but the WAY it was written, all she had to say was "if you're girlfriend doesn't care about the statistics, try telling her the personal interest stories to get her involved!"

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  14. they took it down! everyone lost their minds about it. It wasn't even long enough to justify calling it an article. it was a poorly thought out paragraph with a bad stock image.

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  15. EXACTLY! just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't have varied interests from the next girl. it's not fair to lump everyone into one category like that. I know plenty of guys who don't care about sports too!

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  16. Dang! I'll take your word for it!

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  17. Well said, Kase! I could not, more like DID NOT want to, believe that article was real. It wasn't until you sent it to me, too, that I realized, "Oh good gracious. People really think this." Having worked with you for a professional team; I have to say - the women who wrote this are obviously not of sound mind. Maybe that's wrong of me to say...perhaps I should instead say, they obviously do not know what they are talking about in this situation.

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  18. for sure. I want to know more about the man who apparently wrote a book about "Sportistas" as if women need their own term for being sports fans. makes me crazy.

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