FREE ESSAY ON EQUALITY FOR WOMEN: A CRITIQUE OF WHY SPORTS IS A DRAG

EQUALITY FOR WOMEN: A CRITIQUE OF WHY SPORTS IS A DRAG

There are many women in today's society that fight for equality in just about everything.
They want the same job opportunities, the ability to be given a good deal on a car, and
the right to choose to stay home . Another area that women have recently begun fighting
for equality in, is the sporting world. From professional sports teams such as the
Women's National Basketball Association down through college, high school, and even
elementary age teams, women are fighting for equality in a variety of sports activities.
In his essay, "Why Sports is a Drag," Dave Barry discusses the differences between men
and women in relations to sports. Barry poses the idea that since the beginning of time,
"Mankind" has had an obsession with sports (267). With the few exceptions that make the
rule, women are not accepted as equal participants in the activity of sports, or in
sharing sports knowledge.
Women should have the right to participate in any sports activity they choose. However,
that right should not interfere with the less athletically challenged members of the male
gender. As the male species attempts to continue following that inner voice that is so
bluntly saying men are the more athletic gender; nobody can dispute that point.
Later in his essay, Barry discusses the differences between men and women on a
racquetball court. Women gather in random number and actually try to play between gab
sessions. They are in awe when someone actually hits the ball at a time other than the
serve (268). On the other hand, they will wear any amount of braces and other sports
apparel they deem necessary to participate to their full potential. According to Barry,
men proceed to "[hurl] themselves into the walls like musk oxen on Dexedrine"(268). To
men, sports are so significant that they feel extremely justified to yell obscenities
after every point.
Barry implies that the importance men place on sports is also the reason that coed teams
are not a good idea (268). The example that follows tells how even though the second
basewoman on a coed softball team, is better than some of the other male team members,
she is still not trusted. Barry cites the source of this mistrust as having risen from
the belief "that if she had to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's
life, ... she would probably elect to save the infant's life, without even considering
whether there were men on base"(268). 
Men take their attitude about sports even into conversations about sports. According to
Barry, the 1960 World Series is a good example of this fact. While women realize that
this doesn't matter, a man finds it easier to remember the events of the 1960 World
Series than "which of his children has diabetes"(268). Barry proceeds to purposefully
make an error in calling Bill Mazeroski a shortstop so that he can point out another
example of the extremes that men go to concerning sports (269). Mazeroski was a second
baseman, and according to Barry men have a lot of memory committed to such pointless
sports information. Barry states that men have no excuse except that "[w]e have no
perspective"(269). 
Yet another example of the things men will do when it comes to sports shows that a
highlight of one man's life was getting an NBA coach to single him out of a crowd because
of a foul exclamatory remark. Although otherwise a normal person, that event, along with
the recognition of the males around him, is a prominent detail in his life. 
At this point in the essay Barry obviously pulls back from his sarcasm to make a serious
statement that "this male lack of perspective... can lead to unnecessary tragedy... What
is even more tragic is that women are losing perspective, too" (269). Barry goes on to
suggest that before the reader is finished, women would be writing letters telling how
upset they are about the lack of importance hinted at concerning women and racquetball.
Barry's essay is a good example of using sarcastic humor to get a point across. The
overall sarcasm was brought to a point when Barry mentions "soccer-riot deaths" which has
in recent years became something of an international news story, and "the University of
Texas" (269). The Texas tragedy referred to a ten-story bonfire built by the student body
before a football game against a rival Texas college. The bonfire collapsed and killed
several students. These very sobering events should never be treated humorously. But in
Barry's article, the tone is so skillfully mastered that the intent is beyond question. 
The main idea behind the composition is for everyone to get a grip on reality and to gain
some perspective over what we spend our time obsessing. I emphatically agree with Dave
Barry's purpose. However, some of his main points, on their own merit, are arguable. His
sense of sarcasm in the example about coed softball makes it sound as if men are
justified in their treatment of women concerning sports. This is untrue, but because of
the sarcasm and its addictive effect, the reader is much more persuaded by Barry's
purpose at the end of the essay.
Bibliography
Barry, Dave. "Why Sports Is a Drag." Against the Current. Ed. Pamela J. Annas and Robert
C. Rosen. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1998. 267-269.