Shrieking, Hysterical and Desperate

It seems Sam Newman might have trouble escaping his own ignorance this time.

The highlight for me was his comments on radio:

"I love women. Been married to two or three of them," he said. "(But) tell me what they've ever done in football or for football.

"I'm talking about the people on football clubs. I'm talking about women in football who use football as a vehicle to do whatever else they wish to do that's got nothing to do with football ... they have an agenda."

He continued: "The AFL does not need shrieking, hysterical, desperate women trying to bob up with causes that they just get their excitement out of, or some self-fulfilling gratification out of very minor and trivial issues."

I don’t think I have the energy to go line by line through the wrongness of these comments. I think you get the point. There is a recording on The Age if you feel the need.

He and Garry Lyon made things worse on The Footy Show last night, first with Lyon trying to dismiss the letter written to the station by prominent football women by arguing that Caroline Wilson accepted the apology so everyone else should let it rest. And then by letting Newman argue his case – badly.

Let me make this clear, Caroline Wilson was not the only person offended by Newman’s comments and actions.

Newman said something very revealing on live television last night, something that those who do care about the role of women in the game should take notice of,

When co-host Garry Lyon said the game had come a long way in its treatment of women, Newman retorted: "We've been forced to come a long way."

That’s it right there people.

That is the attitude of Newman, and one can only assume the large portion of the overexcited sycophantic Footy Show audience who cheered him on. For many, women are not an equal, they are not even relevant.

Newman comes from the school of thought that if you never played, you’ll never know and you can never be a part of the game. Women can be taxi drivers for their sons, they can be fundraisers, they can dress up and look nice on best and fairest night, but they cannot have anything to do with the running of the game – How could they possibly? They never pulled the boots on. These people may have been forced to keep their opinions to themselves but that doesn’t mean they are going to change them.

I believe Caroline Wilson is right. Women in football do have to ‘just keep plugging away’, making our presence know, showing individuals that hold this opinion that the time for attitudes like theirs has passed. That is the only way we are going to change opinion. And we just have to come to terms with the fact that we probably never will change everyone. But I also believe that The Footy Show and Sam Newman make that fight harder by every day by giving that misogynistic attitude a public voice.

In this instance ‘just plugging away’ is not a satisfactory response. Newman has to be publicly held to account for his actions. A private apology (or even a half-hearted public one) is not enough. To those who agree with him, silent resignation sounds much the same as quiet approval.

Those that watch The Footy Show need to understand that his attitude is wrong and that it has no place in the game today. I don’t care that Newman thinks women ‘serve very little purpose’ but I care that by publicly stating his opinion he gives permission for many more to agree with him.

The only consolation in all this is that with every opportunity for comment Newman digs a deeper hole for himself. One I sincerely hope he cannot get his way out of.