Essential Estrogen

I've started two other posts for the EE this morning, but just can't seem to get them finished. Like most the nation, I've been watching the goings on between the Rutgers basketball team and media personality Don Imus. Since I typically believe giving voice to such incidents does more to provide publicity for the person who made the stupid statement than it does for the cause, I had decided not to write anything.

That changed when I watched the Rutgers news conference this morning.

For those of you who missed it (and it continues as I type), here's a very brief summary: "The comments put a stain on what should have been a great moment for all of us, but more than that it is a symptom of a larger problem which attacks women, in general, in society."

There were two details out of this press conference which gave me pause. In order to fully understand what happened in my own head this morning, I need to explain that I'm the one who is typically hopping at the top of the stands and screaming, "That isn't right!" As has been evidenced right here in the EE posts and comments, many times I'm the one discovering offensive material when others see nothing wrong.

While I can point to Imus' own track record of questionable speech as well as being desensitized by media which doesn't often realize sexist and racist comments, the bottom line is that I did not stand up as I should have this time around. I didn't do my part and I'm sincerely sorry for that.

During the press conference Coach Vivian Stringer noted many people (like me) were prepared to wipe the comments aside because Imus is known for making such comments against professionals and politicians. She then turned her eyes toward the 10 young women to her left and said, "But these aren't professionals or politicians." She's right.

(Quick historical note here: Charlene Vivian Stringer holds the distinction of being the only coach in NCAA history to lead three different women's programs to the NCAA Final Four -- Rutgers University in 2000 and 2007, University of Iowa in 1993, and Cheyney University in 1982.)

I even want to take it a step further and say that we should be refusing to allow our media "professionals" to personally attack anyone on the basis of what they look like or what reproductive organs they possess. If members of the media want to attack Rosie O'Donnell, they should be smart enough and well-versed enough to do so without bringing Rosie's body shape into the discussion. If the media wants to attack Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, they should be attacking on the basis of something more than her breasts.

Another tangent - one that I wish I had more time to explore right now - is how I found the questions to the team members to be rather offensive. Several times it almost seemed as if those in the audience (the journalists and so-forth) wanted the young women on the basketball team to solve every ill in society.

"What programming should MSNBC use while Imus is on suspension?" asked one reporter. Another person asked what organizations should tell young people about the incident.

As much as anyone else, I'd love for us to discover one person so wise as to become an oracle for society. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way and to ask these 10 young women who are still working out the paths of their own lives to serve as an almighty moral compass for our nation is unfair (and perhaps sheds more light on the subject of sexism and racism in our country than we care to admit).

My final thought here is for Essence Carson and all the women of the Rutgers basketball team: I would be so thankful and proud if my daughters grew up to have your sense of self and were able to handle themselves so well under such extreme conditions. Our planet is a better place because all of you are in it. Chin up -- and congratulations.