Eine Frau kommentiert das Spiel?
Ew, a woman. Deutsche Welle:
Social media users flooded German public broadcaster ZDF’s sites after Friday’s Italy-Sweden match, not to voice complaints about the game, but to bemoan the broadcaster’s female commentator.
Claudia Neumann, a reporter for German public broadcaster ZDF, became the first female play-by-play announcer for this year’s men’s European Championships in France.
But her role as the match’s main commentator enraged numerous soccer fans. Many of whom posted complaints about her “annoying voice” while others said women have no place doing sports commentary for men’s soccer. One Twitter user wrote: “Women shouldn’t commentate men’s soccer. It doesn’t fit. Annoying. Period.”
So true. And people who don’t commit murder shouldn’t report on murders, and people not in government shouldn’t report on government, and atheists shouldn’t report on religion, and…you see where this goes? Here’s the thing: journalism is journalism, it’s about reporting on stuff using the skills of the profession. Journalists report on subjects they don’t have personal experience of all the time. It often is useful to have lawyers reporting on legal issues, scientists reporting on science, and so on, but it’s not mandatory, and spectator sports are spectator sports, so they’re pretty open to generalists.
Her Euro 2016 debut was the June 11 match between Wales and Slovakia. Following that first game, users insulted and attacked her with misogynistic slogans about “the place of women” and even rape threats.
Despite expecting some criticism following the games, the head of ZDF’s sports department said he couldn’t believe the “harsh formulation” of comments that appeared on ZDF social media sites.
“I’m shocked,” said Dieter Gruschwitz on Saturday to sports news agency SID, calling some of the social media comments “asocial critique.”
In a post on the broadcaster’s Facebook site, ZDF editors said numerous “offensive” comments had been deleted.
Yeah well – there are a lot of men who will seize any pretext to talk shit to and at a woman. Any pretext at all.
H/t Stewart
I can only add that readers of German ought to glance at the tweets reproduced with the article, including, as they do, questions about who gave a woman permission to leave the kitchen, asking whether that particular hour isn’t when she should be making dinner and stating quite clearly that a woman’s job is to make babies and they should keep their hands off football.
Good grief:
“WHY IS A WOMAN COMMENTATING THE GAME”
“Why not?”
“Because she sounds like a bull dyke”
And of course, women don’t play football, so of course they can’t be qualified to comment on the game.
Well, they do play a game with the same rules and all, but it is clearly a totally different game, as it is played by women.
Sigh, I’ve seen this reaction, albeit not quite as bad (?), in Australia and NZ as well. Funny no one seems to mind a male sports commentator discussing a woman dominant sport.
Similarly, I once worked with a woman who was the most nerded out passionate supporter of rugby I’ve ever met, which in NZ says a lot. She would watch all the weeks games over and over, frame by frame at times, analysing what every player did. Being a scientist she would then combine her knowledge of the game with statistical analysis of anything that could be measured.
She actually arranged a meeting with the TV producers who dealt with rugby at the time to show them her work and discuss giving them ongoing background research on players, coaches etc.
When I asked how the meeting went her response was something along the lines that once they met her face to face they didn’t seem to be able to see past a young petite pretty women with breasts.
#2
So basically she’s too female to go near the commentary box, but once she’s inside and talking, she sounds too male.
My old man used to go off at women newsreaders. This is back in the day, about forty years ago when they first came in. And when I say go off, he really went off, working himself into a lather screaming at the telly, “Why do we have to listen to this stupid bitch, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about!”. He was doubtless aware that male newsreaders read the news, they don’t compose it off the top of their heads. But he seemed to take it as a personal insult that a woman was reading him the news. Even at the time I thought it was utterly bizarre. What the fuck difference does it make who reads the news, you crazy old coot?
Depressing to see the old man’s attitudes live on, now that I’m the age he was then.
Who remembers a book by some famous scientist back in the day mentioning more than once that women’s voices are too high-pitched or something and therefore women shouldn’t read the news (on the radio)? Can’t remember the guy now, but it was one of those disappointing moments to young-me to realise that someone widely respected for his ability to think rationally could write things like that.
All those soccer fans deserve this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcidS5WDaFQ
I think this may well be the funniest thing on the internet.
Rob #4:
At least there’s good, decent, non-misogynistic men in Australian sport, like Eddie McGuire…
@9, what a facepalm that man is…
Many sportscasters are now women.
And women play sports all the fucking time…soccer being one of them.
And baseball.
And lacrosse.
And hockey.
And skiing.
And boxing.