I got into an argument with my old roommate one day over Danica Patrick. For those of you unfamiliar with her, she’s the most successful woman in American open-wheel racing, and the only woman to win the IndyCar series. I didn’t watch race car driving, but I knew about her. I thought she was pretty bad ass, and it didn’t hurt that she was easy on the eyes. My first instinct was – I’m a fan. Until I saw her lose her shit after she lost a race due to what she deemed was an unfair call.
I was utterly ashamed and embarrassed by what happened next. I can’t find a video of it anymore, but she basically threw a “hissy-fit”. You know, the kind you have at seven when your mommy won’t buy you a toy. She was stomping around, wah-ing, and even threw her helmet on the floor. In Tagalog, we call this “sampong”. And in the Philippines? I would’ve gotten my ass beat for it. I felt like it was one step forward and two steps back for womankind that day.
As someone with a vagina, one would think I’d empathize with Danica. However, I was absolutely mortified by her behavior. I could sense every male chauvinist in the world rolling their eyes, and shaking their head. For years, a sexist society has taught us that women shouldn’t be allowed to compete with men because we are too emotional. That day, Danica proved them right.
I found her behavior unacceptable and because of this, my roommate called me “cold,” and said I’m “too much of a guy”. He then argued that men cry in sports all the time. “You think they’re stupid too?” he asked. Actually, I thought it was perfectly fine. Any other time a man might get teased for crying, but on the way to the locker room after losing a Superbowl, or on the field with his son after winning a World Series? It’s quite admirable in my book. Men are constantly pressured into being the manliest of men and competing for who has the most testosterone, that it seems as if this is one of the few times showing emotion is acceptable.
Short of a double standard, I just don’t think that one should get into a field that is dominated by the opposite sex, and do exactly what they think you will stereotypically do. I’d be the first to face-palm if the first woman president of the United States cancelled a meeting with the UN because her period was making her cranky. I’m not trying to be a dick here. I love being a woman, unstable emotions, cramps, and weakness for men in basketball shorts, puppies, babies and all. Don’t get it twisted. It’s more than OK to act like a woman in a man’s world, just don’t act like a fucking baby in it.