Same as it ever was - Shawn's Sense with Shawn Loughlin

In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s call with the American men’s hockey team in which he mocked the gold medal-winning women, a lot of questions have been hurled at both the women and the men with reporters eager to know what they think of all this. The president joked, the boys snickered along.

 

The men, rightfully, have been called out by reporters, asking them point blank to defend what they did and explain why they did it. On the other hand, many of the women have been asked about it as well and while they have been understandably disappointed in what they have had to endure, it was Hilary Knight who perhaps put reporters in their place best and reframed the whole situation in a way that’s hard to argue. She called the joke “distasteful”, but then lamented having to “sit in front of you and explain someone else’s behaviour. It’s not my responsibility.” 

 

In an increasingly uncivilized world, one that Trump and others like him have ushered in through their cruelty, prejudice, selfishness and sociopathic behaviour, women, minorities, those with disabilities and others are pushed to the side. In this scenario we see just how little we’ve progressed as a society. Not only that, but the women at the centre of the scandal (and the women who support them as fans and as strong, independent women themselves) are told that their place in the world is not as important as one occupied by a white man. 

 

The exasperation in the responses from Knight and others shows just how sick of having this conversation and fighting this fight she and others are. They unfortunately know that this behaviour and attitude towards them as women athletes (or women in any of life’s arenas, for that matter) will always face this kind of thinking. It has been described by some as the glass ceiling and it’s a sad fact of life that it seems that, for how far we’ve come, we still have so much farther to go and that there will always be a group of people ready to keep women in their places.

 

(And while I say this, I feel it’s important to note a statistic that I have found absolutely baffling. In the 2024 election, 51 per cent of white women voters cast their vote for Trump, so, in the U.S., if you’re across the table from a white woman, it’s more likely than not that she voted for Trump, a raging misogynist who has been credibly accused of rape of both adult women and minors, but hey, it’s your vote.)

 

This dovetails into something I pitched the other week for our editorial board. It’s the same situation, but with different people. 
At last month’s BAFTA Awards, Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo, two of the most accomplished Black actors of several generations, were on stage when a well-known Tourette’s advocate shouted the “N” word as the pair was about to begin presenting. Now, there are a number of factors in this, not the least of which is the nature of Tourette’s and how it manifests (people are currently on both sides of this situation), but what stuck with me was the look on their faces. Two great actors, both nominated for Oscars this year for their work and here they’re having a slur hurled at them. They had that same look. They weren’t surprised. They were angry, of course, but in a way that seemed like they had been there before and, frankly, the ubiquitous nature of this kind of disrespect is disappointing.

 

The fact that women, members of the Black community and other immigrants have to deal with this kind of thing, knowing it’s always - always - going to be a possibility, shows just how we’ve failed as a community of humans, unable to live together and respect one another.