The Politics of Sex
Hat tip to Neale News.
Hockey mom wants daughter allowed in boys' change room
B.C. mother takes case to human rights tribunal
I am the father of an eleven year old who plays goalie in his house league. Fortunately, given the obvious trajectory of this situation, the league in which he plays does not allow girls. I do not believe that fourteen year old girls have a civil right to change in a locker room with fourteen year old boys.Lori Anne Charlton
The Vancouver Province
Monday, July 11, 2005VANCOUVER - A Lumby, B.C., mother believes her daughter got the short end of the hockey stick while she was a member of the town's bantam house team, thanks to a B.C. Amateur Hockey Association policy requiring male and female
players to change in separate rooms.Jane Emlyn says female minor hockey players' rights are violated when they're forced to use separate changing rooms.
She's presenting her case to a mediator from the Human Rights Tribunal this morning, facing off against representatives from the B.C. amateur hockey association and the Lumby Minor Hockey Association at the Vernon courthouse.
"There's a lot of girls that play, and I think the majority of them see this as discrimination," Ms. Emlyn said.
A similar policy was introduced in New Brunswick last October, after the Human Rights Commission ruled a 14-year-old female player had her rights violated when she was forced to change separately.
To hold that they do, as the the Human Rights Commission in New Brunswick apparently has, is to debase the concept of rights and to completely ignore the real differences which exist between adolescent boys and girls. Not to mention raging hormones.
The father of one of her female teammates, who asked not to be named, said he's uncomfortable with the idea of his daughter changing in front of a group of boys at this age without a strict policy.Yes indeed. The voice of sanity mired in a gooey miasma of selfish zealotry.
"I know what boys are like at that age," he said.
I wonder if Ms Emlyn will feel outrage if one or more of the boys is found ogling her daughter. Will she complain to the human rights commission about that. You have three seconds to come up the answer .... three ... two ... one .... time's up.
Ms. Emlyn said most of the youngsters on the team say they're fine with mixed changing rooms, but she has received several anonymous e-mails condemning her petition.Youngsters! Fourteen year old boys are not "youngsters," they're young men, not all of whom are determined to turn away from the world and pursue a life of strict celibacy in a remote monastery once they finish schooling. Some will, no doubt, entertain other thoughts and aspirations.
Adolescent boys views on coed locker rooms are somewhat predictable. Let's take a straw poll guys. Those in favour of getting the chance to ogle Jewel in the locker room say aye. Not so loud lads! There are noise bylaws in this town.
She's also felt a strain in relationships in her small, North Okanagan home town, 25 kilometres east of Vernon. Lumby has been known for its strong, tight-knit hockey community since the early 1900s.
"It's silly that I'm even having to fight this, actually," Ms. Emlyn said.
No Ms Emlyn, it is not silly. What is silly is your pursuing it. The end result of this sort of thing is that normal reasonable parents will resist opening their sons' hockey leagues up to allow girls to participate. Seeing the end result, I know Lady Mad and I will resist the idea, should some twit ever broach the subject locally.
posted by John the Mad @ Monday, July 11, 2005
5 Comments
5 Comments:
The mother in this article is so tunnel visioned, I don't even know where to start. Makes me think she would approve of co-ed sleepovers too.
Play the game, fine. What rights are involved in changing together as a team? I've heard it bemoaned that girls are left out of the cameraderie, etc. that goes on in the locker room. Get over it. There are bigger things at stake.
What do we suppose will happen when this team fields the first pregnant goalie in BC hockey history?
I would hate to seem 'old fashioned but...
My theory is that:
#1 - children don't make the rules. So, it's a parental problem. How about adult people just say "NO, MY CHILD IS NOT PLAYING IN THIS HOCKEY LEAGUE". Pretty soon, not enough people to play a hockey game.
#2 - Get a grip! 14 year old boys are maniacs looking for a place to happen. When the oldest tadpole turned 35, I called him and told him that he could come out of his room now.
#3 - Children have rights when they become adults. The last time I checked that was between the ages of 18 and 118!
This whole thing would be laughable (if it wasn't sicko). The basic problem is people that don't know the difference between raising a child and raising a Golden Retriever.
Kermit does not suffer these idiots to enter the bog...
K the Green
Why is it an all female club, is an all female club, but a male club, is automatically a co-ed club or else it accused of 'discrimination'.
This mother is a raging lune.
I have a boy and a girl in hockey, the same age group (peewee/minor peewee). My daughter and the other girls on the respective teams change in the tiny First Aid room. They wouldn't have it any other way, and they are 11 & 12 years old.
They go into the boys' room five minutes before the game, and after the game, they go in with the boys until the coach says -- and during that time, only gloves, helmets and skates can be removed -- both boys and girls.
Everyone is cool with this.
This mother is foisting celebrity on her daughter. I hope it doesn't blow up in her face.
As for cameraderie -- if the girl is a 'hockey girl' -- the boys will get along with her on the bench and on the ice where it counts.
Kermit:
I'm really glad you let tadpole out of his room before he molted.
Canadi-anna:
Good points all. Scouts Canada is now co-ed, but not Guides Canada. There is adouble standard at work here.
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