It was 26 years ago, as Tiger Woods was poised to win the 1997 Masters tournament, that he was the object of a joke by fellow golfer Fuzzy Zoeller about not serving soul food when he returned to defend his title. Zoeller was crucified in the ensuing uproar, which Woods could’ve helped diffuse by telling people to lighten up. But he didn’t. Now, though, Woods is the target of wokester ire himself after indulging in his own politically incorrect humor.
It all began at the recently concluded Genesis Invitational tournament when the 47-year-old Woods out-drove his much younger playing partner and friend Justin Thomas, 29, by 20 yards. The golfing great then decided to give his buddy a little dig, in an obviously pre-planned gag, by discreetly handing him a tampon (video below).
This greatly displeased the wokesters, “with many stating it [the prank] was disrespectful to women,” wrote the BBC.
It’s true, too, that Woods didn’t have to play that prank. He could’ve just said to Thomas, “Does your husband play, too?” or “It’s no big deal — your club just got stuck in your dress, that’s all.” Such jokes are oft heard on golf courses. (Not that I’d ever say such a thing! Ahem….)
Besides, Woods’s gag could’ve backfired. One could just imagine Thomas retorting:
“I’m wondering about you, walking around with tampons!”
One of the people not taking this lightly is former track star Michael Johnson. Obviously perturbed, he tweeted the following:
Most Twitter respondents weren’t on Johnson’s side, however. For sure, some might want to tell him, sheesh, Michael, don’t get your panties in a bunch! (Not that I’d ever say such a thing!)
As Johnson referenced, Woods did issue the obligatory apology. But he shouldn’t have — just as he should have stood against political correctness in 1997.
The issue: The wokesters are essentially spoiled, overgrown children, accustomed to getting their way by throwing tantrums. But it’s as with any child: Giving in rewards and thus perpetuates the bad behavior.
So as Nancy Reagan would advise, “Just say ‘no.’” “No, you’re wrong. No, I’m not apologizing for an innocently intended joke. What’s more, if you can quite seriously talk about ‘white privilege’ and ‘toxic masculinity’ — and brainwash children with these lies — I can make a lighthearted joke involving race or sex.” Remembering that the best defense is a good offense is how we can start killing cancel culture.
In this endeavor, though, don’t expect help from USA Today columnist Christine Brennan. Upset at Woods’s tampon treatment, she wrote that his “message to Thomas was obvious. It has been the go-to line of silly, often insecure boys for generations: You play like a girl.”
Brennan later kvetched that Woods’s prank played “right into a decades-old narrative that … the game of golf is for men and men alone.” Actually, no, it didn’t.
Instead, the joke was funny to many for the reason jokes often are funny: It contained truth.
That truth was not that golf stands for “gentlemen only; ladies forbidden,” but, as American Thinker pointed out commenting on the terrible tampon caper: There is sex inequality in sports.
It should hardly require stating (except that ours is a time where some believe men can menstruate), but guys generally hit the golf ball much farther than gals do. The average PGA (men’s) Tour carry distance is 284.3 yards; the average LPGA (women’s) Tour carry distance, 218 yards, is exceeded even by a good number of male recreational golfers.
Moreover, it’ll surprise even those still unenlightened enough to believe men can’t menstruate to learn that the male pros also putt significantly better than their female counterparts, despite the fact they “play on faster greens with more challenging pin placements,” informs American Thinker.
But we aren’t supposed to even allude to such sex differences because it’s demeaning*.
*Some exceptions may apply.
One of those exceptions, now, is when feminists and their white knights complain about MUSS (Made-up Sexual Status, aka “transgender”) men competing in and conquering women’s sports. Then we may see what could get you canceled just 15 years ago: A person testifying before a governmental body and discussing muscle mass, “VO2 max,” and other “immutable” advantages men enjoy in athletics to make a case for excluding the MUSS athletes. Okay, so, let’s get this straight:
Woe betide he who even alludes to male athletic superiority — including when making a joke — because it contradicts the principle of the sexes’ equality.
An equality the feminists will swear up and down doesn’t exist when their own ox is being gored.
Got it?
The kicker is that the MUSS intrusion wouldn’t even be happening if the feminists hadn’t for decades peddled sameness-of-the-sexes doctrine and girl-power propaganda. When people believe men and women are athletically similar (a young boy I worked with years back supposed the women’s mile record would be better than the men’s. Any idea where he got that from?), why would they think partially demasculinized (MUSS) men in women’s sports should be a problem?
Returning to generalizations (stereotypes?), we’ve long heard that “white men can’t jump”; there was even a movie by that name. Should we be offended?
As for the sexes, one could ask, consistently applying feminist Equality Dogma: What’s more “demeaning” than having separate tours, leagues, and teams for women? What does that imply? Aren’t they officially sanctioned, institutional acknowledgments of male sporting superiority? Outrageous!
Christine Brennan and the other (situational) equality cultists should cease thinking small: Don’t stop with the “sexist” jokes. Move on to the “sexist” sports segregation and insist men and women compete together “like the equals they are.” And, while you’re at it, lobby for girls to have to join boys in draft registration.
After all, as Brennan put it, what “message” do you want to send “to girls and women in 2023”?
