The White House--a Bastion of Jocks? And What About Gender Bias in Sports Reporting?

By Brigitte L. Nacos

Has President Barack Obama committed an unforgivable offense against gender equality by playing hoops with male members of the administration and congress only?

Two weeks after ABC News reported on an all-male game of basketball on the White House court and comedian Jay Leno enlisted Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services and a former college basketball player, to poke fun at the president for excluding women, the New York Times revisited the president’s alleged faux pas and its larger meaning in today’s edition.

According to reporter Mark Leibovich, the issue transcends that one particular all-male basketball game in that the “technical foul over the all-male game has become a nagging concern for a White House that has battled an impression dating to the presidential campaign that Mr. Obama’s closest advisers form a boys’ club and that he is too frequently in the company of only men — not just when playing sports, but also when making big decisions.”

And not enough with Obama’s preference to play hoops with the guys, the Times mentions also that according to “Mark Knoller of CBS, the president has played 23 rounds of golf since taking office, none of which have included women…”

Is it true or a figment of media hype that at a time of pressing foreign and domestic policy  problems and issues—just think Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, health care reform, economic woes, etc., etc.--, the people in the White House are concerned about this so-called gender issue?

In spite of Hillary Clinton at State, Valerie Jarrett as the closest Obama adviser in the White House, Sonia Sotomayor as pick to join the Supreme Court, and a number of influential women in White House and cabinet, were are told that Obama’s White House is a bastion of male power and according to the Times “rife with fist-bumping young men who call each other “dude” and testosterone-brimming personalities…” 

While I am not sure that female members of the administration and congress would want to play basketball with the guys, there are probably enough female golfers who would love to give the president and the guys a run for their money.

Since the lack of female participants in the president’s relaxation time on basketball courts and golf courses is deemed evidence enough for the political correctness guardians to weigh in, the Times should be the last one to dwell on this.

As I have pointed out repeatedly on this blog, the New York Times sports pages in particular reflect a gross gender bias against female athletes and their sports—including women’s professional golf and basketball. Moreover, last summer I commented,

“TV-networks and –stations, and Internet sites display the same slants.  Why is it that the major bar on Yahoo Sports lists the NBA but not the WNBA? Why is it that Yahoo’s soccer site provides results from around the world but little or no information about the new Professional Women’s Soccer League?”

One perceptive reader wondered, “Couldn't it just as much be a lack of popular interest (and thus lack of sponsorship) that causes the reporting gap?

Certainly, this comes down to the old chicken-or-egg causal dilemma and the question whether lack of media coverage depresses public interest in female athletes or lack of public interest discourages news coverage of women’s sports.

While both dynamics figure into plausible answers, there is no doubt that more extensive and more prominent coverage of women’s sport would stir more interest among the American public and corporate sponsors.   

P.S. Yesterday, Melody Barnes, chief domestic policy adviser in the White House, became the first woman who played a round of golf with President Obama in his group of four. 

Comments

[Eric Chen]

Professor Nacos,

Did the Soviets employ Petraeus-style COIN? "Pro-insurgency sentiment" about our military presence will largely depend on the perception of tangible benefits from our military to the Afghanis and their community. As such, the COIN peace-building strategy for Afghanistan is meant to employ our soldiers in a manner that encourages Afghanis to make rational choices that favor our goals, in part by creating an environment conducive for GOs, NGOs, and IOs.

Kristof's notion that NGOs can replace the military in Afghanistan is enticing but his cite of CARE reminds me of the CARE aid worker in Iraq, Margaret Hassan. I wonder if CARE agrees with Kristof that their efforts would be helped by removing the US/NATO SASO mission from Afghanistan: http://www.care.org/newsroom/specialreports/afghanistan/20050505_ansocare.pdf

Kristof seems to imply NGO initiatives would be sustained, even improve, without a controlling Western presence on the ground. Maybe. But at that point, the NGOs would be working at the pleasure of whatever force dominates Afghanistan after we abandon the country. It seems you differ with Kristof about the Taliban; based on his use of the schools they haven't blown up as evidence, he seems to prefer the Taliban over US/NATO forces as the chief security provider in Afghanistan. If that's not the case, and Kristof actually believes NGOs can defeat the extremists, I recall a 2007 peace operations conference at SIPA (which, if memory serves, you also attended) where a USAID rep said in substance, if the military expects a follow-on civilian force, don’t, it’s not coming. At the same event, a UN rep said she feared a US "regime change" from the Bush admin to a presidential admin opting for withdrawal would be the death of on-going international efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Finally, as far as “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time,” I wonder if Mortensen believes his efforts are incompatible with the COIN proponents' call for more troops. From http://www.gregmortenson.com/biography/ :

Three Cups of Tea is required reading for U.S. senior military commanders, for officers in the Norwegian War College, Forsvarsnett, for U.S. Special Forces deploying to Afghanistan, Pentagon officers in counter-insurgency training, and Canadian Defense Ministry members.

The book has been read by General David Petraeus – CENTCOM Commander, Admiral Mike Mullen – Chairman Joint Chief of Staff, and Admiral Eric Olson – SOCOM Special Forces commander, and several other U.S. military commanders who advocate for building relationships as a part of an overall strategic plan for peace. Mortenson has addressed the National Defense Senior Leadership Conference at the Pentagon, visited over two dozen military bases, NORAD, and been to the Air Force, Naval and West Point Academies.