Hope Solo isn't Ray Rice

Gender issues and sports have been in a state of flux for some time.  Mo’ne Davis made the insult “throws like a girl” obsolete.  The 1976 Men’s Olympic decathlon gold medal winner is now named Caitlyn.  The WNBA has a problem the NBA doesn’t have, namely two of its players involved with domestic abuse charges against each other.  As the character Willow Rosenberg said on Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, “It’s a turvy-topsy world.”

 Domestic abuse charges have involved another woman athlete, US Women’s Soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo.  The charges, which were dismissed because of the non-cooperation of the victims, have led some of the cognoscenti on ESPN to question whether Hope Solo should be the goalie on the American team at the Women’s World Cup, given that other athletes charged with domestic assault saw their playing time diminished.  Ray Rice has been out of the NFL since his suspension (was that for two games, six games, or infinite games, Mr. Goodell?), and Adrien Peterson missed all but one game of last season over issues with abuse of his child.  Some are asking why does Ms. Solo get to continue to represent her country when male athletes in similar situations have not been allowed to play?

 It’s almost a Pavlovian response now with sports reporters—they salivate at the words “domestic abuse.”  But let’s back off from labels and try to apply some perspective.  Generally speaking, I don’t think it is sexist to submit that the primary purpose of domestic violence laws is to protect women from men.  Yes, they can apply to people in a same-sex relationship and yes, an athletic woman can commit violence against a man.  But that’s not the norm in the vast majority of cases.

 It isn’t fair to Hope Solo to play the “If she were a man she wouldn’t be allowed to play after domestic abuse accusations” card precisely because she’s not a man.  I’m not saying she’s not capable of committing violence against a man; she’s a professional athlete who could probably beat the crap out of me without working up a sweat.  I won’t even get into the fact that one of her alleged abuse victims was her 6’9” nephew.  Domestic violence laws are about eliminating one element of a patriarchal society; the idea that a man’s wife is indistinguishable from his property, or his dog.  In some Southern states a dog might have greater protection than a wife.

 The reason why so many domestic abuse cases come to light is precisely because men who hit women often don’t cover it up because they feel entitled.  Ray Rice knocked out his girlfriend and then dumped her unconscious body on the floor of a casino, clearly not expressing any remorse over possibly injuring someone he supposedly cared about.  In his mind, she got what she had coming, so why should he get upset?  He didn’t try to conceal what he did because he didn’t think he did anything wrong.

 You can apply domestic abuse laws to women, but that just shows how far we’ve come since the days when a majority of states did not apply rape laws to husbands and wives.  Men tend to be bigger than women (especially professional athletes); they tend to make more money, have more authority, and have more connections to people in power.  The number of abuse cases before the NFL just proves that we still have a long way to go before women have the same rights as men, and domestic abuse laws are one way to try and level the playing field.

 I found it interesting that in 2007 sports reporters did NOT play the “If she were a man” card when Hope Solo complained about not starting for the US in the semi-final World Cup match against Brazil.  Solo was criticized for not being a “team player.”  But if she had been a man, wouldn’t she have been praised?  Wasn’t she just doing what Keyshawn Johnson did when he wrote an auto-biography titled “Just Give Me the Damn Ball”?  Don’t we lionize male athletes like LeBron James, who disregarded his coach's instructions to in-bound the ball on the final play of the game and instead received the in-bound pass and shot the winning basket?

 Also, the US lost that game 4-0, indicating that Solo was correct that replacing her with a 36 year old goalie who hadn’t played in three months was (my words now) incredibly stupid.  Given the success of Solo’s subsequent career the decision to replace her is even less defensible eight years later.

 I am not defending Hope Solo’s actions.  From the reports I’ve read, she sounds like a jerk that may have alcohol problems.  Maybe if the abuse allegations were more clear-cut there would be a case for keeping her out of the World Cup.  But sports reporters shouldn’t use the label “accused of domestic violence” to equate Solo with Ray Rice and any of a dozen other alleged abusers in the NFL.  Given her career and the murkiness of the charges, she should be allowed to represent America in the Women’s World Cup.

 Besides, our Women’s team might actually win; it’s not like our Men’s soccer team will win a World Cup anytime soon.