ESPNW and Her Fantasy Football decided to perpetuate the stereotype that women are not as knowledgeable as men about football by breaking down fantasy football using a “simple” relationship based system. At first glance you might think this is an article written by The Onion or some other site known for their parodied articles. But to my own personal dismay, this is a real article written by The Worldwide Leader in Sports.
So we have tried to simplify things, and that’s why we have a simple relationship-based rating system that cuts through all of the clutter. LeSean McCoy and Calvin Johnson are two of the very best players in the game, so we consider them “Marriage Material” (elite players). Arian Foster and Andre Johnson? “Boyfriend Potential” (terrific catches). Wes Welker and Vernon Davis — “It’s Complicated” (pretty good placeholders until you find something better). And so on.
Here are my problems with this article.
We called it Her Fantasy Football,and we specifically aimed it at the people — oftentimes women — who feel intimidated by the sheer volume and presumed complexity of the game.
1. Why is it only directed at women and not ALL fantasy football beginners? By doing so doesn’t that just further this BS belief that men are more educated about sports. Newsflash people, football is not rocket science and women are fully capable of grasping it just as well as men. As a double minority in this industry (black and female), I am constantly fighting an uphill battle and it is frustrating always being questioned if I REALLY understand sports or not.
2. A relationship based system? Another stereotype about women that is often false: We’re all overly obsessed with being in relationships. Did they really think the only way to get women to understand Fantasy Football is to use words like “Marriage Material”, “Boyfriend Material” and “It’s Complicated”. Whatever happened to excellent, good and okay? They might as well have used kitchen appliances to describe players. You know us women just love our Keurigs and stainless steel stove tops.
I must admit that I have a tremendous amount of respect for the folks at ESPNW and Her Fantasy Football for everything they’re doing in the industry. But I would be lying if I said this article wasn’t disappointing to read. They seem to have no problem pushing the very same stereotypes that I work my butt off disproving everyday.