Niamh Horan (left) and Sarah Carey

Further to Female RugbygGate.

Firstly the fact that this was written by a woman makes me wonder if the media will ever stop undermining women. Who, if not women, will ensure that what is published for the public speaks only of women as equals? Women in the media have a responsibility to empower and inspire other women. Let me put it this way, if a man had written this it wouldn’t have gone to press because there would have been further uproar. The fact that a woman wrote it makes it “ok” because it’s a woman and not a man enforcing the backward patriarchal traditions that are to this day still seen in mainstream media.
I don’t know her motivations but obviously there is no way the Irish could possibly stomach a piece on strong, hard working and motivated women without putting them back in their place. Oh but don’t worry, “They are fit, toned, effortlessly pretty players who love nothing more than getting dolled up for the evening” a little easier to stomach now I bet?

An Open Letter To The Editor Of The Sunday Independent (Mary Hayes, AThinkPiece)

So now Horan’s being attacked for perpetuating gender stereotypes. The Outragerati are ignoring the part that she was reporting comments from the players themselves. So much for truth to power. Anyway, I rather enjoyed the article because, having little or no interest in sport, it forced me to address my own assumptions about women’s rugby.

Yes, find the nearest cyber-gallows. Honest to God, in the 2.5 seconds I may have assigned to thinking about it, I assumed that a female rugby player would require a physical and mental disposition I will describe as masculine. Big. Tough. Square. Able to hold up a scrum and not panic when they do that thing of piling on top of one another while the person at the bottom of the heap has to get the ball out, but without passing it or something confusing, which I don’t get at all. Anyway, Horan in a light-hearted style challenged the assumptions held by sinners like me.

Hung, drawn and quartered on Twitter – all for a ‘fluffy’ colour piece on women’s rugby (Sarah Carey, Independent.ie)

(RTE/Independent)