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It didn’t take long for Tampa Bay Buccaneers Quarterback Jameis Winston to walk back comments he made on Wednesday saying ladies are “supposed to be silent, polite, gentle.”
Winston made the comment while speaking to third- through fifth-graders at Melrose Elementary in St. Petersburg, Florida, in what could be the worst after-school special ever.
What makes this more problematic is while Winston sort-of apologized— “During my talk, I used a poor word choice that may have overshadowed that positive message for some,”— there is a huge throng of people who agree with his sentiment. To make matters worse, Winston never set people right on why he was wrong.
Serena Williams is never “silent.”
Ronda Rousey would not consider UFC Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes “polite.”
US Women’s Soccer’s Megan Rapinoe is not “gentle.”
You want to know the real makeup of a woman? Revisit the Women’s March. Over four million strong across seven continents took to the streets and sang, shouted, rallied and united for women’s rights. No other movement in history was ever organized, coordinated and operated with the effectiveness that was on display January 21, 2017.
You want to inform children about ladies? Tell them to watch the University of Connecticut Women’s Basketball Team. The Lady Huskies have won 102 straight games, the most ever in collegiate or professional sports. Maybe they’d rather relate to someone more their age? Remember the name Mo’ne Davis? Now 15 years old, she is the starting point guard for her UNDER 18 youth recreational league team. Did I mention it’s a boy’s league…of 18-year-olds?
Outside of sports, women literally run the world. Angela Merkel is the most powerful head of state in Europe as Prime Minister of Germany. Theresa May was recently named Prime Minister of Great Britain. Poland, Norway, and Denmark also have female leaders.
“All my young boys, stand up. The ladies, sit down,” Winston said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “But all my boys, stand up. We strong, right? We strong! We strong, right? All my boys, tell me one time: I can do anything I put my mind to. Now, a lot of boys aren’t supposed to be soft-spoken. You know what I’m saying?”
You want men to be really strong? Have them start to view women the way they deserved to be perceived. A strong man understands a woman can stand next to him, in front of him, anywhere she damn well pleases. A real man gets that it’s not the volume of one’s voice that reflects his strength but the content of his message.
Too often women come with underserved baggage imposed on them by men. Females in the world of sports have proven they should be feared, respected, and revered just as much as their other-gender counterpart. Females have earned the right to be put up on a pedestal by both little girls AND boys.
Serena Williams isn’t just the greatest women’s tennis player ever, she is the greatest tennis player ever. Some would even put her into the conversation of greatest athlete ever, and they wouldn’t be wong. The late Pat Summitt doesn’t hold the record for most collegiate wins in women’s basketball, she is the winningest coach in college basketball history, more than John Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski and Dean Smith.
“My men, my men [are] supposed to be strong,” Winston continued. “I want y’all to tell me what the third rule of life is: I can do anything I put my mind to.”
It is high time men put their minds to the fact that women are taking over as leaders both in sports and politics. You can either be silent to this, ignore the movement that has been happening since Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in 1973, and watch them pass you by. Or, you can do as Winston said, and rise up, because the women you know are already standing.
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More on Jameis Winston here on GMP.
More from Wai Sallas here on GMP.
Related: The Only Place for the Woman who Shares Your Life is in Your Heart
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Photo credit: Getty Images
