Breaking News: Women Like Football Too
I vividly remember the day I realized that no matter how old I was, how much I cared, or how often I had to prove my passion, I was always going to face misogyny when bringing up my love of sports. It was right after news broke about Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s relationship that one of my male friends sent me this Tweet:
Honestly, a Tweet he probably didn’t think twice about sending felt like a massive slap in the face. The fact of the matter is I have been a football fan since the day I was born. I was raised on UT Austin, UMD, and TCU on Saturdays and the Dallas Cowboys on Sundays.
I’ve been a football fan much longer than I’ve been a Swiftie, and a sports fan longer than many of my guy friends. However, the second that Taylor Swift became the unofficial face of the NFL, my social media feeds were flooded with comments by men and boys of all ages talking about how young women were suddenly going to swoop in and ruin the sport. Because it’s impossible that we were there all along, right?
During the 2012 referee lockout, I dressed up as a replacement ref for Halloween. The basketball was a nod to how awful they were at their jobs.
Some of my earliest and fondest memories growing up was when my granddad would come over to watch the NFL on Sundays with my dad. The three of us would sit in my basement, them eating wings and me pretending to do my homework. I would lay on the floor in front of the TV, kicking my feet and getting ecstatic when I heard my dad’s signature 4-clap celebration.
But, no matter how many years I’ve watched or how many of my Cowboys playoff dreams have been crushed, I’ve been forced to “name 5 players” or laughed off as a know-nothing bandwagon when I try to talk football.
And then, came the “pick me girls.”
The Pick Me Girl is yet another rendition of funny trends being taken and skewed to become a way to make fun of women, for anything they do.
Sure, we all know the girl who dumbs herself down in front of guys or needs to bring up just how small she is all the time. But, this concept has been taken to the point where women can’t do things they enjoy. Now, there is the risk of being called a “pick me,” seen as only having these interests as a way to gain the attention of boys.
So, I went from being a bandwagon and a fake fan to a “pick me.” If I shared how excited I was for the NFL season, I was seen as only doing it for male attention.
After I moved to college and no longer lived with my dad in the fall, I began watching football alone, out of fear of needing to know every player, their stats, and their third cousin’s Zodiac sign to be seen as a “valid” fan in front of others.
It wasn’t until my senior year of college that I felt confident in both my passions and my male friendships when I found a group of people to watch football with again. Although nothing will replace the comfort and nostalgia that watching with my dad and granddad brings me, having people to watch with again has brought joy back to fall Sundays that I didn’t realize was missing.
To all the men reading this, listen up. Women are the future of the NFL fanbase. And, though you may not believe it, we’ve been here all along.
You heard it here first,
Kylie
