AIBU to say men who believe this are sexist pricks

[Oddsocksanduglyshoes]

Men who refuse to watch the euro finals tomorrow as it’s women’s football - so what’s the point and refuse to watch, and say this in front of they wives and daughters are misogynistic pricks and their wives and daughters deserve so much better?

What if the man is not involved in any football at all? And it doesn't say much for the women if they are in relationships with these men you so intelligently and eloquently put

What if the man is not involved in any football at all

the op specifically mentions Men who refuse to watch the euro finals tomorrow as it’s women’s football so she doesn’t mean ‘men who dont like football’

Well women would not stay with sexist pigs they would be more intelligent than that

I don’t know. It’s just a different game and I can understand why people would not find it entertaining in the same way the men’s game is.

I am a pretty committed football fan, go very regularly to watch my PL team but even I won’t put my day on hold to watch the women. That’s just the truth.

It’s a great achievement for the women’s game but to pretend it’s exactly the same is not helpful. Calling people misogynistic, sexist pricks is not going to help the cause.

Thick too if they haven't realised they'll get to see attractive women in shorts AND football at the same time. You'd have to be extra sexist to miss that. Cutting off your nose to spite your face!

Oh bless you

Can I ask you why that’s the case? What is it about the women’s game that’s so unappealing? I see you follow the PL - presumably as well as watching club football you’d also watch the men’s national team if they reached a final?

This isn’t a gotcha, it’s a genuine question. Me and DP both love football and the subject of the women’s game is one we’ve debated regularly.

Do you watch any other sports where women competitors have a more equal profile eg/tennis, athletics, etc?

Both df and dh watch the womens football 🤷🏻

my dad would absolutely put it on and watch the whole thing like he does the mans

dh would watch it with df but if he didn’t watch the whole thing would watch the highlights in exactly the same way he would watch the mens

Misogynistic pricks is a bit harsh. Maybe they just don't care about woman's football?

I'm not a football fan at all, but enjoy sport in general and will watch the occasional big game, World Cup, etc.

Even I can recognize that the difference in levels between the men and women's game is so vast, it might as well be a different sport.

Let's be honest, in terms of elite sport, the level of women's international football is absolute trash in comparison to the men's game. I can completely understand why a football fan who doesn't specifically follow women's football would not want to watch the game tomorrow because it won't be very good.

I say this as a former competitive athlete in a male dominated sport. As a spectator, I enjoy the men's competition in my sport much more, because with the odd exception, the levels are much higher. This will of course change over time, as it is currently doing in football.

If a man doesn't want to watch the game tomorrow because "Birds should be in the kitchen", that's scumbag behavior. If they don't want to watch it because the national team plays to the level of a hungover Sunday league team, that's fine.

If you follow a sport and don’t watch your country play that sport in a major final because it’s women playing then yes I agree that it’s sexist. Especially because it’s generally expressed in a mocking tone. The same people who express those views will also watch a sport that they’re not generally into because it’s a major event like Formula 1 or a golf tournament. But when it’s a women’s event they suddenly are very picky about how they spend their leisure time.

Isn't it exactly the same game but women are playing?

I’m sure there’s an overlap, but not necessarily, no.

Someone may avidly watch the world (open) chess championship, but not the women’s on the grounds there are almost 100 other players who could beat whoever comes out on top. I’m not sure that’s sexist.

If you see the men’s and women’s game as the same sport then it’s unsurprising that the women’s won’t appeal to everyone, if the standard is lower. And if it’s a different sport then you must accept that some people will be excited by one but not the other.

You reckon?

It’s a different (lower) level of speed and physical strength. In pretty much every sport, women’s world records can and have been beaten by teenage boys.

I think it is sexist if you simply aren't interested because women are playing if it is a final or something. I don't understand or watch any sports, but I do remember in NZ when the women's Rugby team were in the final for the cup, the whole country got behind it and my Dad and DH who are massive Rugby fans said it was a great game, just as good or if not better than the All Blacks. So I think dismissing it automatically because women are playing is sexist. And that's also why women's sport don't make as much because they aren't well supported.

No. The woman's game is decades behind. If you're not specifically invested (and sometimes even when you are), it's often painful to watch.

It's like comparing three drunk lads slurring Chumbawumba at the pub karaoke to the Three Tenors. They're both technically singing, but only one of them are doing it to an exceptional level 😅

Thanks for the thoughtful question. It has made me really think about this.

DH and I both enjoy women’s sport in other areas. I prefer women’s tennis and DH enjoys watching both women’s golf and tennis. We both love watching women’s events in the olympics, for example, and will always root for the athletes equally to the men. I always remember the hockey final in a far gone Olympics and it was fantastic!

There’s just something about football that doesn’t translate in the same way. Maybe some of that is cultural bias. Football being a traditionally male thing. I’m not sure to be honest.

I think it’s just that while the women are extremely good for their sex, they simply aren’t as good as men at the sport. We know both the USA and Sweden teams have been beaten by teenage boys. I wouldn’t rush to tune in to an U15 final either.

I think there has been a media push to accept the women’s game as exactly as good as the men and I think that was a mistake. If interest had been allowed to happen organically then I think more fans would be on board.

Finally, I’m not saying we wouldn’t watch it, but we certainly wouldn’t go out of our way to change ours plans to watch (last year DH and DS’s changed their flight at great cost to watch the men’s final - bloody lost again!)

OK that's fair. I was pleasantly surprised with the women's NZ Rugby team and how impressed all the men were with the team, I think they're still very popular and it's also sparked interest in girls learning the sport too. But as I said I'm no sports buff so just assumed it was the same

You know the All Ireland Football final is at the exact time, which is the biggest sporting event in Ireland, so us of English heritage but living in Ireland are conflicted.
Actually, there might be loads of reasons why people don't watch. Does that make them all the things you say they are, I'm saying not.

This. Women’s football just isn’t as good. I’m saying that as a woman

People do sometimes get behind stuff from a nationalism point of view if their team is doing well in a tournament, for example. But if the quality is poor, it doesn't last.

There seemed to be a lot of interest in the last women's World Cup in England, for example. But I only found out yesterday that England are playing Spain in the Euros final (a rematch of the WC final) tomorrow. I didn't even know a tournament was taking place!

The biggest issue with women's versions of traditionally male sports is the lack of investment and opportunity. My background is combat sports, where all but a handful of women competing 'professionally' don't train full time and have a 'real' job that pays their bills.

Most people who support a football team support the men's version of that team. Most people who go to watch a game, or watch on TV, are doing so because they support the team, or they know it will be a great game of football. What incentive do those people have to invest time money into a much worse version of that game?

That doesn't make them sexist. I won't go to the cinema to watch a crap movie if there's a Scorcese film in the next screen.

That does unfortunately leave women's sport in a catch-22...but ultimately if there is a demand for it, the money will be found and the level will improve.

Would you also have an issue with women who don't want to watch women's football? Or women who don't want to watch men's football?
I do watch men's football, and some women's but being as I don't care which of those teams win, why watch it?

No.

If they're not watching just because they're women, of course it's sexist

If they're not watching because they don't find it as interesting as men's football, fair enough