Generalizations and stereotypes, please, hit the road and leave us all alone to explore for ourselves what the individuals in our lives are really like. And once we discover their fine qualities, let’s not assume every person who shares the same or a similar identifier also possesses those same qualities.
I clicked around too much on Twitter today, only to see a very irksome tweet. Something about how girls should shut up about the Playoffs because they don’t watch or follow basketball at all. Surely upon seeing a tweet that couldn’t be more wrong, I had to write a post about it.
I’m a girl who knows more about basketball than some guys. Links to my recaps on SLAMonline of the Western Conference Finals here, by the way: Game 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 (recap of 6 to go live tomorrow, as the game tips off tonight Insha’Allah). My two female cousins know more about video games and comic books than some guys. And of course, there are some guys who know a whole lot more than I do about things considered girly in our society.
When I told someone I had to cover tonight’s Game 6 between the Spurs and Thunder, I saw a couple of raised eyebrows. The person assumed my brother would need to explain the rules of the game to me, and I was just like um.
…I’ve been watching the game for 10 years…
Sure, there’s a good number of things I need to still learn, and if I happen to watch the game with him, I’ll ask my brother about stuff. But my go-to source when I want to find out about a rule or call is the Internet.
I don’t appreciate the quick discrediting and the negative stereotypes, is all.
Habeeba Husain 