Taking a stand in the midst of insanity
When is it time to take a stand? The L.A. Dodgers drew heat recently from both sides of the aisle in a controversy surrounding the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,” an anti-Catholic drag group. The Dodgers first planned to give this group an award at the team’s Pride Night June 16. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence have a history of making a mockery of religion. They wear mock religious habits, tricked a priest into giving them Communion so they could defile it, and have performed sex acts on a cross and a “Jesus and Mary striptease,” to name a few examples.
Not surprisingly and rightly so, many people strongly condemned the Dodgers giving an award to this group that so openly mocks Christianity. In response to the backlash, the Dodgers decided to pull the group from the list of award recipients. However, that caused the organization LA Pride to back out of the event, which led to the Dodgers re-inviting the drag group and issuing an apology. Clearly, the Dodgers weren’t willing to take a stand one way or another, and were just trying to cater to the loudest voices in the room at the moment. One has to wonder, what would have happened had it been a person who dressed up like Muhammad, or a group that made fun of some other religion, that was a candidate for this award? Would that have been allowed?
Some baseball players issued public statements against the team’s decision to give this group the award, including Dodgers relief pitcher Blake Treinen. However, no players, to my knowledge, said they would refuse to play because of the Dodgers endorsing a group that mocked their faith. What would it take for a player to take that radical of a step? Probably the answer would be different for each person. I don’t know what it’s like to have that much influence and money. Each player has to make their own decisions and follow their own convictions, but it begs the question, at what point ought we take a stand for something?
One former college athlete recently decided to take a stand when she shared her story about being on the women’s swim team with transgender athlete Lia Thomas at the University of Pennsylvania. In an interview with Matt Walsh, swimmer Paula Scanlan said that when it was announced that Thomas would be on the team, university officials warned her and her teammates that they “would regret” speaking to the media about the situation.
“There was something going on at the athletic department that wanted to keep us quiet. I was like, ‘this is getting scary,’” said Scanlan. She shared how Thomas being on the team took away opportunities for her teammates to compete in relay events. She said she had a deep-down sense of unfairness that never went away, so she felt obligated to say something.
The full interview deserves a listen. Scanlan deserves credit for speaking out, because the truth needs to be put out there. If women are afraid to speak out and say this is wrong, it’s going to keep happening more and more. By allowing males to compete in women’s sports, it’s truly a step backward and an undoing of all the progress made by Title IX, ensuring equal opportunities for women in sports. It’s not fair for a woman to be competing against a man, who has clear physical advantages.
A professional athlete or someone with a platform can have a big influence on public opinion of the cultural issues of the day. But just as effective can be a bunch of people all collectively taking a stand. A few cases lately demonstrated the consumer still holds a lot of power when it comes to influencing the corporate world. The most noticeable example was when transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney partnered with Bud Light, and it resulted in parent company Anheuser Busch’s stock falling significantly. In the month ending May 13, sales were down 23 percent.
Mulvaney also was hired by Nike as a sports bra model shortly after the Bud Light incident, which led to a popular social media influencer setting her sports bra ablaze and encouraging other women to follow suit. Nike stock fell 17 percent in the last month. Then recently, Target featured kids’ pride apparel and a “tuckfriendly” swimsuit for Pride Month, resulting in a boycott of Target and its stocks falling 20 percent since mid-May, causing a loss of $15 billion in market value.
It is fair to say that a majority of women do not want a biological male representing them, in the store aisle, the fashion industry or the sports arena.
I don’t know how much these boycotts will hurt these companies’ finances in the long run, but at least it should give them pause and make them realize that the consumer’s voice still matters. It goes to show that the silent majority still exists.
As a consumer, you have to choose what hills to die on, or what’s worth boycotting versus not. If I boycotted every company that did something I disagreed with, I would have maybe five places left to shop at. So there is a practical aspect to all this. But, at the same time, we shouldn’t underestimate how much power our voices do have. If given the choice, maybe instead of going to the corporate coffee chain that promotes values that directly oppose your own, go to the local shop where more of your money will stay in your community. It’s not always possible to do, but it’s something to consider when possible.
Most Americans don’t want brands preaching at them and telling them what to think, just like they don’t want their sports teams promoting views about politics, morality or religion. But if corporations are determined to insert themselves into the conversation, then people will make a choice to support or distance themselves. The website 2ndvote.com gives companies a political ranking based on their public statements or actions related to the issues of life, the 2nd Amendment, the environment, basic freedoms and a civil-safe society. It’s interesting to look at and see how different companies compare.
There are many ways to let your voice be heard, whether it’s with your pocketbook, at the polling place or just in conversation with others – while remaining respectful and open to other points of view.
Everyone’s dividing line is different, in terms of what issues they feel are worth taking a stand for. Only you can walk your line. But, as the saying goes, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”
Striking a
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