4. Blokes
behaving badly a symptom of a sexist sub-culture by Michael
Flood
The men who make obscene phone calls or harass women aren’t
all wearing team colours, says Michael Flood.
When rugby league players sexually harass women in pubs, make
obscene phone calls, or have sex with prostitutes, they’re
acting just like thousands of other young men around the country.
Young women everywhere know that this behaviour is not confined
to professional athletes.
Being groped or harassed is a common element of young women’s
experience of clubs, pubs, and other public places. One in
seven women aged 18 to 24, or thirteen per cent, report unwanted
sexual touching in the last 12 months, according to a national
survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. In the past
year alone, one-quarter of young women received an obscene
phone call, and over a third received inappropriate comments
about their body or sex life by a man.
The infamous phone message left by rugby league player Mark
Gasnier betrays a pornographic mindset in which women are
good for just one thing. But go to some pubs and clubs on
a Saturday night and you’ll find a minority of young
men who see things the same way. Some blokes think ‘Show
us your tits’ is a good pick-up line, women in tight
pants are asking to have their arses pinched, and real men
don’t take no for an answer. It is this obnoxious minority
who make going out a demeaning, frustrating, or frightening
experience for some young women.
One in six males aged 12 to 20 agrees with the statement that
“it’s OK for a boy to make a girl have sex with
him if she has flirted with him or led him on”, according
to a 2001 survey of 5,000 young people in Australia. Significant
proportions of young men also agree that “when a guy
hits a girl it’s not really a big deal” and “guys
who get the most respect are those who will fight when they
need to.”
At least one rugby league player is in trouble for visiting
a brothel. But one in six Australian men has paid for sex
at some point (although only two per cent did so in the last
year).
Most men, including most rugby league players, treat women
with respect. They see women as human beings rather than as
objects for male amusement, and they express their sexual
attraction to individual women in ways that aren’t intrusive
or harassing. However, far too many men have stood by silently
while a minority continue to treat women with contempt.
Some commentators have blamed binge-drinking or Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) for rugby players’
obnoxious and anti-social behaviour. This lets players off
the hook. Yes, intoxication does play some role. When they
have been drinking or taking other drugs, some men become
more aggressive, think less clearly, and use their intoxication
to evade responsibility for their behaviour. Drunk women may
be seen as more sexually available, and alcohol and other
drugs are sometimes used deliberately to increase women’s
vulnerability to unwanted sex. But being under the influence
of alcohol or drugs is not a legal defence against criminal
behaviour, nor an excuse for socially unacceptable displays.
We will not find the source of some men’s anti-social
behaviour in the properties of alcohol or in such over-diagnosed
syndromes as ADHD. Instead, this behaviour is part and parcel
of a sexist sub-culture in which a small but significant number
of young men live. My own research among men aged 18 to 25
found that there are a minority for whom being ‘one
of the boys’ is all important, mates come first, and
women are sexual objects rather than friends and colleagues.
These men see sex with women as a source of status among ‘the
lads’, boast about their sexual conquests, and believe
in traditional gender roles and a predatory male sexuality.
They divide women into two types, ‘nice girls’
and ‘sluts’, and sometimes treat the latter with
contempt.
Young men with such attitudes clearly can be found in rugby
league, but they exist in many other environments too. The
research suggests that these views and behaviours are strongest
in tightly knit, all-male groups: in groups of mates, male-dominated
workplaces, youth gangs, and institutions such as the military.
When a professional sports player treats a women like dirt,
this reflects sexist attitudes and values evident among a
much larger number of young men outside the sport.
The big question is this though. Is rugby league a place where
harassment will be condoned by peers and even reinforced,
or is it a place that fosters respect for women and pro-social
behaviour? The National Rugby League clearly is working towards
the latter. Let us hope that this same commitment is shared
by all players and sporting codes.
Dr Michael Flood is a Research Fellow with the Australia Institute.
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