fantasy

american culture
I love fantasy sports, especially football and hockey. I am the only girl in both leagues where I am currently battling in the championship round for football and holding a respectable 4th place in hockey. 

My friends call it pointless; I tell them to let me create my own happiness. I take a weird amount of pride in how many points my team gets every week and when I chose the right running back to start in a given week. It indulges my secret dream of becoming the first female GM of a an NHL team. 

But I constantly worry about potential messages or threats I might get from the men in my leagues. Masculinity is a fragile thing and it probably is damaged by a girl beating them on a consistent basis in a traditionally masculine arena. 

And looking at the infographic I made below, you can see why. I am in the minority in many categories and more than 20 years younger than the average player. 

disclaimer

my life
My Mom is always telling me to pick my battles. She says that if I argue my opinion on everything, people will stop listening. I ignore this particular piece of wisdom. My mom is a smart woman and posses a unique charm; however, when she tells me this, it pisses me off. 

I have opinions on many things, and I will gladly tell you those opinions. And if you ignore me at any point in a conversation whether it be because I’m a teenager, I’m a girl, you don’t like my opinion, you think I’m ugly, or whatever it might be, you do not still earn my respect. 

It is not like I pull my opinions out of my ass. I read about them. I learn the facts. I stay up late to craft this opinion and then I eventually write about it. 

And so I will not keep these opinions to myself. I will gleefully shout about anything and everything on the internet, but I will speak with you eloquently and intelligently in person. But under no circumstance, will I pick my battles because you grew annoyed. 

You must understand, this seemingly irrational anger about being ignored comes from a childhood where people ignored my opinions. Before this year, no one ever asked me about my opinion on the state of the Middle East or how to fix the New Jersey Devil’s scoring problems (it’s unsolvable, they are simply terrible). I had to insert them into the conversation and watch as the people around looked taken aback or frustrated or bored or all of the above. 

No one expects the quiet, awkward girl to speak up when it comes time for the hard conversations. But guess what, she has opinions too. And she is tired of being ignored.

-SS