thoughts on wrestling and other such banned activities
Ken and I were having dinner with friends (two other couples) last night and one of the husbands was discussing his high school son's wrestling team with the other husband, whose son had also wrestled when he was in high school. (Yes, we were hanging out with people much older than us - we're cool like that.) Because we didn't have a whole lot to contribute to the topic at hand, we had our own little side conversation. It went a little like this (in quiet tones):
me: "Our child is NOT wrestling." [Ken laughs.] "In fact, we're just not having boys. They're too physical and it makes me nervous."
Ken: "Well, I don't want to have girls."
me: "Why not? Girls are so much less violent."
Ken: "I guess we can have girls if I can put ankle bracelets on them."
me: "Let's just come up with a list of sports our kids can play."
We then proceeded to brainstorm a list that included tennis, golf, baseball, volleyball, dance, and other such non-violent sports and activities. Cheerleading, however, is one of the non-violent no-nos. My favorite allowable activity is community service (no surprise). For some reason I'm much more ok with my (to date non-existent) children being in the inner-city or third world than I am with them playing football.
I'm still on the fence about ice hockey. I have fond memories of cheering for the Bruins with my dad as a child, but I really don't want my kid in dentures by the time s/he is 16.
I also have a problem with sports that aren't offered for both genders. Notable examples again include football and wrestling. The former is especially undesirable because it also condones the objectification of women (also known as cheerleading). Ugggh. What ever happened to equal opportunity?
Now that I think of it, toy guns/weapons and video games are also on the list of banned activities.
I know, I know, this is all very easy to say pre-kids. The challenge will come when that little girl in the ankle bracelet wants to put on makeup at age 6 or when our pacifistic son notices that all his friends own Nintendo 3000 or whatever the newest mind-numbing version happens to be.
At least they'll have a chance at growing up to appreciate independent thought, creative expression, and service to others. I hope.
posted by Kristen @ 11:20 AM
3 Comments:
You guys sure know how to enjoy a dinner party. you're so weird!!!
It does make us sound like anti-social geeks. I know. But you have to understand - this conversation was going on for a good 15 minutes and we had very little to contribute. We had to entertain ourselves somehow! Plus, it wasn't as secretive-weird as it may sound. We openly admitted to them (in a joking sort of way) that we'd rather our child never wrestle. They understood (or at least the mom of the wrestler did).
Krsiten, I am glad to see you have dancer on the list of acceptable activities. But I'll have you know, dancers are in for physical therapy just about as frequently as football players and can get injured just as often. I suppose the difference is one is somewhat self-inflicted (have you ever tried balancing all 120++ pounds of yourself on one toe?) and the other comes from that kid twice your size.
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