DoucheArt

Unless you’ve been away from the Internet for the last several days, you may have seen stories about Ray
Rice, the running back for the Baltimore Ravens. Back in February, Rice was seen on camera in an Atlantic City casino elevator punching his fiancé so hard he knocked her unconscious. He then dragged her from the elevator into the parking garage. The police were called to the scene and an arrest was made. Since that time, Rice has gone into a diversionary program which will allow him to get counseling and do some community service so the arrest will be wiped from his record.
Action by the NFL was not taken until just this week, however. The commissioner for the NFL, Roger Goodall, let Rice know that this behavior was not acceptable by the organization’s standards and as punishment he would be suspended for….2 games.

Two. Fucking. Off Season. Games.

This is establishing (and honestly reinforcing) a precedent that says violence against women is not a big fucking deal. Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon was suspended for an entire season for testing positive for marijuana more than once. Justin Blackmon, wide receiver for the Jackson Jaguars, has been suspended indefinitely for marijuana charges. Robert Mathis, an offensive linebacker for the Indianapolis Colts was suspended for 4 games for taking a fertility drug that wasn’t on an approved list. And perhaps even most telling is the fact that Daryl Washington of the Arizona Cardinals was suspended for the entire season for drug-related charges but has received NO punishment (yet at least) for an aggravated assault charge against the mother of his child whom he shoved so hard she suffered a broken clavicle. Every single player that has been suspended this year has been suspended for more games than Rice and all for substance abuse. That’s 15 other players with twice as many suspended games at the very least.

When managers and other players have been asked for commentary, most end up citing something along the lines of there being two sides to every story as if there is ever any reason that a 212 lb running back needs to punch his significant other in the face much less in the face hard enough to knock her out. Even sportscasters have joined in on this type of victim-blaming. ESPN anchor Steven Smith stated earlier in the week that there was never any excuse for a man hitting a woman but that women should remember to be more careful and not provoke such an attack. Here we are again putting all the responsibility on women not to provoke someone to hurt us, not to ask someone to hit us who is irrational, prone to anger, and unpredictable. Yeah, that’s really something *we* have shared responsibility in, right?

The NFL is the body that should have more of the “shared” responsibility to do more to handle domestic violence issues. These are players who get paid millions of dollars per season. In fact, this season Ray Rice will rake in $8,750,000 (before the missed games are factored in) far more than any teacher, police officer, firefighter, or even a US soldier. Baltimore police officers make a paltry $46,669 in comparison… And while it’s not the government who pays football players directly, it says a lot about what is valued more in this country that we’re fine with men getting paid multitudes more to throw around a football for our entertainment than the men and women who throw on a uniform and are ready to lay their lives on the line to protect this country and its citizens. And we’re fine with those entertainers being spouse abusers, rapists, drunk drivers, and all-around dickholes. Why don’t we expect more from these men who we value more than our own fucking soldiers?

These are players who are role models and heroes to young children and teens. We celebrate their victories like they’re our victories. We wear their jerseys. We worship them in front of the television on Sundays like they’re disciples of a pigskin religion preaching the word of God in tight uniforms and shoulder pads. Yet, we don’t expect them to be better examples to our children? We don’t say wait a fucking minute the least you could do is not hit your fiancés or sexually assault your fans (also here)?

To condone this kind of behavior with slap-on-the-wrist punishments that are far more lenient than those handed out for marijuana charges—a drug well on its way to legalization and/or decriminalization across the country—and by victim-blaming to lessen, somehow, the seriousness of the offenses committed by their players, the NFL is saying domestic violence really isn’t something they’re concerned about… They’re much more worried about whether their players look like pot heads than wife beaters. Their precedent for handling these cases says, in a nutshell: Try not to hit your wife or girlfriend unless they deserve it, don’t leave behind incriminating evidence if a date asks for it, and damn well make sure you don’t get busted with pot. We have an image to uphold and all.

It’s not enough. It’s not enough to say that smoking a few joints is a bigger issue than domestic violence which is the leading cause of injury to women—more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined. The NFL is perpetuating a culture of violence against women while continually raking in billions of dollars in profits each and every year ($10 billion at least projected for this year alone). The NFL player suspension system is obviously broken. You would think that making that much money in a year would enable an organization to be a bit more responsible for its players and hold them accountable for their bullshit behaviors. We’re living in a society that demands harsher punishments for children and blames lax parenting for the state of younger generations yet here we are letting the NFL be a completely negligent authority figure and still contributing to their bank account. It would be like handing money over to your neighbor after you saw their kid punch another kid at the park while they stood on the sidelines saying “oh honey don’t do that again, ok?”

Fuck that. Fuck this idiotic notion that women are responsible for their own victimization while the people who perpetrate the crimes share so little of the responsibility. It’s time for change and for us to demand more from these institutions and the players themselves.

The NFL claims women make up 50% of their fan base. While some might scoff at that number, we wonder how much of the NFL's merchandise sales is made by that 50% and what it might look like if women quit supporting an organization that fails them at every turn. Perhaps seeing just how much women really support the organization might change some minds if that 50% stopped showing its loyalty by buying tickets and merchandise and by watching.