2 posts tagged “stupid people”

At halftime of the Jets' home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, several hundred men lined one of Giants Stadium’s two pedestrian ramps at Gate D. Three deep in some areas, they whistled and jumped up and down. Then they began an obscenity-laced chant, demanding that the few women in the gathering expose their breasts.

When one woman appeared to be on the verge of obliging, the hooting and hollering intensified. But then she walked away, and plastic beer bottles and spit went flying. Boos swept through the crowd of unsatisfied men.

The mood of previous Gate D crowds — captured on video clips posted on YouTube — sometimes bordered on hostile, not unlike the spirit of infamously aggressive European soccer hooligans. One clip online shows a woman being groped by a man standing next to her.

Sunday’s scene played out for about 20 minutes, and at least one woman granted the men’s request, setting off a roar as if the former star running back Curtis Martin had just scored a touchdown.

What is this? The dark ages? I read the article with my mouth hanging open. That this behavior exists in open, public areas. That men behave this way. That women oblige. One girl who flashed the crowd said, "I don’t care. I love my body and I like what I have, so let everybody share it."

Argh! Stop it! Girls, stop degrading yourself. Stop making it difficult for women who aren't playing the game and end up being harassed and groped. Stop perpetuating that this behavior is fun! and makes me feel good! It is demeaning to us all.

And don't even get me started on what I think about that male behavior. Neanderthals. 

On Thursday, mom and I are going to have brunch at a local resort hotel. When I told people this at work, they looked at me bewildered. "What will you eat?" they ask.