Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Mansplaining at the Range


I am seething with rage right now. Just got back from the range. I was practicing with my two brand-new Cleveland wedges with ladies graphite shafts. (I recently decided to switch from using my husband's old Cleveland wedges with the stiff iron shafts.) Anyway, I was at the range which has special targets just for practicing short wedge shots. I was almost done with my bucket when some old short, skinny white guy comes up to me and says, "Have you ever watched the LPGA?"
   Having no idea why he was asking me this question, I said, "Yeah, why?"
   "You should watch the ladies on the LPGA," he said. "I noticed your arm, it's like this--" he makes a motion of bending his arm.
   "You mean I bend my arm on the backswing?" I said.
   "Yeah. You need to keep your left arm straight," he said.
   "Have you been watching me this whole time?" I said, accusingly.
   "Well, a couple times," he said, sheepishly, looking away. "Your arm bends on the backswing."
   "I know it does," I said. "I've asked a lot of golf teachers and they all say it doesn't matter. What's more important is what happens at impact."
   "Well, that's true," he said.
   "Have you ever seen John Daly? Jordan Spieth?" I said. "The straight left arm thing is a myth. But why are you telling me this? Do you feel free to come up and comment on my swing just because I'm a woman?" I looked around, noticing there weren't any other women around. I began to get quite angry. "Would you do that to any of these guys around here?"
   The man kept trying to mansplain the golf swing to me. He had no clue that "keep your left arm straight" is overly simplistic advice, just like the commonly heard admonishment to "keep your head down." This douche bag just kept insisting, "If you watch the ladies on the LPGA, some of them are small like you, and they keep their left arm straight."
   "Oh really? Well, they're a lot younger and have been golfing since they were young. You have no idea what kind of physical limitations I might have. And how dare you criticize me! Who do you think you are, my husband?"
   Finally, the man started to back away.
   "Thanks a lot for ruining my day!" I said sharply.

   Later it occurred to me that this asshole might have assumed that I couldn't hit the ball very far, not even noticing that I am practicing my short game with wedges. But at the time, I was so angry I could have punched the guy in the nose.
   This wasn't the first time I'd been approached at a driving range, but in the past it was usually some random dude trying to start a harmless conversation. This time was different. This time, I almost felt sexually harrassed. Golf is a sport that is overwhelmingly dominated by men, but in this day and age, women on the range or on the course should not be considered an anomaly.
   I'm thinking about writing a letter of complaint to the range. Maybe I should demand that they put signs up at each stall, reminding people that it's rude to stare and comment on other people's swings. And if you're a man, keep your damn mouth shut around the women!

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