Ellen Goodman: The annual Equal Rites Awards : Opinion
Need we remind you that women have achieved greater success in the sports meritocracy than in the political democracy? Forty years after Title IX, women outnumbered men on the U.S. Olympic team and in the gold medals. Ninety-two years after the 19th Amendment, women occupy only 17 percent of the seats in Congress and have never made it to the White House.
[mjh: For some reason, the Journal cut out the following paragraphs. Read the whole column at the link.]
Now for his pal Rick Santorum. Our boy Rick lost the presidential battle but won the Battle of the Sexes Badge for a pink panic attack. At a bowling campaign event in Wisconsin, Rick stopped a boy from picking up a pink ball, saying "You’re not going to use that pink ball. … Not on camera. … Friends don’t let friends use pink balls." In the pink and blue world of boys and grrrls, he is already behind our 8-ball.
Ah yes, but what about virtual games-man-ship? The annual Booby Prize for Online Sports goes to video game coach Aris Bakhtanians, who trash-talked player Miranda Pakozdi in the "Cross Assault" video game tournament, quizzing her on camera about her bra size and telling her to take off her shirt. For video harassment, we promise to crash his private hard drive.
Now on to the Backward Trailblazer Award. We censure the Census Bureau for its retro view of kiddie care. When Mom does it, according to the bureau, it’s parenting. When Dad does it, it’s child care. For sticking to the old script, we give the number-crunchers an apron emblazoned: Dad is not a baby sitter! …
As for the Romneys, our gal Ann worked not only as a mom but, we now know, also as an anthropologist studying the life of a remote tribe for her hubby. Employer Mitt gets the Patriarch of the Year Award for whining that he does so understand women because Ann "reports to me" on what they think. To Mitt, a pill for tone-deafness.