A feminist professor at Clark University penned an op-ed to express her hatred of “militarized patriotism” at sporting events. From Campus Reform:
Cynthia Enloe, a research professor at Clark University, wrote in a recent article for the University of California Press that she worries she may be “complicit” in the “insinuation of militarized patriotism” at sporting events such as those held at the Yankee Stadium.Having recently attended a Red Sox game at Fenway Park, Enloe recounted her discomfort when the crowd sung the National Anthem.“Red Sox fans are a boisterously friendly lot, so I felt I had to stand up with everyone else when a teenage girl sang the national anthem,” she wrote, adding that she “cringed when a mammoth stars and stripes was unfurled in the outfield down the beloved Green Monster wall,” though she claims to have “kept my cringes to myself.”Enloe’s discontent grew when a veteran was honored at the stadium. While the rest of the crowd erupted in applause for the hero, Enloe writes that she “sat stingily on my hands, still saying nothing.”Later, when the crowd stood to sing “America the Beautiful,” Enloe says she refused to stand and “sat quietly” while her friends “smiled down at [her] sympathetically.”—Reached for an interview by Campus Reform, Enloe explained that she has long had an interest in exploring the intersection between feminism, militarism, and sports.“So when I was recently at beloved Fenway, I wondered why both the Red Sox administrators and many of the fans seemed comfortable believing that active duty soldiers or military veterans were the most appropriate people to carry the American flag onto the field,” she explained.“Why not battered women’s shelter volunteers? Or ER nurses? Or kindergarten teachers?” she asked. “And if those (most likely) women were chosen, would the male sports fans feel as comfortable as female fans with the choice?”
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