Footballer's creepy kiss just the latest example of men behaving badly
National Post, 03 September 2023
Luis Rubiales — and others like him — need to rethink their behaviour toward women
Having serenely ignored the Women’s World Cup, as I did the men’s tournament last year, I had no idea that Spain defeated England in the final, a one-nil thriller. So it has been rather a shock that news of same has dominated the intervening fortnight. Not the match, but the trophy ceremony afterwards.
BBC World News has covered the post-match kissing controversy with dozens of stories; the Spanish media could not have given any story more coverage, even if the Royal Navy showed up again in search of the Armada.
A recap: As the victorious Spanish players were awarded their medals, a line of dignitaries formed to congratulate them, including the Spanish queen and her daughter. Luis Rubiales, president of the Spanish Football Federation, was next in line after the infanta and subjected the players to enveloping hugs, multiple kisses, lifts and other felicitations in a decidedly gropey style.
When Jenni Hermoso arrived, he left his feet for a brief quasi-straddle, and then grabbed her head as he kissed her full on the mouth. The gross display on the dais had been preceded by Rubiales celebrating the end of play with a fevered, crotch-grabbing ecstasy in the royal box.
That powerful men in sports treat women in appalling fashion is sadly not news. Recall that NFL Patriots owner Bob Kraft frequented prostitutes on the morning of the AFC championship game in 2019; initial solicitation charges were dropped after the billionaire made a public apology. He had been caught up in a widespread federal sex trafficking investigation.
The Rubiales kiss was out in the open at a great ceremony, staged just beside the teenage Spanish princess. It could not escape notice. And it most certainly did not.
Denunciations immediately followed. Rubiales was defiant. Then he apologized, less rather than more, explaining that it was all consensual. Hermoso said that it most definitely was not. The Spanish football federation undertook a weird bio-mechanical photo analysis to prove that Hermoso was lying and threatened to pursue legal action against her.
Spanish front pages decried the “global embarrassment” and demanded that Rubiales resign. He vehemently refused. The Spanish federation applauded him. Dozens and dozens of elite players refused to play for Spain if Rubiales remained. The Spanish federation regional heads reversed course and demanded a resignation. The Spanish prosecutor launched a criminal sexual assault investigation. FIFA suspended Rubiales. At the UEFA awards on Thursday, his conduct was denounced by the English coach.
The UN Human Rights Commission called for this to be a “turning point” in the history of human rights. In a culminating touch of maternal melodrama, Rubiales’ mother sequestered herself in a church and commenced a hunger strike to protest the ill treatment of her son. She was hospitalized after a few days, but has been discharged.
Veering back and forth, various segments of Spanish society appear to have gone quite mad. Hermoso, for her part, has conducted herself with determination and reserve.
Those trying to salvage something from all this have suggested it might a Spanish #MeToo moment. That exaggerates what happened; #MeToo was about behaviour that was much worse, including rape. Yet there is something to that reaction.
Women not infrequently encounter creepy men and it is often thought that any objection to a particular instance is making too much of the situation. The confluence of circumstances that made Rubiales so prominent may serve to correct creepy conduct in others.
I suspect that Rubiales has been manhandling women to various degrees for some time. A man who grabs his crotch in the royal box is unlikely to be a novice at offensive behaviour.
So if not a full-on Spanish #MeToo, then what? Perhaps the clamour around Rubiales, whether or not he is effectively sacked, may be a step toward making such creepy behaviour simply out of bounds.
This past week marked the would-be 65th birthday of the late Michael Jackson. Many video tributes were a reminder that for some two decades before his death, Jackson made crotch-grabbing a central part of his public performances. It was widely popular; few voices noted that there was sleaze amidst the glitz and glamour.
Continue reading at the National Post.