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~ J Clay Norton, Ed.D.

The Book Chamber

Category Archives: Opinions

Being a #girldad and Women Sports Equality

25 Friday Mar 2022

Posted by The Book Chamber in Advantage, Agenda, Choice, Expectations, Future, Honest, Humility, Influence, Intentions, Opinions, Power, Value

≈ 2 Comments

I’m a #girldad and very proud to be one. I love Breana with all of my heart and then some (ya’ll know what I mean). However…

In recent events, the NCAA allowed Lia Thomas, swimming for the University of Pennsylvania, to swim in the NCAA D-1 Women’s National Swimming Championships. HE won the 500-yard freestyle event… you see, Lia was biologically born as a male… and there lies the issue. Interestingly, Thomas competed for the men’s swimming team at the University of Pennsylvania for three years before transitioning, undergoing hormone therapy, then switching to compete for the women’s team in 2020. Thomas finished the 500-yard freestyle final in 4 minutes, 33.24 seconds, just over a second faster than second-place finisher Emma Weyant (University of Virginia), while Olympian Erica Sullivan (University of Texas) touched the wall next to take third place. Title IX was established to promote and advocate for equality in women sports, but it seems that is no longer the case. 

Men-VS-Women

Breana played tennis in high school and is a pretty good tennis player (she takes after her mom). They played mixed doubles, but she never had to compete in singles against a boy. Girls played against girls, and boys played against boys. As a #girldad, I’m proud of Breana’s effort in competing. However, as the future begins to change, how would I go back and explain to her that she had to compete against males. At some point, right is right, and wrong is wrong… but that seems to get lost in translation. Some will say it becomes relative, but then…. whose relativeness do we believe? 

I’m not sure where society took a wrong turn, but I don’t think it was when I was growing up. If it was, we didn’t know about it. How do we tell our children not to cheat, stay honest and honorable, while others will literally try to change their gender or call themselves what they are not in order to compete? In the spirit of “political correctness,” I’m sure this becomes an obtuse thought. However, when we tell our girls not to compete, we stifle or limit their competitiveness nature in order to take a stance. 

If we see this now, where will it be later on? We say, “It cannot get worse,” but then something more asinine happens. When we say, “The audacity of…,’ the gravity of the situation does not carry the weight. I will say I admire the actual girls who swam in the meet. I also admire that they spoke out about it afterwards. I wish one of them had won. But then we know they actually did even though no trophy or medal was given. 

My daughter is now grown but still plays league tennis. As a #girldad, I’m passionate about and for women sports. For all the future girl athletes, I wish for them the opportunity to be able to compete at their level. But it needs to be at their level. We can get into the science of it, we can get into the biology of it, we can… get into it. In the end, how one is born is what they are. Allowing a male to compete with females does not create a venue of equality. 

It seems equality is no longer equal. However, to quote Gavroche in Les Misérables, “Here is the thing about equality, everyone’s equal when they’re dead.”

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2022 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on… Twitter @thebookchamber or follow the blog directly.

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Intolerance that creates a divisiveness divide…

04 Friday Feb 2022

Posted by The Book Chamber in Decisions, Intolerance, Leader, Leadership, Opinions, Passion, Tolerance

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I’ll open today’s blog with this quote that I read the other day in David Baldacci’s book The Gambling Man… “Free speech is not really free if it costs you all that you have.”

Thoughts? I have a few… Also, these are my opinions as well. So, for instance… my daughter just graduated college and is no longer in the sorority she was in. This week, she found out that the “national people” of the sorority have decided to take “God” out of the oath they say every week in chapter. They can no longer pray at that time as well. Someone, somewhere, decided they didn’t like it. Enough “fuss” was made, and the next thing you know… I use this as an example to go along with the quote above. It seems that when issues arise, there will be differences of opinion, which is ok. However, divisiveness is created when those differences create intolerance and push an agenda.

You know I have some strong opinions for those who know me, and I’m ok with that. There are even a few that I am passionate about. But the difference for me is that while I might disagree with someone on something, I’m not going to get divisive about it. Others are entitled to their opinion, and I’m fine with that. However, when someone or a group pushes their ideology, draws a line in the sand, and states that I have to adhere, agree, or compromise my opinion… That’s where the idea of agreeing to disagree breaks down.

The breakdown comes at the hands of those who want tolerance for their opinions but become intolerant of others’ views. And trust me, it goes both ways. Divisiveness is seen in all demographical aspects of society. Side story… I remember a few years ago we went to Boston. While there, we went to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. One of the displays was replaying the presidential debate between Kennedy and Nixon. I was amazed at how cordial, civil the discussion was. There were even moments where they joked with each other. What has happened where two opposing views are just that?

“Free speech is not really free if it costs you all that you have.” Ever since reading that, I’ve been chewing on it. We are now seeing the effects of this, I believe, more and more. Once intolerance takes its stand, free speech, as we know it, ceases to exist. As it is, once someone has their mind made up, the truth doesn’t matter anymore. The divide creates a chasm that no bridge can ever seem to span.

divisive-300x225

I’m not sure where society is going with the intolerance of tolerance. But I do know this, free speech just might cost us everything we have at some point. We must decide what is worth fighting for. I know what that is for our family and me.

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2022 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on… Twitter @thebookchamber or follow the blog directly.

Want to share this leadership thought with others? Click on one of the social media sharing buttons below and help spread the good…

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