What Did You Say?

Where Are the Dads Protecting Their Daughters from Dangerous Male Athletes?

BY: ZACHARY METTLER | MARCH 14, 2024

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2024/03/14/where-are-the-fathers-protecting-their-daughters-against-dangerous-male-athletes/

ZACHARY METTLER

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It’s often said that the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Of late, too many seemingly good men have done nothing to protect their daughters from transgender-identified athletes competing in girls’ sporting events. Let’s not mince words. These male athletes are harming and hurting their daughters under the guise of “equality” and “fairness.”

Just last week, a Massachusetts high school girls’ basketball team forfeited a game after a male on the opposing team injured three female players. The team decided to forfeit because the injured girl’s female teammates were afraid of getting hurt themselves.

The girls made the right call, to be sure. But why was it necessary in the first place? And why was it up to teenage girls to make that call?

Last year, also in Massachusetts, a male high school field hockey player, identifying as a girl, hit a ball so hard it knocked out a female player’s teeth. Video of the incident shows the female player crumpling to the ground and shrieking as her teammates cover their mouths with their hands and walk around in shock.

Every time I see another story like this — and the number of incidents is surging — I wonder: Where were their fathers? Why have so few fathers, especially after their daughters were injured by a male, stepped forward and said, “Not on my watch”?

Recently, former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines shared a similar sentiment, telling Joe Rogan on his podcast, “I thought someone with political power, someone within the NCAA — quite honestly, I thought someone’s dad — would come down there and yank this man out of our locker rooms.”

Yet it never happened. “I’m standing on the podium, and we’re clapping, and we’re smiling, and we’re cheering, and it hit me, I’m like, what in the world are we clapping for?” she said.

How many injured female athletes will it take for one father to stand up and manfully assert, “Enough is enough. I refuse to let my daughter be physically harmed by a male in her sport.”

How far men should go to protect their daughters is a conversation that needs to be had. But to have that conversation, first, men must do something. Anything.

Even when men competing against women doesn’t cause female athletes bodily harm, it is no less unjust. In New Jersey, transgender-identified swimmer Megan Cortez-Fields competed for three years on the Ramapo College men’s swimming team before switching to the women’s team. He’s since set school records in the women’s 200 Individual Medley.

Over the course of three years in Connecticut, two male athletes broke 17 girls’ track meet records, took more than 85 opportunities to advance to the next level of competition, and won 15 women’s state track championship titles. It’s past time for women to stop paying the price for men taking away their places, their awards, and their health and safety.

Women should not be forced to sacrifice their bodies on the altar of political correctness. It’s time for men to do their duty and confront other men — even if those men identify as women. Call a spade a spade and do not apologize for doing so.

Now consider the most vocal advocates for women’s sports. Think about those activists who are boldly standing up for truth, common sense, and women’s safety. Here’s a few: J.K. Rowling, Riley Gaines, Megyn Kelly, Selina Soule, Alanna Smith, Ashley Nicoletti, and Bethany Hamilton. Notice a pattern? They’re all women. And good for them, because the more women who stand up and speak out, the better. But where are the men?

In his book The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis spoke about men who lack conviction and fortitude. “We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise,” Lewis wrote. “It is not excess of thought but defect of fertile and generous emotion that marks them out. Their heads are no bigger than the ordinary: it is the atrophy of the chest beneath that makes them seem so.”

Such could be said of the state of America’s men today. We’re too comfortable. We’re too apathetic. And we’re too nice. We could use a little more righteous indignation from America’s men.

Perhaps I’m just old-fashioned, but I was raised to respect and care for women. I know that men are supposed to protect and provide for their families. I refuse to stand idly by as the women of America suffer at the hands of men.

If you’re a father who’s still reticent to stand up for your daughter, here’s a suggestion: Don’t go it alone. Join forces with other fathers. The Good Book says, “Though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him — a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12).

Courage is contagious. So, fathers of America, the ball is in your court. Your daughters are waiting for you to protect and take care of them. This is your job. This is your responsibility. This is your duty.

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Zachary Mettler works as a staff writer and communications liaison for the Daily Citizen at Focus on the Family. In his role, he writes about current political issues, U.S. history, political philosophy, and culture. Mettler earned his Bachelor’s degree from William Jessup University and is an alumnus of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. In addition to the Daily Citizen, his written pieces have appeared in the Daily Wire, the Washington Times, the Washington Examiner, Newsweek, Townhall, the Daily Signal, the Christian Post, Charisma News and other outlets.