Lauren Wood: Obscene attacks on Tayla are a problem for all of us
Idiots turned a brilliant picture of footballer Tayla Harris into something obscene. This isn’t even about whether you like women’s football or not. It’s about cowards hiding behind a keyboard, and it should concern us all, writes Lauren Wood.
Opinion
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When I saw Michael Willson’s photo of Tayla Harris on Sunday, my first thought was “wow”. A footballer in full flight, literally, booting a goal from 40m out to help propel her team into the finals. It was a pretty epic shot. You might even say iconic: that textbook kicking style and perfect follow-through. Shades of Ted Whitten, perhaps
To see it as anything but that — a brilliant photograph of a superb athlete — says more about the viewer than the picture, itself.
ROBBO: TAYLA PHOTO A LINE IN THE SAND
SUSIE: PHOTO ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF MISOGYNY
When the shot was reposted and shared by a broadcaster, things turned ugly. The unmoderated comments were vile, disgusting and downright horrid; the majority of them were posted by men, many of whom had women in their profile pictures. But don’t call them trolls. Their act was trolling, certainly, but to label them as trolls would too easily wrap up the sexist, degrading, homophobic and hateful comments in one fell swoop and drop them into one convenient basket.
No, let’s call it what it is. A laugh among mates? Maybe pathetic but nothing more? No way.
The thing is that this isn’t even about whether you like women’s football or not. It’s about cowards hiding behind a keyboard to try to bring down fierce, determined athletes. And it’s certainly not about free speech or a right to criticise.
It’s reducing female athletes to their bodies. Not their ability, not their tackles that rattle bones, not their streaming down the wing to kick a goal, not their overhead marks. Just their bodies.
Similar photos of greats of the game such as Whitten, Tony Modra, Tony Lockett, Lance Franklin are celebrated, liked and shared. They certainly aren’t degraded sexually and reprehensibly.
The post was removed — not for the photo’s content, but for the demeaning attacks that were launched by some idiots. I believe this is yet another line in the sand moment not just for AFL’s women, but for the wider football community.
To target players such as Tayla — and she’s not the only one to cop this sort of attack from the online idiots — is weak.
The fact is that it’s the football photograph of the year so far, with some people even calling for it to be incorporated into the league’s logo.
It’s wonderfully striking.
Collingwood’s Cecelia McIntosh — who has represented Australia at both the Commonwealth Games, where she won silver, and the Winter Olympics — was celebrated after announcing her retirement last weekend.
But that post was deleted, too, from the AFL’s Facebook page after inappropriate comments.
Frankly, it’s embarrassing.
When AFL Women first sent a message to the “haters” earlier this season, I wondered whether the critics were worth the oxygen and whether such energy was better spent on those who love the game. Like bullies in the schoolyard, the small-minded often respond to attention.
But this is bigger than that now because what these women face has become obscene.
For those tasked with moderating the social media channels of media, posting a picture of a strong athlete shouldn’t mean a night of hiding, deleting, reporting, blocking.
But sadly, for now, it often does.
Rational people must band together to fight the sexism, the degradation, the disgusting comments. Block them. Report them. Strip them of their rights to be part of our game.
It’s not just about Tayla. It’s bigger than women playing football. It’s bigger than sport.
“Deleting the post is giving in to trolls,” Harris’s teammate, Darcy Vescio, wrote.
“Also, you’re eliminating all the positive conversation … you’re removing more content around women in sport — which there’s already so little of. It’s up to everyone to moderate hate.”
Lauren Wood is a Herald Sun sports reporter
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