Rita Panahi: Hysteria over Jordan De Goey saga highlights footy world’s warped moral compass

The sheer unbridled hysteria Jordan De Goey has faced over the past week is completely out of whack with what transpired in that Bali nightclub.

Jordan De Goey.

Jordan De Goey isn’t my cup of tea.

Everything from the tatts to the post goal celebrations to his off-field shenanigans annoys me.

But even I, with my bias against entitled and pampered footballers behaving badly, have to admit that the sheer unbridled hysteria he has faced over the past week is completely out of whack with what transpired in that nightclub.

The football world’s warped moral compass is again on display with the hyperbolic reaction to the antics of a couple of bogans in Bali.

It seems partying mid-season with your fully consenting gal pal is a far more egregious offence than illegal drug use.

One could write several columns about the hypocrisy of the glasshouse dwelling misogynists in the football world who feel entitled to preach about the treatment of women.

But what is as astonishing as the sickening insincerity is the manner in which the woman at the centre of this furore has been disregarded; it’s as if she has no agency, no right to determine what is acceptable for her.

Sheer unbridled hysteria has been directed at Jordan De Goey this week. Picture: AAP

De Goey’s greatest transgressions, according to the pitchfork crew, are making a lewd gesture with his tongue and pulling at his female companion’s top to try to expose her breast. However, those who are supposedly championing women don’t seem to care one iota that the woman was a willing participant in the drunken debauchery. As is her right in 2022.

The fact that she says she consented to De Goey’s behaviour seems immaterial to the male feminists agitating for the Collingwood star to face a stiffer punishment.

Perhaps they’ll be satisfied once he checks into a mental health facility.

Surely, men who seek to speak for “the sisterhood” understand that modern women have agency over their own bodies and sexuality.

You may not approve of the behaviour but it’s not up to you, or some cohort of AFLW representatives, to determine what an adult woman deems acceptable in her personal life.

The eagerness to connect De Goey’s antics in Bali with violence against women is frankly appalling.

It cheapens the plight of real victims to connect their ordeal with a woman who has freely consented to being touched.

As for the tongue gesture, yes it was tacky and lewd, but Bailey Smith did a similar tongue gesture, minus the V sign, on the field some weeks ago.

Smith’s tongue work was aimed at Collingwood fans and it was celebrated as “cheeky” though it looked decidedly lewd to some.

Whatever you think of De Goey’s foolishness – in partying in Bali mid-season after his dramas in New York – he broke no laws, and yet his actions are seen by some as far more worthy of punishment than Smith’s illegal drug use.