Saturday, August 21, 2010

Am I Sexist AND Gay?

I spent about two weeks in Atlantic City, from August 9 to August 20, 2010.  I had nine days at the beach.  I would have had ten days, but it rained all day on Wednesday August 18, and I'm not hard-core or psychotic enough to spend time on the beach in the rain.

For the most part, I parked myself at the Tallahassee Avenue Lifeguard station in front of the Plaza and Berkley Condominiums, a few blocks from Ventnor.  The lifeguards were two females.  I have misogynist tendencies, but I trusted female lifeguards to do a decent job of rescue in case I found myself in need of rescue while swimming in the surf.

On Monday afternoon August 16, at about 5:00 PM -- the lifeguards get off duty at 6:00 PM -- the two female lifeguards started a game of toss-the-pebble-in-the-lifeguard-boat with two young boys.  I was surprised by their behavior.  I didn't think it was appropriate behavior for lifeguards to play games with beachgoers.  I thought they should have had their eyes on swimmers in the ocean at all times.  The memory of that event lingered. 


The next day I decided to park myself at the lifeguard station down the road, near Ventor.  The station was manned by two male lifeguards.   Call it sexist or gay, but I would rather entrust my life to David Hasselhoff than to Pamela Anderson.  As it turned out, I was glad that I had made that decision.  On Thursday, August 19, at my alternative beach hangout, I was witness to an entertaining incident.

Yes, women make excellent federal judges, attorneys general, and secretaries of state -- but while I'm on the beach, I prefer to be watched over by male lifeguards.  Is that so wrong?

1 comment:

My Daily Struggles said...

I believe that sexism is not the same as racism at a psychological level, and the law is wrong to equate the two.

Sometimes a boy needs his father; there is no situation, psychologically speaking, in which a white person needs a white person.