Soccer player Kealia Ohai got a dose of reality about how the world sees women athletes when she saw a headline about her recent trade to the Chicago Red Stars by the Houston Dash.
Spoiler alert: the world often doesn’t seem to see women athletes at all.
The big news apparently, and according to this news outlet, wasn’t who was traded and why. It was that the player traded was actually NFL’s J.J. Watt’s fiancée.
Houston Dash trade J.J. Watt's fiancee to Chicago https://t.co/EX9cX455kH pic.twitter.com/0dylaVKpK9
— ABC13 Houston (@abc13houston) January 7, 2020
Watt spoke out immediately.
This headline is trash. Kealia Ohai (which is her name by the way, since you didn’t even bother to mention it) is incredible entirely on her own merit and deserves to be treated as such. Be better than this.
This headline is trash.
Kealia Ohai (which is her name by the way, since you didn’t even bother to mention it) is incredible entirely on her own merit and deserves to be treated as such.
Be better than this. https://t.co/82GMrYOv9U— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) January 7, 2020
So, why was Ohai treated like Watt’s possession rather than an individual with many of her own accomplishments?
Other Twitter users chimed in.
Really, Channel 13? She has a name and it’s not “JJ Watt’s fiancé.”
— Sue Davis (@suedavis1974) January 7, 2020
Many with pithy comments.
https://twitter.com/mzoobek/status/1214425203910021122?s=21
But, mostly readers and fans were just frustrated that in these times, an accomplished, professional female athlete is referred to as someone’s fiancée.
I know you wouldn't refer to J.J. as "Kealia Ohai's fiancé" so you better put some respect on her name. Kealia is an athlete by her own talent and skills and she's more than just "J.J. Watt's fiancee"
— Kristyn (@lab_rat17) January 7, 2020
Was the headline about keywords? Search engine optimized to death? Or, is sexism so normalized that it often doesn’t raise any red flags with even media professionals?
https://twitter.com/Squirrell88/status/1214487172696416256?s=20
The station did acknowledge their headline fail.
Hi JJ, Our sincere apologies. We 100% agree with you. Kealia Ohai is a soccer superstar who deserves her own headlines. We are sad to see her go. She is going to be a force in Chicago! We’ve loved doing stories on her many talents and accomplishments over the years.
— ABC13 Houston (@abc13houston) January 7, 2020
We’re just happy to see Watt standing by his partner and future wife, professional athlete Kealia Ohai, and calling out ABC13 Houston’s sexism.
He’s right. They can do better.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
