The Matt Walsh Show - Ep. 275 - How Feminism Harms Women

Episode Date: June 13, 2019

Today on the show: Bernie Sanders says that people would be delighted to pay more in taxes. I think he’s confused. Also, we’ll talk about the ways that feminism has backfired and harmed women. On a related note, we’ll discuss the latest feminist outrage surrounding the US women’s soccer team. Apparently it’s sexist to criticize them for any reason. Date: 06-13-2019 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on the Matt Wall Show, Bernie Sanders says that people would be delighted to pay more in taxes. I think that he's confused, as usual. Also, we'll talk about the ways that feminism has backfired and started to harm women in sometimes very profound ways. Related to that, we'll talk about the latest feminist outrage surrounding the U.S. women's soccer team. Apparently, it's sexist to criticize the U.S. women's soccer team. If you didn't know, you can't criticize them for any reason, it's sexist. So we'll talk about that today as well on the Matt Wall Show. Well, Bernie Sanders just made one of the most delusional statements that I think anyone has ever made in history. And I don't think I'm overselling it too much.

He was on Anderson Cooper last night and then this happened. You know how the president's going to paint your talk of democratic socialism besides Venezuela. Do enough Americans know what you mean by that? what that actually looks like? Well, Anderson, that's why I'm on your show tonight. That's why I'm asking you. Look, what we have to understand, for example, just for example, the United States is the only major country on earth

not to guarantee health care to all people as a right. In many countries in Europe, Germany for one, you go to college and the cost of college is zero. I think in Finland they actually pay you to go to college. In most countries around the world, the level of income and wealth inequality, which in the United States today is worse than in any time since the 1920s with three families owning more wealth on the bottom half of America, that level of income and wealth inequality is much less severe than it is right here in the United States.

No, the taxes in many of those countries are much higher than they are, the individual personal taxes is much higher than they are in the United States. But I suspect that a lot of people in this country would be delighted to pay more in taxes if they had health, if they had comprehensive health care as a human right. He says people would be delighted, delighted to pay more in taxes. No, Bernie, see, no, that's not the way it works. Nobody wants to pay more in taxes. Nobody does. Because, you know, anyone can pay more in taxes.

Anyone can pay more. If you could send whatever amount you want to the IRS on tax day, well, you know, you know, any amount as long as it's at least what you owe, oh in scare quotes. But beyond that, I mean, if you want to add, if you want to send 20% more, 30% more than you owe, you, you're free to do that. They'll certainly take your money. But so, which means that you can basically enact on your own, any citizen can enact a tax hike. But it would just be a personal tax hike that only you would be subjected to. Nobody does that. Why does anyone do that? Because nobody wants to pay more in taxes. Now, I think this is where Bernie gets confused, because you see, a lot of people

are delighted by tax increases, but they're delighted to have other people pay more in taxes, you see? So, yeah, leftists do advocate higher taxes, and they are delighted by higher taxes, but only as long as those higher taxes are imposed on other people, not on them personal. on other people. Now, me, I don't like to see anyone pay more in taxes. I don't celebrate tax hikes on anybody. I'm in favor of tax cuts for everybody because I just think that on principle, people should be able to keep more of their own money. And I also think that the government has entirely too much money with which to waste already. But leftists do take a perverse pleasure in tax hikes just as long as the bill goes to someone else. See, that's the way that this

works. That's that's a fundamental misunderstanding. It's every single, I mean, without fail, when you hear someone advocating for higher taxes and you sit down and you listen to them for 10 seconds, you're going to realize that, oh, no, hold on a second. Oh, yeah, they want me to pay more, not them. That's what they're saying. What they're saying is, yes, government, go take from those people over there, not from me. Very selfless, very selfless, indeed. All right, now I want to, a lot I want to talk about today, including I want to start by revisiting a conversation from yesterday. But first, before we get to that, a word from Bolin Branch. You know, we're never going to agree on everything or maybe even on almost anything as a country. But I think we all can agree on one thing,

which is that we all could use a lot more sleep. Getting great night's sleep is easier than ever thanks to the world's softest sheets brought to you by Boland Branch. Everything Boland Branch makes from betting to blankets is made from 100% pure organic cotton, which means that they're super soft and they get even softer over time. Everybody who tries Bowling Branch sheets loves them. And that's why they have thousands of five-star reviews. So you just go, listen to the people, the people have spoken. And look at the reviews for yourself.

Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company. They're all talking about Bowling Branch. These sheets have even been loved by three U.S. presidents. And they want you to love your purchase too. so they offer a no-risk 30-day trial and free shipping. So you have both of those things. But you're not going to want to send them back. You get the trial. You try them out. You're going to want to keep them. Once you sleep on their sheets, you're never going to want to sleep on anything else. So to get you started right now, my listeners, get $50 off your first set of sheets at bowl and branch.com.

promo code Matt. Go to bowlandbranch.com for $50 off your first set of sheets. That's B-O-L-L-L. and branch.com, promo code, Matt. Bolandbranch.com, promo code Matt. Okay, so as I said, as I said at the top there, I want to revisit something we talked about yesterday briefly, because I think that there's a little bit more to be said about it. We discussed yesterday this new survey that was conducted, which shows that a majority of male managers are uncomfortable working one-on-one with female subordinates. CNBC originally reported on this, and they had other stats as well. Senior-level men say that they're 12 times more likely to be hesitant about one-on-one meetings

with a junior woman, nine times more likely to be hesitant to travel with a junior woman. They're more likely to be hesitant to have a work dinner with a junior woman rather than a, you know, a subordinate man. Now, as we talked about yesterday, this news has been met with predictable finger wagging by the finger waggers on the left. Sheryl Sandberg, the CEO of Facebook, she says that it's totally unacceptable for men to feel uncomfortable at work. Totally unacceptable. And of course, if men are uncomfortable, the real victims of that discomfort are, you guessed it women. Alexander Ocasio Cortez was talking about this, and she decided that the men in the survey, they're just having a, quote, hard time not being, quote, creepy. That's the way that she sums it up.

But I was writing about this yesterday, and I found this article in the Chicago Tribune written by a woman named Heidi Stevens. And her article is what makes me bring this up again, because she wrote something that just completely proves the point that she was trying to disprove. It really is. It really is. amazing. So she wrote this thing, which offers some dismissive and sarcastic pointers for men in the workplace. Now, it's sort of hard to take these pointers seriously because she admits outright that she doesn't understand the issue. She says, I'm confused about the root of these male manager's discomfort. Do they not know how to interact with women in a way that doesn't accidentally or overtly imply they'd like to sleep with them? Or do they worry that, me,

has women going around willy-nilly making up stories of harassment and assaults that didn't happen and they can't risk being the subject of such stories? Well, yeah, kind of. I mean, that is sort of what's happening. But she says at the beginning of, well, I don't really understand it. So she doesn't understand. But despite her professed ignorance, she plugs right along with some helpful pieces of advice. This is what she says, with some advice for everybody. Don't pleasure yourself into potted plants as Harvey Weinstein is alleged to have done. Don't have a secret button that locks your office door behind people, as Mount Lauer is alleged to have done.

Don't send a bunch of gross inappropriate text to a direct report as Kevin Quinn, a former staffer for House Speaker Michael Madigan is alleged to have done. These are her pieces of advice. So don't fornicate with the flora. Don't have secret locking mechanisms installed in your office. Easy enough. You know, by the latest count, only like two or three men in the country

have done either of those things. so it's, you know, sort of easy for the rest of us not to do that. But here's where, and she's not done doling out advice, here's where she undercuts her whole case. She says, I just think this is so interesting because it encapsulates the whole problem inadvertently. She says, treat your female colleagues and subordinates the way you'd want to be treated by a male in power. Would you want him to tell you how nice you look in that suit? Now again, this is talking two men, okay? Would you want him to tell you how nice you look in that suit? Would you want him to ask you if you're happy in your relationship? Would you want him to rest his hand lightly on your shoulder when he talks?

Talk to your female colleagues and subordinates about the same topics you talk to your male colleagues and subordinates about. The NBA finals, their kids' summer break plans, the China tariffs, the weather, your book club. Why the break room coffee is so bad? The profit and loss report. That do later that day. Okay, so that's her advice. Now, actually, I have been told by men that I look good in my suit that I'm wearing. And I have myself dispensed similar compliments to men. There's nothing strange or inappropriate about that. It's a compliment. So she says, well, you would never want a man to compliment your outfit. Well, sure I would. Why not? If I'm wearing a great suit and a guy says, hey, man, nice suit, looks great.

Sure, I would be happy with that. Why wouldn't I be? Do you not think that men compliment each other? It's only getting every customer's order right. It's only a point of sale system connected by Spectrum Fiber Powered Business Internet, helping you track hundreds of secure transactions. And it's all backed by 24-7 U.S.-based customer support and local technicians. It's only everything.

Get business internet advantage free forever when you get four mobile lines from Spectrum. Visit Spectrum.com slash free for life to find out how. Restrictions apply. Service is not available in all areas. It's a really normal. See, this is someone who clearly just never, just doesn't know anything about men. And that's what you find with feminists is that they just know, they, now they make this claim about men in regards to women. They say, oh, you're, especially if you're a male conservative, you don't know,

anything about women. No, it's actually, the reverse is true. You clearly know nothing about men. You're just nothing at all. That you think we would, what we would recoil in horror? Did you just compliment my suit? How dare you? Well, I never. No, no man would react that. You know what? If another man says, hey, great suit, you look great. I would say, oh, cool, thanks. That would be it. And then I would move on. I would never think about it again. I would just move on with my life. Would I want a guy asking me how my marriage is going? Well, sure, why not? You know, when I meet up with a guy friend, I will definitely say to them, hey, how are things going at home? How's the wife? It's a normal thing to say. It's just, it's completely normal.

Or if they're dating someone, they're not married, then you can be a little bit more specific about the asking about the relationship, like, hey, are you still with that, girl, how's that going? It's normal. That's a normal thing to talk about. And so how would I feel if a man said that to me? I would feel perfectly fine with it. I would say, oh, things are going great. You know, the wife is doing well. And that's it. Would I want a guy resting his hand on my shoulder? No, I mean, not particularly I wouldn't, but I wouldn't report it to HR either. Now, I prefer to avoid physical contact with everybody, with the exception of my wife and my kids. Like, they're the only ones who I'm okay with invading my personal space.

Everybody else, what I would like, what I would prefer is if everybody respected a 30-foot radius of personal space for me at all times. That's what I would, just personally, I would like that. But I cannot say that I'm sexually harassed just because people don't know. that I have those personal space demands and therefore don't respect them because I understand that they are a little bit unreasonable. It's just personally, that's what I would like. And some people are more physical, you know, than others. Maybe not Joe Biden levels of physical, but some people are just are more like that. I've got friends that are more like, you know,

patch you on the back and that kind of some people are like that, men and women. We've all had conversation. I'll go out to a speaking event or something and I'll be meeting people afterwards. and you always have these older women, you know, women who are probably in their 70s, who will come up and they'll grab your hand and they'll just hold it for like 10 minutes while they're talking and kind of like lightly shaking it while they talk to you. And for like 10 minutes, they're holding your hand. Now, am I a big fan of that? Not really.

But, I mean, they're being friendly and it's kind of funny. You know, they're just sweet old ladies and this is what they do. It's not a big deal, right? and there are some older men who are like that as well. So how would I, so would I consider that? Would I be scandalized by that? Would I, no, no, I wouldn't. And this is the point. She says, she says, oh, you would never treat guys like that. Yes, I would. And then she proceeds to tell us to treat women like we would treat guys. Yeah, but as I just explained, I would treat guys the way that you claim, we only treat women. But you say, don't treat women like that. You, you say, don't treat women like that.

So you see the confusion here? It just doesn't work. There's two mixed messages going on here. I would compliment a man on his outfit if it's a nice outfit and he looks good in it. You're saying, don't say that to women. So we should treat women differently, is what you're saying. Now, it's recommended that we talk about the NBA finals instead. But wait a second.

According to a BBC article that I just pulled up, sports lingo at work is, quote, hidden sexism that, quote, reinforces the idea that the workplace is or should be a man cave with water coolers. So now, I imagine that the same could be claimed about any attempt to talk politics or about the Chinese tariffs or whatever on the job. Talk about their kids' summer break plans, she recommends, or book clubs. Well, then won't I be guilty of stereotypically assuming that the woman that I'm talking to, has kids and is interested in book clubs. Isn't that a stereotype? See, again, this is exactly the point. This is why men are uncomfortable talking to women at work. And this is why feminism has hurt women by just, yes, making it more difficult for them on the

job because men are just freaked out now. And they're not freaked out around men, but they are a little bit around women because of this kind of stuff. The rules change from moment to moment. and person to person. Anything can be sexist. Anything can be construed as harassment. Maybe your female worker is like Heidi Stevens and would like to talk about the NBA finals, but maybe she's more inclined to see talk of sports

at the workplace as sexism that reinforces a male-centric environment. We have no way of knowing. It could go either way. That's the kind of conversation that if you, I could bring that up to a man. It's no problem. I don't have to worry about anything, right?

more than likely he'll want to engage in that conversation. Maybe he's not interested in it. And then fine, whatever. You move on. You talk about something else. But you bring it up to a woman and there's a chance that she'll think that it's sexist because there have been articles written explaining why it's sexist. We have no way to know.

And it's clear that the woman isn't necessarily going to speak up. Okay, so she may suffer through the sexist conversational assault silently, see about it because we failed to read her mind and then later on use the incident to get us fired or worse. That's the way it could go. It's not going to go that way with a man. We know that, which means we're probably going to be more inclined to just bring that conversation up to a man. Here's the other thing about men that you need to understand. I think, well, just like any other, like humans in general, we don't like to risk our jobs. We don't like to risk false accusations. We also just, you know, we're not a big fan of games and BS.

We just don't want to be bothered with stuff like that. So, you know, we're kind of just like, it's very practical-minded. So we're thinking, like, okay, I want to talk about sports at work. It's like, why am I going to bother when it's this whole minefield? I don't even, why am I going to bother even trying to navigate that? There's no point. I'll just go talk to a guy about it. Or I won't talk about it at all.

The Me Too movement and feminism in general have made a few things clear. Number one, literally anything can be sexist. It all depends on the feelings of the woman. Number two, women are not expected to speak up and let you know that they're uncomfortable. In my opinion, they should be expected to do that, just like any person should be. If you're uncomfortable, say something. As an adult, as a grown-up, it's your responsibility to say something. I mean, it's like you hear these stories about Louis C. Ken. and how he, you know, I mean, disgusting, how he pleasureed himself in front of women. Well, now, of course, obviously doing that on the job is completely inappropriate. Doing that anywhere in any context is completely inappropriate and disgusting and wrong and creepy and perverse and degenerate. But when it comes to speaking up, you know, in every case, apparently he would ask these women, hey, do you mind if I? And they would just say, oh, sure.

meanwhile in their head they're uncomfortable but it's like well of course you're uncomfortable but say something say you're not don't don't say yes when you don't mean it just just leave right say something and leave if you're uncomfortable i think we can expect people to do that we all man or woman we all have to do that and that's especially the case you know you take something that's a lot less severe and gross than that. Just take a conversation, let's say, that's making you uncomfortable. Well, then definitely in that case, if you're uncomfortable with the... Leave the room. You could just say nothing and leave. That's an option. Or speak up and say, you know, I don't think we should be talking about this. I think we can expect everyone, man or a woman,

to speak up, to be adults, to take charge of the situation. to make your own thoughts known because you can't expect anyone to read your mind. But that's how we know from the Me Too movement that, you know, we can't expect that. And then number three, we know believe women. So the women's version of events will be believed, must be believed, and the only thing the male offender is allowed to do is grovel and apologize. So is it really so surprising that men in this environment, with the rules set up the way they are, may be wary about interacting with women, especially when nobody else is present to witness it. So perhaps, you know, we should stop and think about that and think about the damage that it's doing,

not just to men, but to women as well. because there are a lot of normal non-feminist, non-crazy women out there who are not looking to entrap men or trick men or get men into trouble, make things up, who are the kinds of people who won't be offended by a conversation about sports or whatever, even if they're not interested in it, who won't be offended if you compliment them. There are plenty of women like that, plenty, the majority, you know, are like that. But because of crazy feminists, you know, men don't know, unless they know a woman well already, they don't know if they don't know where the woman falls on that spectrum.

And so unfortunately, a lot of women get lumped in with that. Just as a precautionary measure, men are going to say, well, she might not be a crazy feminist, but I don't know. So I guess I just have to act as though she is. for my own self-preservation. And that's not fair to those women. But whose fault is it? It's the fault of the crazy feminists.

It's not the fault of the men. The men are just, again, they're just self-preservation. They're just, they've got to, you've got to be prudent. It's not worth risking your job or your livelihood, your life over. All right. So I thought that was interesting. Staying in the vein of feminism for a minute, the women's U.S. soccer team beat the 34th ranked Thailand team a couple days ago by 13 to nothing.

And Kristen is a couple things that stemmed from this victory that are sort of annoying and stupid. First of all, Kristen Gillibrand had this to say in a tweet. She says, here's an idea. If you win 13 to nothing, the most goals for a single game in World Cup history, you should be paid at least equally to the men's team. Now, she's not the only one to say this, of course. I've heard this elsewhere. The women's soccer team is running rough shot over low-ranked opponents,

and this proved that they should be paid the same as the men's team because they're just as good, I guess. And they are great athletes, and there's no question that they're better at soccer than me. If it was me and guys like me versus the women's World Cup team, I have no doubt that they would win handily. against us. But that's because I don't play soccer, because I prefer to play sports, personally. But in any case, yes, they would beat me. I'll admit that. But at the same time, I can't help but note

that this women's team did lose a couple years ago to a team of under 15 high school boys in a scrimmage. It's not funny. I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh. They did lose to teenage boys in a scrimmage. That's true. You can look that up. Google that one. That did happen. My only point bringing that up, okay, is no disrespect. It's just to point out for all the people that are, you know, talking now about, pay disparity, why aren't they paid the same? You see how good they are? You know, I'm just trying to point out the vast gulf that separates male athletes from female athletes. I mean, it's just they're like in two different universes. I mean, And that's why male athletes generally get paid more.

And that's why there's generally more interest in men's sports because the athletes are just a lot better. And they're just, and they're more fun to watch. Now, not in every sport. Something like gymnastics, for instance, you know, I think it's because the, just the physiology of men versus women, I think women can oftentimes be more gifted in that area, more graceful and everything.

But in these other kind of sports, especially these team sort of sports, it's different. The men are just a lot more fun to watch because they're just so much better. And that's fine. Men are allowed to be better than women. It's okay to acknowledge that. It's okay to acknowledge it because it's true. Why is it that the NBA gets great ratings while nobody watches the WNBA? Is the WNBA even still on?

I don't even know. Well, it's because NBA athletes are some of the best athletes in the world. They are so ridiculously good. And it's amazing to watch what they can do on the court. And that's why people watch the NBA. A WNBA team, on the other hand, would easily lose to an above-average high school boys team. Probably, and it wouldn't even be close. Just like the soccer players, just like with the soccer situation.

That, again, is how vast the divide is. between the two skill levels. And that's fine. It's nothing to panic over. Men are men and women are women. And there's no sexism in that. There's also no sexism in the criticisms that the women's team has faced for excessive celebrating. While the women's team was trouncing the 34th rank, I think it was a 34th ranked Thailand team, and they built an insurmountable lead, they still celebrated every goal like it was the game winner, and they were running around the field and pumping their fist and doing all this stuff.

And some people have argued that it was poor sportsmanship on their part. You know, to be gloating over your 10th goal in a soccer match, it is match, soccer match, right? Not soccer game? I don't know. The soccer sporting competition, to be gloating over it is, you know, It's just, it's not good sportsmanship. It's, it's, it's kind of lame and, uh, it just, it makes you look at Bush League.

It makes you look like amateur hour, really. And that's the criticism anyway that some people have, have articulated. Here's a, here's a, just kind of explain it. Here's a CBS report that summarizes the controversy. The U.S. women's blowout win yesterday at the World Cup did not come without controversy. Some are saying they showed poor sportsmanship by celebrating after every one of their 13 goals. Roxanna Sabari reports from Paris.

As Team USA's players piled on goal, after goal last night, setting a World Cup record, their parents beamed, their fans cheered. USA! And Thailand wept, stirring the sympathy of spectators like Kaylee Ferreira, Phoenix. Did you guys feel bad for the Thai at least a little bit? Yeah. It was a really bad loss for them. So bad, U.S. coach Jill Ellis had to field questions about whether the best team in the world should have gotten easier on a team ranked 34th.

I sit here and I go, if this is 10-0 in a men's world cup, are we getting the same questions, to be quite honest. But it was the way that Team USA celebrated each of its 13 goals that sparked much more criticism. Even former teammate Hope Solo called some of the celebrations a little overboard. Co-captain Megan Rapino defended her team. They can come at us because I think our only crime was an explosion of joy last night. Some U.S. players say what last night's game really showed is that other countries need to invest more in women's soccer. And they urged players like Thailand's Miranda Nilled not to feel defeated.

I told her that it's a dream of all of ours to play in a World Cup and to stay encouraged. Team USA's next game is on Sunday against Chile, which is ranked 39th in the world. Roxanna Sabari, CBS News, Paris. So you heard what the, I think it was the head coach said there. Oh, well, the men's team wouldn't be criticized like this. And this is something that's been echoed by the media. The soccer team was criticized both for running up the score and trying aggressively to score more goals, even when there were only a few minutes left.

And then also they're celebrating so much. but we're told that it's sexist to criticize them for that. These are sexist criticisms because men are never criticized that way, as the story goes. Casey Hunt, an NBC reporter, sent out a tweet, said, don't celebrate too much bros, said no one ever. And then a bunch of think pieces have been written about this issue, about the sexism of criticizing female athletes, including this one from Pop Sugar, which is, of course, a great publication. Any publication called Pop Sugar, you know, you're going to find great content. very intelligent content.

They have an article titled, why criticism of the U.S. women's soccer team is sexist. So very straightforward. I appreciate that. And then the article says, in part, the women's soccer team

in a thrilling first game of the 2019 women's world cup, won with a record-breaking 13-0 score. First of all, that's not a thrilling game. In a thrilling game, they won 13 to nothing. It's not thrilling. That's the opposite of thrilling.

That's a blowout. And, you know, it's, I mean, it's thrilling if you're a fan of the team, I guess, but it's not really a thrilling game in general. But she says, but unsurprising in the context of heedless, sexist, double standards in the world of sports, the players were almost immediately criticized for their resounding victory. Shortly after the game, predominantly male commentators and Twitter users, questioned why the one. Yes, I'm sure they went through and they looked at all the criticisms on Twitter, and they counted them all by sex and discovered that it was predominantly male, right? Okay. Predominantly male commentators and Twitter users question why the team ran up the score to 13 to zero,

despite the fact that in the event of a tie during the world turned to group stage of the World Cup, the team with the highest goal differential would advance to the knockout round. The players were also criticized for continuing to celebrate their goals throughout those 90 minutes to play, suggesting this reflected poor sportsmanship. In contrast, similar criticisms have yet to be lodged against men's athletic teams for ruthless high-margin victories and repeated celebrations. The 1992 U.S. men's basketball team defeated opponents by an average of 44 points during the Olympic Games and is still affectionately known as the Dream Team.

The annual NFL, the annual NFL honors ceremony includes a category for celebration of the year. Gendered backlash against the women's team is even more frustrating and notable, considering the players have been a go blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay, I can't even get tied. So I'm going to throw up if I keep reading that. this of course is just grade a pure unadulterated nonsense it is completely untrue completely false totally completely utterly ridiculous it shows yet again the theme of the show how feminists don't understand men know nothing about men at all know nothing about men's sports have no

idea what they're talking about on any subject male athletes are criticized all the time for excessive celebration and for running up the score and all that. The dream team was criticized for running up the score. They're called the dream team because they were so insanely talented. These were some of the best basketball players that had ever lived on the planet that were on one team. That's why they were the dream team. Now, the U.S. women's soccer team, these are very good athletes. This is not a collection of the best soccer players ever to live. so that's why they're not the dream team, okay? A collection of the best soccer players ever to live will be all men's players.

That's how you know that this isn't the dream team. Now, these were the best basketball players ever, some of them. And that's why they were called the dream team. But they were, yeah, they scored by average of 44 to 44 points or whatever. They were criticized for that. They were. The 2007 Patriots who went undefeated, but finally lost. in the Super Bowl and were beating teams by like 55 to 3 of these crazy scores running up the score.

They were criticized for that constant. It was a never-ending topic of conversation in 2007 about how the Patriots are bad sportsmen and running up the scores. It was an ongoing debate on ESPN and among football fans and commentators. In fact, as for celebrating up until recently, you weren't allowed to celebrate at all in the NFL. And now they do allow some celebration, but I think you can still be penalized for it.

You can be fined for it if you go to. There are certain things you're not allowed to do in the course of a celebration. One of the oldest cliches in sports is act like you've been there before. And when you're, that's just, it's something that you hear. If you watch men playing in the NFL,

if you watch men playing in the NBA, if you watch men playing in the MLB, you're going to hear this cliche, act like you've been there before. And what, that's always, targeted at a man who's, you know, made a basket, scored a touchdown, got a home run, and then freaks out about it. It acts like it's the first time he's ever scored a point in his career as a professional athlete. Then people will say, act like you've been there,

but be professional, you know? The cool thing is to act like you've done it a million times and it's no big deal. Right? You score the touchdown, just like casually hand the ball to the ref and then walk off the field. Now, that's badass. That's a power move right there. So this is a constant conversation. So when women are criticized for it, they are being treated exactly like the men, exactly like they say they want to be treated. But yet again, what we find is that when women are treated like men, feminists complain. And when they're not treated like men, feminists complain. So it's bogus. And you know what? Yes, it is lame to go running. I mean, you saw some of that stuff. To go running frantically around the field, pumping your fists and gloating after you

you scored the 10th time against a team that isn't even ranked in the top 30, yeah, that's, that's lame. It's kind of stupid. It makes you look, it makes you look like an amateur. It just does. If Tom Brady ran around the field screaming triumphantly after scoring his sixth touchdown against the Buffalo Bills to go up 53 to 7, you're damn right. People would criticize them for that.

They would say, you're Tom Brady. What are you freaking out about this? You, what, you scored a, you got to threw a touchdown against the bills. you're freaking out, come on. But he does do stuff like that, and he has, and he is criticized for it all the time. It's one of the main things Tom Brady's criticized for. Act like you've been there before. Be professional, be cool.

It's a normal thing. In the NFL, if you're up, you know, if you're up by two or more scores and you have the ball with two or three minutes left in the game and the other team doesn't have any timeouts, it's customary to take a knee and not even try to run a play and just run and just let the game end. That's what you're kind of supposed to do by the customs of the game. If you're in that situation as the winning team

and you take shots at the end, you start throwing Hail Marys to the end zone, yes, you're going to be criticized for that severely because people are going to say, you're trying to pad your stats against the team that you already beat, essentially. So, now, my own personal opinion is that you know, I generally don't mind the celebrations.

I think people get pumped up in sports and they get excited and that's great. And it is a game. You're supposed to have fun. In the NFL, I like some of the more creative touchdown celebrations. You see them do now. I think it's just because it's a game. At the end of the day, it's still a game. So that's fine.

But it can get to a point where it's overboard. And if you're decimating a team, especially if you're decimating a team that you're supposed to beat, If it's a team that you're decimating that you're supposed to decimate, yeah, then overly celebrating just makes you look foolish, in my opinion. Now, if you're the underdog doing that to the team that was supposed to beat you, maybe there's more of a reason there. But as the favorite, I would agree with the criticism, but there's nothing gendered about it. All right. Let's go to emails. Matt Walshow at gmail.com. Matt Walshow at gmail.com. This one is from Victoria. Says, hi, Matt. My name's Victoria. Big fan of the show. Last year, a film called Boy Erased, released, which is a biography about a young man who went to a Baptist gay conversion camp. This film was adapted from a memoir, has won many accolades. I was raised Christian and have been a Christian for most of my life. I have never even heard of this sort of thing.

I was wondering if you have and what are your opinions of them and are they common somewhere in the U.S. They seem creepy and just wrong to me if they do indeed still exist. Keep up the great work. Hi, Victoria. I've only ever heard of the gay conversion camps and gay conversion therapy, all that stuff. I've only ever heard about that from people railing against it. Like you, I have never heard of, I had never heard of such a thing until the left started fearmongering about it. I'm not saying it doesn't exist or it didn't exist at some point. But it's certainly not nearly as widespread as it's presented and not nearly widespread enough to justify all the panicking that people do about it.

You know, the other thing about this gay conversion stuff is that I think sometimes sometimes you'll have totally normal Christian counseling that maybe can be rebranded with that nefarious sounding label. So as far as actual camps where gay kids are sent against their will and it's creepy kind of reprogramming that goes on and, you know, electro-shock therapy, all that kind of stuff. Again, I'm not saying that that stuff didn't happen in the past, but I've, in current day America, I've never heard of that. And I've been a Christian for 32 years. I've never heard of it, never encountered it, just never. But I think you could have, for instance, a person who's struggling with homosexual thoughts or urges

doesn't want those thoughts and seeks counseling from a pastor or a Christian counselor because they don't want those feelings. And then they receive counseling. And then I guess probably that's going to be labeled gay conversion therapy. but it's not as though this was a gay person abducted off the street and brought in a bus to a camp somewhere. This is someone who sought counseling and received it. It was totally of their own volition.

So if that's what gay conversion is, then if it's that, meaning just someone who goes and seeks counseling of their own free will and volition because they're struggling with something that they don't want to struggle with. If that's what we call gay conversion therapy, then I don't see a problem with it. But I think to label it that way is disingenuous. The stuff that you're talking about, yeah, I don't think that that's a widespread phenomenon.

I'll put it that way. All right, this is from Don says, man, I myself am not a huge fan of parades. I agree that it's a glorified traffic jam, but I think you neglected a major issue with your own personal faith. the Pope every time he goes out in public is basically parading around Catholicism. In fact, you may even call it a celibacy parade. Thousands flock the streets causing major traffic delays

for miles around. I demand you recant your parade hypocrisy. I think a celibacy parade actually might be a great idea. Maybe that's the way to counteract all these other sexually oriented parades you find out there. But I won't recant, Don, because actually, you know, I know you're half kidding, but I'm not a big fan of the kind of hysteria and pageantry that surrounds the Pope. I'm a Catholic, but I don't worship the Pope. No Catholic does. Okay, let's be clear about that. No Catholic worships the Pope. He's just a man. He's not God. We all know that. Yet, sometimes the pageantry around him, the way we treat the papacy, can give the wrong impression. And I think Catholics need to acknowledge that and understand that. It does sometimes come off the wrong way. And sometimes it can approach

something like worship, but in the same sense that we might talk about celebrity worship. So that's the kind of worship that we're talking about. Someone who freaks out because they see, I don't know, Lady Gaga, you know, walk it down the street. Okay, well, that person isn't literally worshiping Lady Gaga as a god. This isn't someone who actually thinks that Lady Gaga has supernatural capabilities, but they treat her as something other than just another human, and they heap way too much adulation and admiration upon her personally, just because they like her songs, and they're impressed with her celebrity. So with the Pope, I think you can find something like that sometimes with some people, just as with the president, there can be something like that.

And I'm not a fan of it in those cases either. I'm not a fan of it in any case. And I think with the Pope in particular, I think it could be a good thing maybe to pull back on some of that pageantry. All right, this is, let's see. Do we have another one? I thought we had a know. Okay, well, this one is from Nick. Another Catholic question says, I'm Catholic. I was recently reading about several miracles, including the shroud of Turin, the Tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I understand that the church runs miraculous claims through the gauntlet to ensure their validity. Many scientists and experts who are atheists are tasked with finding natural explanations for the events in question. If there's any doubt,

the church dismisses the claim. What are your thoughts on these and other miracles? Do you believe in them. What role, if any, do you think they should play in our faith? And do you think they can be used as a means of evangelization? While they are by no means the basis of my faith, I do sometimes fall back on them when I begin to doubt the existence of God. I really appreciate you getting to my question. Hope your leg is getting better by the day. Nick, I treat miracle claims on a case-by-case basis, which I think is what we all should do. You know, you look into them personally, decide if you are inclined to believe that they're supernatural or not. I think that's what we all should do. We shouldn't believe a miracle claim just because someone claims it. Obviously,

if we did that, then we'd have to believe every single miracle claim that anyone ever makes. And not just miracle, we'd have to believe everything everyone tells us. And clearly we don't do that. So the fact that someone said something is not enough reason to believe that it's true, most of the time. especially when it's something like a miracle. Now, if your wife walks into the room and says, hey, it's raining outside, well, okay, well, the fact that your wife said it's raining is probably enough reason to believe that it's raining

because raining, rain is something that happens on a daily basis. It's completely normal. You trust your wife, you know her. There's no conceivable reason why she'd lie about it. So, yeah, you'll just take that on faith as it were. But a miracle claim, you know, if someone you don't even know says, oh, you know, Jesus appeared to me or oh, this or that happened.

well, we know that those are not daily occurrences. We don't know anything about this person personally, so we don't know about their trustworthiness. And we know that these are the kinds of stories that people are willing to make up. And there are plenty of reasons why a person might make them up. So with all that in mind,

then I think we have to look specifically at it, look at the evidence, and draw our conclusions from there. So a couple examples you get, I'm inclined to believe the shroud of Turin as being authentic. Because it's been subjected to numerous scientific studies through the years, its validity has not been disproven.

And I know that failure to disprove something is not the same thing as proving the affirmative of that thing. But the fact that the shroud is basically a photographic negative of, you know, an image of a man who's suspiciously wounded, just like Jesus was wounded, as is told in the Gospels. And that still nobody has been able to explain how a thousand years ago or even 500 years ago someone could have produced an image like this.

Well, that kind of cinches it for me. So, yeah, I believe it. I believe the shroud. And there probably is an element of just sort of intuition, with some of these things, because I think there's a lot of evidence, but I also just, I think beyond that, I just, you know, I guess we might say it's the, it's the Holy Spirit as well, guiding us on

that. As for our lady of Guadalupe, the Tilma, I am skeptical there. For those who aren't familiar with that story, as the story goes, Mary, the Blessed Mother, appeared to a guy named Juan Diego in the 15th century in Mexico. And there's a whole story there that I'm not going to get into it because I don't have time. But there's now a cloak, essentially, with an image of Christ's mother. And supposedly, it appeared miraculously. Okay. That's the really bare-bones story there.

But I'm skeptical because I can see the image, right? You can go, you can look at the image. You could go online and look it up, the telma, and you'll see it. And when you look at the image, it looks like a painting. It doesn't look miraculous at all, in my opinion. It just looks like something that someone could have painted. It looks like something that almost anyone could have painted. And I don't see why a miraculous image would look like a rather basic painting, right?

Like if God is, if through divine intervention, an image is going to appear on a surface. somewhere, why would it look like a painting? You know? The shroud of Turin does not look like a painting. If the shroud of Turin just looked like a painting, then I would say it's probably a painting. But it doesn't. It looks like a photograph of someone. And so that's what makes you stop and go,

how did that get there? It doesn't look like something someone would have painted, especially not centuries ago. But with the telma, you look at it and there's, if no one told you the whole story behind it, you would look at it and say, oh, okay, yeah, someone painted that. So, you know, I just, I don't see any compelling reason to believe that it's more than a painting other than the fact that I would like to believe that it's more than a painting,

but the fact that I would like to believe it isn't a reason at all. So that's how I would parse. I could be wrong about one or both of them. Who knows? I don't know. These are my own opinions. But with any miracle claim, I think my first reaction is skepticism in that, okay, well, that's an incredible story. It's literally incredible. And oftentimes incredible stories aren't true. But I'm all ears. I'm not going to rule it out. Obviously, we can't rule out the miraculous. So bring me the evidence and I'll look at it. And if I see compelling evidence, I'll probably believe it. With the telma, I just haven't, I haven't seen compelling evidence. Other than just a lot of people through the centuries have believed it.

But that's not evidence of anything. People believe wrong things all the time, especially if they want to believe it because it's a beautiful story. And it is, by the way. All right. We will leave it there. Thanks, everybody for watching. Thanks for listening. Godspeed.

Today on the Ben Shapiro show, Iran draws everybody closer to war. That's today on the Ben Shapiro show.