It is said that change occurs in three phases. It is firstly aggressively opposed, reluctantly accepted, and finally universally accepted.
Throughout history things have followed this course. In the 1600s it was an accepted notion to burn women at the stake for having believed to be witches. It was ‘right’ to enslave people up until the 19th century. Apartheid in South Africa meant that it was ‘wrong’ for Black people to mix with White people, the list goes on.
Australian Rules Football has historically been regarded as a man’s sport. Despite the fact that we most likely will never see a female play our game professionally, there is an increase in the general participation rate of women in football.
49% of people that attend AFL matches are female. We have various female leagues around the Australia. Chelsea Roffey is an AFL goal umpire. There seems to be more women entering the media world of football.
As I have mentioned in previous “Harry’s World” entries, I find inspiration via many sources. I love seeing people that are ahead of their time, people that pave the way for others to follow despite being heavily scrutinised or aggressively opposed.
When I was channel surfing last Saturday, I flicked on Channel 10’s coverage of the Hawthorn v Geelong match featuring female commentator Kelli Underwood. I probably didn’t realise the significance of Underwood’s performance until later that night because I was so immersed in the outcome of the match. Over dinner I found myself thinking about how people would react to a female’s voice commentating not only a game, but a game which was once dominated by male commentators.
On Sunday I decided to venture onto the online football forums, something I always try to avoid. I wanted to see what the response was from supporters regarding Underwood’s performance.
The truth is I was not surprised by what I found. People were expressing their aggressive opposition towards having a female calling the football. This is an example of a common post, “Listening to her commentary of a footy match reminds me of my nagging wife. Women shouldn't commentate in my honest opinion.”
I was not surprised with the general reaction because this is the way history suggests change occurs. Unfortunately for Kelli, she was bound for criticism before the first bounce. People are uncomfortable with things that are different. Why is it that you think minority groups have been persecuted?
I personally enjoy observing things take their own natural course. I find inspiration out of Kelli Underwood’s performance. I am confident Kelli was aware of the difficult environment in which she entered and despite having that knowledge, she didn’t let anything get in the way of her passion. She showed an enormous amount of conviction in following her dreams.
The world we live in is highly negative and more often than not the negativity gets the better of people. This is why success is universially sought after and why so few people achieve their dreams and desires. When you accept the standards which are set by the majority then you will succumb to mediocrity.
Conduct your own little experiment, read through today’s paper and see how many positive stories there are in comparison to how many negative stories. You will see that our society is highly influenced by the negativity causing fear to control love.
When you push boundaries that others would not dare to push then that’s when amazing things happen.
I find inspiration from Kelli Underwood. She has the courage to follow the first step to success which is ‘Follow your passion’, despite being aggressively opposed by what history suggests is a majority.
Until next time.
Live for hope,
Harry O
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