By now you’ve all seen it. It’s the neon dildo that has been seen around the world. Reportedly thrown during five different games, enough had already been enough. Now two suspects have been arrested. With all the goodwill that the WNBA has been generating over consecutive seasons, this gesture is unfortunate. Not to constantly compare the WNBA to the NBA, but you just don’t see instances in which fans throw sex toys at the fellas during NBA games. In all of my years watching and attending games, I haven’t seen it. It’s a sign of disrespect to throw anything on the court—and the ladies deserve that respect at the very least.
Respect the game
Furthermore, when you throw anything on the court, it has the potential to injure players. The players are the reason why we watch and why we attend. Without them, we have no WNBA. This is one of the foundational reasons why they deserve respect. Now, apparently, this isn’t the first time that sex toys have ever been thrown during a professional sporting event. It seems that in the past, this was something that the New England Patriots dealt with as well. Nonetheless, there should be zero tolerance for this type of conduct at games.
There haven’t been updates on arrests in the other three instances of this happening. But it’s my hope that we’ve seen the last of this. There have been unsubstantiated reports of no-bag policies becoming a thing at WNBA games now, but those details haven’t been confirmed. I’ll tell you what, I’m not above considering them taking that approach. A few bad apples continue to spoil the bunch; that statement hasn’t rang more true.
Safety first
The news of the WNBA should all be related to competition between teams, as well as their egos and personalities that fuel their performances. That’s what raises awareness and prestige of a sport. Shenanigans like flying dildos in the arena only make way for people to view the product less seriously. These aren’t Harlem Globetrotter games (no offense). These are competitive contests in which these women are looking to be remembered for their performances in these games. Their only concerns on the court should be their play, not their safety in the arena.
It’s time to grow up
Unfortunately, these pranks are all about diminishing these ladies to their sexuality. A 2022 study found that 38% of the league’s women were lesbians. Colloquially, it’s been said that upwards of 70% of the league’s women were lesbians. Regardless of that stat, a select few fans decided to mock these ladies’ sexuality. What they wanted to do was create their own emblem of what they view lesbian relationships to be. As much as I’d like to skirt around this phrasing, there’s not really another way: insert dildo.
To them, the dildo is a way to poke fun at what would otherwise be seen as being captain obvious. Yes, a sizeable amount of WNBA players are LGBT. But probably a grossly higher number utilize dildos. It’s common for women, so what is really the point? There isn’t any. The respective ages of the two people arrested thus far are 18 and 23. I’d chalk up this behavior to being very immature. But even that is deserving of consequence, and I hope that provides the precedent needed for this to stop.
