Readers of Men’s Health Magazine took a step back in time earlier this week when they stumbled upon a questionably-angled article which aimed to teach men how to explain sports to women.
The article, which unsurpri
singly has since been removed from the site, cited statistics and quotes from ‘industry experts’ claiming that “most women don’t care about stats” as well as suggesting the use of storylines and some context behind players’ personal lives as an opportunity to get women into watching the game.
Immediate social media backlash followed the 99-word article, which was not only posted onto the Men’s Health Magazine’s website, but also posted to its Twitter feed.
The magazine has since apologised for the blunder, agreeing it “missed the mark” and that “the negative feedback [was] justified.”
Here is a short extract from the article which caused such a viral storm:
Not all women share your passion for sports, in case you hadn’t noticed. The reason? They need story lines.
“Most women don’t care about stats,” says Andrei Markovits, Ph.D., coauthor of Sportista: Female Fandom in the United States. So while you’re enthusing about Dominic Moore’s scoring record, she’d rather hear about how he supported his wife’s battle with cancer—and even took a season off from the NHL at the height of his career. Treat your heroes as people and not just players on a field, and you’ll suck her in.
Just don’t expect her to wear the foam finger.
