Title Nein!

Equal rights shouldn't constitute unequal results

Comments (0) By Richie Whitt Thursday, Dec 22 2005

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Does Danica Patrick only have to go 450 laps to win the Indy 500? Do female kickers on college football teams, like New Mexico's Katie Hnida, get to use a tee? Are women jockeys in the Kentucky Derby, like Rosemary Homeister, given cattle prods instead of traditional whips? Does The Lady of the Lake get to start her White Rock Halloween hauntings on Labor Day? Does Laura Miller--you can almost hear her wheels turning--get a 1,000-vote jump start in the next mayoral election?

Of course not. Because, like metroplex Olympics heroines Babe Didrickson in 1932 and Carly Patterson in 2004, women don't need this city's charity via unfair advantages.

Rock blocked: Women need a head start? In what century?

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Neither did Lioudmila Kortchaguina. To be $25,000 richer, yes. To be a champion, no.

Just look, the gap between The Rock's men's and women's winners is shrinking faster than Britney Spears' baby fat. In '96 the winning man beat the top woman by 28 minutes. In '00 the margin was down to 21 and this year to less than 15. At this point all they need is patient support, not patronizing shortcuts.

"It's frustrating," says Lieberman, "because things like this just pour fuel on the fire for critics who think women will never be on equal footing."

One small loss for men. One giant victory for male chauvinist pigs.