AL.com apologizes for saying women find football a ‘vexing concept’
In an article offering tips about watching the sport, the author asserted that women have more difficulty understanding its intricacies than men do. That raised yellow flags among commenters.
For AL.com, the website for a trio of Alabama newspapers, it took just three: “especially for women.”
The lead sentence in a story about an upcoming charity event called “Girls of Fall,” which offers women football pointers and tailgating tips, originally included the phrase:
Football can be a confusing and often vexing concept, especially for women.
Now, those last three words are gone, and an editor’s note has been added to the bottom of the article. The note reads, “This story has been edited to remove incorrect and offensive assumptions about women and football. We apologize for the error in judgment.”
David Holloway, a food writer for AL.com and the writer of the article, said this in the comments of the story:
The “Girls of Fall” event is not geared toward those women who are experts in football, but those who are not but want to learn more. We apologize for offending readers. The story has been edited in response to the feedback we’ve received.
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