Obama: The gender politics of basketball

last updated 8 January 2015

“Does the White House feel like a frat house?” asked Mark Leibovich in The New York Times. That suspicion has flared in recent days after President Obama was criticized by women’s advocates for arranging a “high-level basketball game with no female players.” It’s bad enough, they say, that Obama presides “over a White House rife with fist-bumping young men who call each other ‘dude.’” Now, reports about the all-male basketball game—which Obama organized for 11 members of Congress and four Cabinet secretaries—has some of his political allies saying that the “boys’ club” culture of the administration has gotten out of hand. The criticism appears to have made an impact, said Jake Tapper in ABCNews.com. While holding his ground on the hoops issue, Obama this week dutifully played golf with policy advisor Melody Barnes—apparently his first coed sporting encounter of his presidency. But will a token 18 holes be enough to dispel charges of sexism?

Want real proof that Obama isn’t sexist? asked Jo-Ann Armao in TheWashingtonpost.com. For starters, he has staffed his administration with more women at high levels than any president in history. Then there are his staunchly pro-woman positions on issues like equal pay and domestic violence. He also seems perfectly comfortable “sharing the stage—personally and professionally—with strong women,” from his dynamic wife, Michelle, to Hillary Clinton. As for that basketball game, said Michael Tomasky in The Guardian, Obama does have an image to protect. What would it do to his global standing if he were to let women join his game, and a photo surfaced “of a ‘girl’ slapping a jumper back in his face?”

This is no joke, said Jonah Goldberg in National Review Online. In politics, as in business, “access to the boss” is a valuable commodity, and if the chief is hosting an event and inviting only men—whether the exclusion is implied or explicit—“some women will pay a price.” Besides, said Joel Mathis in PhiladelphiaWeekly.com, Obama should realize that men who join his game “do not do so because they really love playing basketball.” They’re there because he’s the president, and they want a “little face time” of the sort that can pay off when they need a favor or a promotion. That Obama so unthinkingly denies this access to female staffers “signals that his heart might not be quite so feminist as he claims.”