EBuz takes on Hayden Fry

My colleague EBuz has drawn the ire of many locals by challenging the Hawkeyes' practice of painting visitor locker rooms pink, a practice dating back to Coach Hayden Fry.  The local ABC affiliate interviewed her (story here) about her criticism, which is elaborated in this blog post:

How is it sexist? How is it homophobic? Pink is the color strongly associated with girls and effeminate men. In this context, putting your opponent in a pink locker room is saying "you are weak like a girl" or "you are weak like a gay man." The pink locker room is a subtle way of painting the words "sissy" "girlie man" and "f*agg*t" on the walls. This belittles women and gay men by insisting they are weak, subservient, powerless, nondominant, and generally of lower status than men.

Now, I had thought that the reason Fry had the visiting locker rooms painted pink was due to psych studies showing that pink has a calming effect.  The idea would be that the opposing team would have a harder time getting psyched up for the game.

But EBuz has that angle covered, pointing out that in Fry's autobiography, he wrote that "pink is often found in girl's bedrooms, and because of that some consider it a sissy color."

Ebuz's point is not one that I had thought of, but it's worth considering, and it may be that even if there is a non-homophobic/non-sexist reason for painting opposing lockers pink (i.e., the calming effect), that reason may be outweighed by the negative connotations.

Finally, the psych studies link above contains a reference to WAC rule that visitors locker rooms can be painted any color, as long as the home locker rooms are painted the same color.  Maybe that's the most effective fix to the problem that EBuz sees.

UPDATE (9/23): I feel obligated to say something about the volume of comments that EBuz has received on her post.  As a (relatively) new Iowan, it really saddens me to see that so many people flooded her blog from various message boards devoted to UI, most of whom not only disagreed with her but also expressed their disagreement through vulgar, childish, mean-spirited, and downright ugly ways.  Probably the very worst offender was the commenter who wished that EBuz would contract AIDS and die!!  It's one thing to disagree with her about whether the use of pink in visiting locker rooms really is an sexist/homophobic tactic, a point on which reasonable minds could perhaps disagree; it's altogether different to wish a horrible, wasting death on a person for simply arguing her point of view.

Comments

[Iowa Fan]

I personally think the main reason EBuz is getting attacked like she is (not saying it's right) is that she has simplified the truth (Fry had several reasons of painting the visitor's locker room pink) into one: he wanted to "insult" women and gay men.

This is beyond untrue, and she's paying the price for not doing any research before she attacked a very loved figure in the state of Iowa. You're damn right people are mad!

Live and learn, girl.

[Amy]

I am an Iowan and I am disgusted by these people who decide to show their "love and respect" for a former coach by wishing violence and death on someone who expresses her point of view (solicited by the University by the way and horribly misrepresented by a local news station).

Please take a minute to think about what is missing in your lives that your whole identity seems to be invested in a college football team.

[Eddie Rew]

Please go back to Boston and complain to someone else. You do not represent the state of IOWA. The people of the state enjoy the pink lockerrooms and consider them unique. They are not a promotion of your homosexual life style or an attack on it. It's just a way of getting the other team worried about anything but the game. You are so lost in your gay rights agenda that you can't see beyond it. I am a graduate of the University of Iowa and a tax payer. I think that the governor and the board of regents need to look at you situation and ask why are you spending your time blogging and fight over a pink locker room instead of teaching the tuition paying student. Do you promote your gay agenda when you are teaching? Do you force your students to listen to your justification of your perverted life style? That is some questions that I would like answered.

[BC]

This is the most asinine thing I have heard in my life. Football is a sport, a competitive sport and teams use their home field advantage any way they can. So U of I painted the locker room pink. This offends you? Maybe Ebuz needs to get her head out of her a** or the clouds and take a look at what her comments say about herself.

In almost 30 years this has not come up. Pink is a girly color. So what? Sports teams need any advantage they can get, within the law and rules of the game. A girly locker room for men who need to channel their aggressive hormones BRILLIANT! Just in case you are unfamiliar with football the insults don't stop there and they are not quite as nice either.

This does not belittle girls or homosexuals. It is a color, it is associated with girls (young girls actually) not sure how the gay thing got here but to each their own. The locker rooms and everything in there does not say faggot or sissy. They are just pink, disgusting pink, calming pink, girly pink. Does sthat get you psyched?

Wait a mintue now I know why Iowa is fairing so poorly. The opposing teams step into those pink locker rooms and become enraged!! Those Iowa Bastards are insulting homosexuals and women! We will not stand for it. We are going to tan their hides in the name of all that is liberal and egocentric in scope!!!

Ebuz look past your own childhood trauma and open your eyes. This is the most idiotic display of pseudo educated banter I think I have ever heard. As a matter of fact just crawl into a room in your ivory tower and leave the world alone. I am sorry for all those you have taught, for they must be truely warped in their views. And then they are put into our court rooms and governmental offices.....Yea we are all doomed. The locker rooms are pink...

BC