The Thought Salesman

Alright, so I’m not a news organization, but I’d like to take the time to discuss a story that is making its way across the news organizations.

Women’s Olympic Skiing

This is the situation:
1) Men have a ski jump event at the Olympics, women do not.

2) 15 women decided to sue the Vancouver Olympic committee for discrimination

3) A BC judge just ruled on the case and agreed it was discriminatory, but said that the Canadian Charter only applies to Canada, not international entities.

Here’s what miffs me: the International Olympic Committee is saying that it is not discrimination.

Here’s their argument: no Olympic sport becomes an Olympic sport unless it has a world championship. Men’s ski jumping has a world championship, so they are an Olympic event; women’s ski jumping doesn’t so it isn’t. Because them’s the rules, the IOC is washing their hands of any blame.

In my opinion it is discrimination, because this is the bottom line: men who are ski jumpers can compete in the Olympics, women who are ski jumpers cannot. The distinction is arbitrary, from the perspective of someone using the system there is clear cut discrimination.

I don’t care how they decide to spin this one, when someone isn’t allowed by somebody else to do something because of the way they were born, it is classic discrimination.

That’s my argument for this, and it’s also my argument against sex-based insurance rates.

Unfortunately though these 15 Canadians have had to learn the hard way that Canada doesn’t actually have that much of a say in international affairs. We’ve also all learned, yet again, that as long as there’s at least a thin justification, and low likelihood of public outrage, nobody cares about the little guy.

-The Thought Salesman