Old Jocks Club a Dangerous Place for Women

It's been a rocky spell in the headlines for women and male athletes, and the cases of Ben Roethlisberger, Lawrence Taylor, and George Huguely make Sally Jenkins wonder: "Should women fear athletes?" For the Washington Post columnist, the bottom line in the allegations against all three: "The alleged female victims were treated as undeserving of inclusion in the protected circle."

While Huguely's case demonstrates gaps in the system, Yeardley Love was a fellow member of the lacrosse family: "Where were her brothers?" asks Jenkins, "the ones who watched him smash up bottles and heard him rant about Love." Roethlisberger's bodyguards exhibited similar protectionism, while Taylor's case could not have happened had he "not viewed her as more object than person." And here again women are powerless to effect change, Jenkins writes: "Nothing will change until the biggest stars in the clubhouse are mortally offended, until their grief and remorse over an assault trumps their solidarity. "
(More George Huguely stories.)