Gold Medals and Sexual Harassment
 August 22, 2023 Evening, Meteor readers, It was a wise philosopher (Aaliyah) who once said, “If at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again”—and that’s apparently the advice Joe Biden is following with his new SAVE program, which aims to limit interest-rate accrual on student loans and improve some existing repayment plans. I’ll give him an A for effort and an I for execution. What’s the I stand for, you ask? *I* am not paying back these loans in this lifetime.  In today’s newsletter we dig into the full story on The Kiss during the Women’s World Cup trophy ceremony, a change to abortion restrictions in Texas, and a little bit of good news. Consensual xoxo, Shannon Melero  WHAT’S GOING ON“It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this”: On Sunday afternoon, Luis Rubiales, president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (REFF) had the honor of handing out gold medals to Spain’s women’s national team after their World Cup win over England. But what should have been a proud and beautiful moment for all the women of La Roja (the team’s nickname) turned into an international debacle when Rubiales grabbed team captain Jennifer Hermoso by the back of her neck and kissed her on the mouth. He then proceeded to smack her on the bottom—all while cameras rolled. As if that wasn’t enough, Rubiales later entered the women’s locker room and joked to the team that they were all invited to his wedding with Hermoso. In a social media video, Hermoso said of the moment, “¿Qué hago yo? Mírame…No me ha gustado.” What do I do? Look at me…I didn’t like it. After the moment became an international story, though, Hermoso downplayed the incident, saying, “It was a natural gesture of affection and gratitude.” But it wasn’t just a gesture. Not only did it read like sexual harassment in real time, the “kiss” is also symptomatic of much deeper issues which have been plaguing La Roja and the REFF for years.  JENNIFER HERMOSO DOING THE ONLY KIND OF KISSING WE WANT TO SEE AT A MEDAL CEREMONY. (IMAGE BY ALEX PANTLING VIA GETTY IMAGES) In the lead up to the World Cup, 15 of the best players in Spain who had mostly been expected to play on the national team withdrew themselves from consideration in protest of the way the REFF, led by Rubiales, and coach Jorge Vidal had been treating them. The players—who became known in Spain as Las 15—sent an email accusing Vidal of creating an oppressive work environment and highlighting the ways in which the REFF had provided subpar training facilities which they believed had led to injury. (A familiar accusation, also present in the 2020 lawsuit between the USWNT and the US Soccer Federation.) For their part, Las 15 wanted to resolve the issues internally. But in an effort to control the narrative, Rubiales went public with the email and, according to some players, willfully misconstrued what was written in an effort to paint Las 15 as merely disgruntled athletes. All of this behind-the-scenes tension is what makes The Kiss more than just an act of celebration gone wrong. Rubiales holds the fate of Hermoso’s career in his hands. If she wants to continue being a part of the national team, not only does she need to perform at an elite level, she needs, as a huge sports star in Spain, to be a peacemaker between the REFF and the players. After two days of pressure from fans and Spain’s minister of culture and sport, Rubiales issued a halfpology in which he acknowledged the kiss as a “mistake” and then followed it up with, “Here we saw it as something natural and normal. But on the outside it has caused a stir, because people have felt hurt by it, so I have to apologize; there’s no alternative.” He basically hit the world with a “sorry you feel that way” and kept moving. This World Cup win is Spain’s first and it’s the kind of accolade the players desperately need to further fuel their fight for equal treatment. It took the US Women’s National Team toiling for 20 years for their federation to start listening to them and they didn’t even see the fruits of that labor until their fourth World Cup win. Here’s hoping we see a faster turnaround for Spain—and all the other women’s teams around the world battling for respect. AND: 
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