There’s a very particular panic that descends upon my psyche whenever I receive an email regarding my work on this column.
I worry that someone is reaching out to correct something I misprinted, take issue with a stance or insult me based on my opinion.
For example, when I started this column in May with a piece arguing against Jameis Winston being the first pick of the NFL draft, I received an email entitled “I don’t Claire about what they want…. I want Marcus to be first!” In just eight sentences, the reader mocked me for my assertion that Marcus Mariota was more deserving of being the top pick due to the sexual assault allegations against Winston.
The articulate author of this message went on to call me “a little whiny baby girl that’s being very selfish” and accused me of writing the story “to likely get your name out there, so you have a job after graduation.”
Honestly, the majority of comments, tweets and messages I receive are from men who question how much I can really understand the topics I choose to write about. My piece on Winston was my first column and that email my first piece of hate mail. After making my inaugural “Claire-ification” a stance on social justice issues, the ensuing articles have similarly focused on mainly women’s issues and domestic violence. The fact I went on to make this series into a somewhat political periodical is far from coincidental.
Friday, however, was a much different story. I had steeled myself for backlash after I wrote about the national women’s soccer team’s pursuit for equal pay. What I received instead was a pleasant surprise. A reader reached out to say that the subject matter on the U.S. Women’s National Team had resonated with her regarding her science, technology, engineering and math career, which had seen her work for the likes of Apple and Microsoft among others. Instead of accusing me of whining, she wrote that “it’s writers like yourself that are helping all women to further promote equity.”
While that is most definitely an overstatement, I think it’s important to note that we often think the topics we discuss in the realm of sports are confined to the field, arena or stadium, but they’re not. The issues concerning sports – whether professional or collegiate – are in many ways universal, and that is why it’s imperative that we cover them.
I say all this to make a simple point: that the work we do here at The Bruin is important. A lot of my career here has felt like one big shout into a void, as we’re constantly confronted with plummeting pickup rates and trying to reimagine our relevance. Also, how valid is my opinion? Who am I to comment on issues that have already been tackled by national news organizations?
I have to say I am quite consistently reminded that the work we do matters beyond the confines of our claustrophobic office. You never know who is reading your work – for better or worse – and with whom it might resonate.