I will admit fully that I am not a football fan. I’m not really into spending Sundays or Mondays watching the big game or going to any Super Bowl party for any reason related to actually watching the game. I had no idea who Ray Rice was up until recently. My husband told me he is a pretty good football player. No matter how good of an athlete he is, there is something defective about his character and his filter of the world. The brutal response to his girlfriend/wife during their argument and the resulting response and behavior of not only Rice, but of everyone involved in determining his punishment – in life and in his career once again shines light on the pervasive misogyny that happens every day all over the world.

One thing I have noticed the past day or so is that no one is really talking about how Janay Rice is feeling until I read this: The Revictimizing of Janay Rice. I get that she married him after the incident. Staying with the abuser is a common behavior of women in abusive relationships. I am not able to understand what goes through the mind of someone who is subjected to mental and physical abuse regularly, which is something I need to be reminded about when I find myself questioning how she could have gone on and married him after that.  We are not in her shoes and have no room to judge her decision to do what’s best for her and her family.

• Why It’s So Hard for Men to See Misogyny: Men were surprised by #YesAllWomen because men don’t see what women experience.
• Everyone should read the powerful stories of abuse and survival in #whyistayed and #whyileft
• Joe Biden On Ray Rice: ‘The Ravens Did The Right Thing’

What I am really upset about is how the NFL as a whole has treated this case. Ray Rice got a slap on the wrist until we all saw what really happened although how many people out there thought they were having a party in that elevator for real? He dragged her out of the elevator, completely knocked out. How does anyone think she got that way? The Commissioner knew, the Leaders of the Ravens knew it — and Ray Rice knew it. But we are talking about Ray Rice the brand –the money maker. How can they possible do the right thing when it will cost them money? <insert sarcasm>

ESPN’s Keith Olbermann manages to capture the essence of the situation perfectly…