4

Thursday, May 24, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
OPINION

420 Maynard St. 
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Edited and managed by students at 
the University of Michigan since 1890.

I

’m several weeks into my first 
spring semester at University of 
Michigan, and I still can’t believe 
it’s actually happening. My mind 
can’t juxtapose the warm weather 
and greenery with the formerly bitter 
atmosphere surrounding the Diag. 
Every time I exhibit winter-like 
behavior, like subconsciously reaching 
for a sweater or waking up with 
anxieties about final assignments, it 
becomes increasingly clear that the 
aftermath of semesters past has me 
shell-shocked. After enduring what 
seemed like the longest semester of 
everyone’s life this past winter, I find 
my mind significantly lagging. It’s as 
if I’m waiting to catch up — as if time 
is moving forward without me while I 
passively go through the motions. And 
no matter how far back in history last 
semester becomes, I still can’t rid my 
mind of its debris.
I had certain expectations going into 
this semester. As a transfer student, I 
was excited to relish in my first and only 
remaining opportunity to experience 
spring in Ann Arbor. I was told that 
campus is quieter, more peaceful. 
And aside from campus, I looked 
forward to exploring the greater Ann 
Arbor community, which promises an 
eventful season for those who choose 
stick around. For me personally, the 
beautiful natural elements of this 
city hold an important responsibility. 
Spring is when everything comes to 
life, at the same time I’m supposed to 
be resurrecting my own spirit. Going 
in, I felt that I earned the trees, that 
I deserve the flowers and that the 
wonders of the Arb are anticipating my 
arrival the same way I did for the sun’s.

Yes, campus is peaceful. And yes, 
Ann Arbor is a sanctuary for the free-
spirited. But in these two weeks, I 
learned quickly that a fresh season 
doesn’t necessarily coincide with a fresh 
and prepared mind. My expectations 
were quickly shot down, and I’m 
beginning to think that the pressures 
of a “fresh start” could be the reason 
spring has been so difficult.
It’s hard to start fresh after weeks 
of adhering to the same routine over 
and over again. While this holds true 
for every semester, the one-week 
pseudo-break between winter and 
spring doesn’t exactly warrant enough 
time for a clean mental transition. 
Realistically, it’s just a week of old habits, 
like feeling your heart sink at 11:59 p.m. 
when assignments are normally due 
and habitually refreshing Canvas for 
no reason. The stress of the school year 
carries over, which may be the reason 
why I’m struggling to come to terms 
with the present. Walking to class 
feels stale, almost robotic. Everything 
feels like an extension of last semester. 
In fact, I’m writing this from the same 
and only spot I was able to get work 
done in the winter. And believe me, it’s 
not that I want to be in this same spot. 
I would much rather be under a tree, 
tackling my vitamin D deficiency. But 
I feel like a caged flower, and while the 
hands of spring have unlocked the cage 
door, I don’t have the means to escape. 
So I remain put. My mind and body 
are victims to the abstraction of time, 
nestled between the routine of weeks 
prior and the anticipation of a distant 
summer. It also doesn’t help that the 
windows in Mason Hall tease me with 
a visual of the latter.

I’m sure other people can relate to 
the way I’m feeling. I don’t know what 
the consensus is on campus, but most 
people I’ve spoken to can agree that 
spring semester is at least a different 
experience than its colder counterparts. 
And I’m not just talking about the 
weather. It’s not that the classes are 
longer, or that the rooms are stuffier. 
It’s not that professors lecture just a 
little bit slower. It’s something about the 
glassy-eyed look on everyone’s face that 
really brings me down. But at the same 
time, I find comfort when I look across 
the classroom and notice a community 
of spring-semester zombies that are 
experiencing the same phenomenon.
Maybe we are living in a simulation 
and spring semester brings out the 
Cartesian skepticism in all of us. Just 
because I think I’m in a classroom 
doesn’t mean it actually exists, right? My 
senses could very well be deceiving me 
into thinking that winter ended. Maybe, 
upon closer reflection, spring semester 
is just winter in disguise. Maybe there’s 
an evil genius deceiving us all, wanting 
us to believe in the trees, sunlight and 
most importantly in the Diag dogs. As I 
continue to reflect on this term, I’d like 
to extend my optimism to anyone else 
in this funk. I’m still hopeful that spring 
will fulfill our expectations eventually. 
We’ll find ways to work effectively — 
whether that involves getting some 
sunlight or soaking in our indoor habits. 
Regardless, we’ll readjust. And we’ll 
have to do it all over again when fall 
comes around.

MARLEE BURRIDGE | COLUMN

 EMMA CHANG
Editorial Page Editor
EMMA RICHTER
Managing Editor

Emma Chang
Joel Danilewitz
Samantha Goldstein
Elena Hubbell
Emily Huhman
Tara Jayaram

Jeremy Kaplan
Sarah Khan
Magdalena Mihaylova
Ellery Rosenzweig
Jason Rowland

Anu Roy-Chaudhury
Alex Satola
Ali Safawi
 Ashley Zhang
Sam Weinberger

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board. 
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

ASIF BECHER
Editor in Chief

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

REEMA BAYDOUN | COLUMN

Spring Semester Reflection

Reema Baydoun can be reached at 

rabaydou@umich.edu.

Sexual abuse in women’s sports
T

he 
culture 
surrounding 
female athletics is 
often 
inappropriate 
and 
usually ignored. We talk 
about 
the 
need 
to 
stop 
objectif ying 
women, 
yet 
the former president of the 
International 
Federation 
of 
Association 
Football 
still 
felt 
he 
could 
say 
women’s soccer might be 
more popular if the players 
wore 
“tighter 
shorts.” 
Not that this quote needs 
any analysis as it is so 
blatantly 
disrespectful, 
but he is saying women’s 
athletics will not be valued 
unless there is some type 
of 
added 
sexualization. 
Nobody 
would 
ever 
tell 
male athletes they might 
be more successful if they 
played every sport shirtless. 
It shows the kind of double 
standard 
and 
inequality 
female athletes constantly 
face.
The 
objectification 
and 
discrediting of women in 
sports 
still 
exists, 
and 
female 
athletes 
continue 
to 
be 
viewed 
as 
sexual 
objects through the male 
gaze. 
As 
English 
writer 
Virginia Woolf so astutely 
pointed out in 1929 – nearly 
100 years ago – “The best 
woman was … the inferior of 
the worst man.” However, to 
counteract this destructive 
mentality, 
many 
athletes 
have started movements to 
gain respect and equality 
such as “Equal Play, Equal 
Pay,” 
the 
U.S. 
women’s 
soccer team’s campaign for 
wages equivalent to male 
counterparts.“With athletes 
slowly acknowledging the 
gender inequality in their 
fields, there may be hope 
for change. But that’s just 
the beginning. 
The 
objectification 
of 
women athletes perpetuates 
both inequality and has led 
to an incredible number of 
sexual assault cases. As an 
institutional problem that is 
underreported and ignored, 
many female athletes are 
uneducated 
on 
what 
to 
do when these situations 
arise. Most female athletes 
are coached by men, most 
athletic trainers are men, 
most 
team 
owners 
are 

men; not surprisingly, the 
only 
female-dominated 
part of women’s teams are 
the 
players 
themselves. 
This 
discrepancy 
has 
normalized 
a 
culture 
of 
sexual 
harassment: 
“The 
athletes complained about a 
thriving sexist environment 
where verbal abuse went 
unchecked, 
sexual 
jokes 
and sexual allusion to what 
athletes must do to make 
the team were commonplace 
and 
there 
was 
a 
high 
tolerance for homophobic 
and sexist attitudes among 

the coaches.”

A 
recent 
example 
of 
this that shook both the 
University 
of 
Michigan 
community and the entire 
sports world is the Larry 
Nassar scandal at Michigan 
State 
University. 
Many 
administrators 
of 
both 
MSU and USA Gymnastics 
supposedly knew he was 
sexually assaulting female 
g ymnasts. It is clear there 
is 
a 
widespread 
issue 
when the people with the 
authority 
to 
stop 
these 
kinds of actions do nothing. 
The issue lies in the fact 
that 
these 
incidents 
are 
happening, the perpetrators 
aren’t punished and these 
athletes are uncertain about 
what they should or can 
do. If this kind of behavior 
is going to be normalized 
by sports, the least that 
could be done is to educate 
women on their resources 
and options for reporting it. 

Continue reading on page 5.

“The only 
female 
dominated part 
of women’s 
teams are 
the players 
themselves.”

