Weird column over at Philly.com today.

Maybe it’s a good thing it’s stuck behind a paywall.

Author E̶r̶n̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶O̶w̶e̶n̶s̶ Katie McInerney isn’t happy with the (admittedly pointless) petition that some Sixers fans are signing, demanding that Kendall Jenner be banned from the Wells Fargo Center after she was obviously responsible for the squads’ terrible loss to the two-win Cleveland Cavaliers on Black Friday.

Writes McInerney:

Although this callout was clearly created in jest, it has roots in an age-old sexist trope: It’s always the woman’s fault.

“At this point, Jenner is not only damaging the future of this franchise but the livelihood of innocent men as well,” the petition continues. “It is disgusting behavior on her part.”

Personally, I think there is far more disgusting behavior demonstrated in the person who got a laugh out of creating the petition and the 9,100 people — and counting — who signed it.

Yeah, it’s in jest. It’s not “disgusting behavior.” Nobody is taking this seriously.

More after the jump:

Why do women regularly get blamed for things they did not do? Because, as the Kendall Jenner petition proves, our culture holds a broad, sexist view of the role we play in it — we have to carry the burden of policing men’s behavior as well as our own. It’s 2018, and a high-profile woman is still expected to be a submissive girlfriend above all else.

The petition might have made a few people laugh. Those people might have sent it to friends. Maybe they all signed on as a joke.

But by allowing grumpy Sixers fans to consider banning Jenner a real possibility, that petition perpetuates stereotypes. It adds to the problem. It makes it worse.

Jeez.

Okay, listen – this is way off-base.

People don’t poo-poo the Kendall Jenner thing because of sexism, they just view a 22-year-old basketball player dating a Hollywood ultra-celebrity as a distraction. It’s a distraction because of her status, not her gender. She’s got the paparazzi following her everywhere, she’s got 17 bazillion social media followers, and her entire existence is placed under the world’s biggest microscope, which probably isn’t fair, but that’s life as a Kardashian in 2018.

That said, I personally find all of it to be bullshit. It doesn’t matter who Ben Simmons dates, and Kendall Jenner doesn’t even live in Philadelphia full-time anyway. Carson Wentz used the bye week to go duck hunting with Mike Trout. Allen Iverson used to spend his free time doing God-knows-what. Athletes live their lives, they don’t just lock themselves in their house and study the playbook or work on free throws. They do the same shit you and I were doing at age 22.

Also consider this:

https://twitter.com/ryanabrams76/status/1067075558033551360?s=21

See?

Kendall Jenner is a good thing!

Looks like those sexist petition writers couldn’t even get the facts straight.