George Will: Super Bowl Myths

Jan. 26 -- Today's homily concerns the dangers of Super Bowl Sunday — dangers real and imagined.

Researchers say there is a surge in auto accidents in the hours immediately following the Super Bowl — supposedly, celebrating or grieving fans having quaffed too much beer.

But this study is disputed by some emergency room doctors.

And 10 years ago some feminists reported another alarming study supposedly showing that on Super Bowl Sundays, beatings of women increased 40 percent.

This story swept the nation. Feminists funded a large mailing to the nation's media warning women about the Super Bowl: "Don't remain alone with him during the game."

No ‘Day of Dread’

A columnist — for The New York Times, of course — called the Super Bowl the abuse bowl.

So-called experts blamed provocatively dressed cheerleaders for turning men into testosterone-crazed brutes, which some feminists think men are at the best of times.

A woman professor — from Harvard, of course — said Super Bowl Sunday is, "a day for men to revel in their maleness and unfortunately for a lot of men that includes being violent toward women."

Several news organizations called Super Bowl Sunday "a day of dread."

Just before the game, NBC, which was broadcasting it, reminded men that domestic violence is a crime.

Gosh.

But this was utter nonsense. The studies supposedly linking football to violence against women were misrepresented — the data, nonexistent.

This fraud, disseminated by gullible journalists, demonstrated how easy it is for a few political activists to get a story going if the story fits a politically fashionable theory — such as the feminist theory that football is hyper-masculinity, and masculinity is a menace.

By the way, in that 1993 game, the Buffalo Bills were crushed in the Super Bowl, but there was no epidemic of domestic violence in Buffalo.

So ladies, relax and enjoy the game.

Then, everyone drive safely.