On Tuesday, the domestic assault charges against Hope Solo, the U.S. women’s soccer star, were dropped. The star goalkeeper was arrested and charged with two counts of domestic abuse for allegedly assaulting her half sister and her 17-year-old nephew in June of 2014.
Since the conviction, Solo has continued to play on the nationally ranked team in hopes of qualifying for the 2015 Women’s World Cup. Although she is not an official captain, the team most certainly looked up to Solo for words of encouragement, and she is continued to be seen as a powerful team member.
Why should we care? The breaking news of a star athlete walking away scot-free from criminal charges is certainly, (and sadly), neither surprising nor shocking. We hear stories of NFL players charged with similar accounts daily –so what’s the difference with Hope Solo’s case?
The difference is that while many of these cases are acquitted, during the days leading up to the trial these players are at least suspended from playing until their cases go to trial. Solo on the other hand, a two-time Olympic gold medalist continued to smack around the ball until her trial. People acted as if the charges were never made, and why is that? The answer is simple: she’s beautiful, and she’s a woman.
The U.S. Soccer Federation not benching Hope Solo just proves that the double standard between men and women lives on. The list of football players confined to the sidelines while facing convictions of domestic violence related crimes continues to increase: Baltimore Ravens Running back, Ray Rice; Carolina Panthers defensive end, Greg Hardy; Arizona Cardinals Running back, Jonathan Dwyer; just to name a few.
In the case of Rice, Nike dropped the endorsement deal they had offered the player. But Nike remained completely silent and continued to show Hope Solo a faithful sponsorship after the charges were brought against her. Why did Nike drop any and all connections to these NFL players but not with Solo?
Solo is seen as a popular woman with a mix of beauty, athleticism, and success. Unfortunately, we don’t see much of that in the U.S. but with NFL football players, there is an unlimited amount of buff, successful men for Nike to advertise.
Women are so often seen as the weaker sex, and the media continues to portray this stereotype. Solo could not have possibly hit this young man solely because of her gender! We so often forget that women are now being seen as dominant figures. We misunderstand the definition of dominant; it doesn’t mean violent. But not only is she a dominant woman -she also became a sex symbol. The tweets that role around every time people suddenly become interested in women’s soccer are only about how “hot,” all the players are -including Solo.
U.S. soccer may not be surrounded by the same “high profile,” atmosphere as the NFL, but are the cases really that different? Hopes goalkeeping record is outstanding and undeniably important to U.S. soccer, but it certainly should not trump an accusation of domestic violence.
Whether they are in the limelight or not, hurting another person with physical harm is never okay. No matter the gender of the assailant or the victim, domestic violence is against the law, and the law should not bend for public figures or women.
The shocking aspect of Hope Solo’s case isn’t that she walked free from any charges, or whether or not justice was served. Instead, it’s the public’s reaction and how the case was handled following the charges placed against Solo is what makes this case so prevalent to societies cultural views of men and women. Domestic violence isn’t only an issue of men against women, so let’s start the conversation.
Written in collaboration with Leslie Termuhlen
Featured image via “Hope Solo” by Global Sports Forum / CC BY-ND 2.0
