{"href":"http://player.captivate.fm/services/oembed?url=http%3A%2F%2Fplayer.captivate.fm%2Fepisode%2Fbc302122-e9a4-482a-96ab-65154879c1c6","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Captivate.FM","provider_url":"https://www.captivate.fm","width":600,"height":200,"type":"rich","html":"","title":"Ameena Soliman: Philadelphia Eagles Player Personnel Coordinator \u2013 Work In Sports Podcast","description":"
\nHey everybody, I\u2019m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning for WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast\u2026
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\nI started to read a new book the other day and after about 70 pages I had to put it down.
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\nThis is abnormal for me, I\u2019m the type of personality that once I start something I have to finish it. I have to know how it ended.
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\nThis is true for novels, movies, hikes to waterfalls you name it. I have to reach the moment of closure.
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\nI could be watching the worst Matthew McConaughey romantic comedy, which is slowly rotting my brain away with each passing line of dialogue (hello Failure to Launch), but I still have to see how it ends.\u00a0
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\nThis frustrates my wife, who can cut ties in a moment's notice\u2026 but that\u2019s another story. She\u2019s from Philly, she doesn\u2019t suffer fools.
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\nBack to the book.
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\nI had to put down this book for a very simple reason. And this is a book of great acclaim, an international best seller that was turned into a pretty darn successful movie.
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\nI put it down because it followed every generalized cliche you could possibly make about races, cultures, religions and creeds.
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\nThe Japanese character was good at math and a whiz on computers.
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\nThe Palenstinian character had been involved in terrorist acts.
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\nThe Russian character was cold, calculating and emotionless.
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\nThe Mexican character worked hard in the fields and then drank beer every night.
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\nThe Jewish character was tight with their money and a shrewd negotiator.\u00a0
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\nOf course, the American character was dashing, intelligent, and fearless -- I'll leave that to your own interpretations.\u00a0
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\nBut I didn\u2019t make it much past those characters. This isn\u2019t me being \u201cwoke\u201d or pandering to our current culture war, I just really hate generalizations. I hate cliches, I hate lazy, boring storytelling.
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\nSpreading this narrative and reinforcing to people where they should fit, is a dangerous weapon, meant to discourage.
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\nI\u2019m not having it. I may spark some outrage with this, but I fail to believe we are all pre-determined to fit into categories at birth. We can be whoever we work and are driven to be.
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\nPeriod.
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\nOf course, I am oversimplifying, there are systemic obstacles that prevent many of us from becoming exactly who we desire to be, but the over-arching point is simple -- none of us fit into a cliche, we are all individuals.\u00a0\u00a0
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\nGeneralizations like the ones exhibited by this trash book slide their way into our sports world often.
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\nI just finished reading an article where the EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT/CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER OF THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE, Renie Anderson, posted an opinion piece on NFL.com reminding people that \u201chey, women work in sports too, and there are lots of us in the NFL!\u201d
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\nLet me repeat that - She is an Executive VP and Chief Revenue Officer in the NFL - which immediately qualifies her as a badass - and she had to write an article telling people that women really do work in sports. In 2020.\u00a0
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\nLet\u2019s break down some more walls, let's get out of this generalized, homogenized world and invite in change, diversity,","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/8a8b2cf1-b714-42cf-92a4-5d480a95730c/ameena-soliman-episode-artowkr.png"}