<p>People want to know why U.S. soccer officials decided to allow star player Hope Solo to continue to play on the U.S. National Team, despite being charged with domestic violence, including the assault of a minor. Commentator Keith Olbermann certainly wants to know. Olbermann and others are saying that Solo hasn’t been sanctioned because of institutionalized sexism, and under such circumstances allegations like this do not get serious scrutiny from society or the press. In other words, they rationalize that women are weaker and therefore can’t really perpetuate domestic violence.</p>
<p>I believe the laws and culture of the Seattle area and Washington generally differ from much of the rest of the country, in that Solo could be in serious trouble when she eventually faces these charges in court. The recording of her minor nephew’s call to 911 to report Solo sounded very panicked.</p>
<p>Solo hasn’t been sanctioned along with most of the male pro athletes who have documented abuse issues. I believe that USA soccer should sanction her. Somehow this seems to have blended in with the rest of the train wreck that is her life. I hate to say it but like some of the male pro athletes in the news, with her the bad acting all seems to run together. Of course she married a former pro athlete / rapist / domestic abuser and like some of the other cases married him a day or two after he was bailed out.</p>
<p>I do think that bringing her up is a red herring of sorts, though. That she is an unsanctioned abuser doesn’t make the NFL situation better it just points out how prevalent domestic violence issues are in general. </p>
<p>It does surprise me in that women’s soccer is so image and little girl role model driven. You would think that they would have some of the same “protect the shield” concern as the NFL.</p>
<p>@saintfan, Solo and her malevolent hubby are birds of a feather, but at least she hasn’t been accused of a sex crime. @soccerguy3, true dat @GMT, also absolutely true. If it had been Mia Hamm instead, she might have lost her big time endorsements.</p>
<p>When Solo hits a guy she is arguing with at least the guy can hit back. The difference between Rice and his wife is so extreme nobody would believe his wife had any chance of stopping him.</p>
<p>Hope Solo is accused of attacking a female and an under-age male; namely, her sister and a nephew. Don’t know the kid’s size but his aunt is no shrinking violet. She’s a world class athlete and a bit of a hot head.</p>
<p>I don’t see institutionalized sexism here. It may, however, reflect the reality that it’s extremely rare for a woman’s abuse of her sister/nephew to escalate to terroristic control and then murder. Male romantic partners rape, imprison, and murder women every day. </p>
<p>Maybe it’s unfair to judge individual cases by national patterns. Someone who did what Solo is accused of probably shouldn’t continue in their job as a public figure no matter what. But I’m not on a jury, and as a bystander, patterns affect my level of concern about a case. I’m not really worried about Solo’s sister and nephew. I’m TERRIFIED that we’re going to see Janay Rice’s obituary any day now.</p>
<p>I don’t imagine that Solo’s family will be having her back for Thanksgiving. Given her spouse we could be reading about her on the other side of the equation at any time, though.</p>
<p>Weren’t Solo and hubby involved in a (public?) altercation earlier this year? As I recall, after a brief evaluation by the police, neither faced charges (and King County has some very strict Anti-domestic violence laws). They are a quite a match, those two. Friends and family probably hide the knives and scissors when these two felonious mental midgets comet to visit.</p>
<p>Since the beginning of the NFL debate I have wondered about Ms. Solo. If we as a society want to punish abuse then it needs to be equally applied in all circumstances. It’s very disheartening to see society regress and treat the sexes differently. It really shouldn’t be about money or national television exposure. Ms. Solo sounds like she has anger management issues and I can’t differentiate her anger management issues from anyone’s issues in a way that makes her anger management issues “less” of an issue. </p>