Andrew L. Urban
Luis Rubiales has resigned as president of the Spanish Football Federation following criticism for kissing Spain forward Jenni Hermoso at the Women’s World Cup final presentation ceremony.
Hermoso, 33, said the kiss after Spain beat England was not consensual and she has filed a legal complaint.
That’s the story without any of the context. Truth is context, so those two sentences are not strictly true. In a world now consumed by such things, it is easy to portray such a kiss as a form of sexual or romantic action. A kiss requiring consent. Not consensual?! It was celebratory! Career ending?!
Well, blow me down with a kiss, that is ridiculous. The euphoric moment of a world cup win by his nation’s team did not arouse Rubiales; it triggered an instant jubilation, exuberance, exploding in a human to human congratulatory kiss. A kiss of sporting success. You dopes.
How sad that it has been portrayed as some sort of unwanted sex act, both by Hermosa (perhaps feeling pressured to do so) and the Spanish authorities. And all the rest…. What, the Spaniards who kiss for greetings and good byes! Nobody asks for consent for those kisses… Ah yes, but it was on the LIPS, shout the offended.
Lips or no, there is nothing to suggest it was any kind of romantic or sexual kiss. Obviously. So it was mischaracterised in faux outrage in a puritanical and tyrannical overreach, perhaps? Who cares, I think making a global scandal out of it does nothing by way of encouraging respect for women. It invites ridicule.
From betrayal to betrothal, a kiss can mean many things.
What if it was a woman whose exuberance and pride had propelled her at Rubiales and planted a kiss on his lips? Would she be labelled a slut?