While you were sleeping, a little moment riled up the sports world. It was a history-making event: Ada Hegerberg, 23, the star striker from Olympique Lyonnais team in Norway, was the first woman ever to be honored with the prestigious Ballon d'Or award, recognizing her as the best soccer player in the world. She gave a heartfelt speech about the players who would follow in her footsteps, saying, “I wanted to end with some words for young girls around the world: Believe in yourselves.”
And then the host, French DJ Martin Solveig, stepped up to ask her a question. About her 157 career goals, her inspirational impact on girls everywhere, her incredible decision to boycott the sport until female players in Norway get more respect? No. He asked, in French, “Do you know how to twerk?” Hegerberg gave a terse no, and tried to exit the stage.
The video already has hundreds of thousands of views, and appropriately, the Internet went off.
Tennis player Andy Murray shared his rage on Instagram Stories.
Actor Hugh Grant chimed in on Twitter, and others followed:
X content
X content
And Hegerberg's fellow soccer players, like U.S. midfielder Lindsey Horan, gold medalist Abby Wambach, and Swedish player Sif Atladóttir, chimed in too:
X content
X content
X content
Bottom line is this is yet another episode that reflects exactly where feminism is at right now. Women are breaking glass ceilings. Setting new records. Yet still getting asked questions about what they're wearing (as when Amal Clooney was in court for a major human rights case), their diet (like Scarlett Johansson's fitting into her Black Widow costume; and no, Robert Downey Jr. wasn't asked the same, or how they "balance" work and, well, the rest of life.
Solveig apologized quickly after the show, saying, "Of course I didn't want to offend anyone." I believe him—most people don’t intend to insult women or their accomplishments. This is just so ingrained in our culture that it eventually comes out, like a Freudian slip. We have to actively think and process and combat it.
X content
Hegerberg did what most women do in these situations. She smiled, said she wasn’t offended, shook hands, and moved on. Because she is focused on the work. Note to any future interviewers to do the same. Ask women about the training, the challenges, the joys. You know, the same questions you ask the guys.
