Madrid Women's Race Apologizes For 'Sexist' Prizes After Spain's Secretary Of State For Equality Sparks 'Outrage'

The problem with creating positions like "Secretary of State for Equality" is that the person's job essentially becomes to find things that are "problematic." That's exactly what happened in Madrid, Spain. The organizers of the Madrid Women's Race apologized after their prizes sparked "outrage" for being "sexist."

According to The Associated Press, "The organizers of a women's running race in Spain apologized Monday after the winner was offered a food processor to take home ... The Madrid race coincided with Spain's Mother's Day and supports domestic violence and cancer survivors. It is held in other cities across Spain."

MADRID, SPAIN - MAY 07: Thousands of people participate in the nineteenth edition of the Madrid Women's Race 2023, on May 7, 2023, in Madrid, Spain. Madrid is once again hosting the Central Lechera Asturiana Women's Race to coincide with Mother's Day. This is one of the most popular races in the European calendar, combining sport and social commitment, with all runners wearing a pink T-shirt with the number 016, the telephone number for abused women. In total, 35,000 women will be able to be at the starting line to cover the 7.2 kilometers of route that connects Serrano Street with Paseo de Camoens. It is the largest women's sporting event in Europe. (Photo By Carlos Lujan/Europa Press via Getty Images)

The prizes became an issue when Spain's Secretary of State for Equality, Ángela Rodríguez Pam, tweeted about them.

She tweeted in Spanish but her words translate to: "In the Women's Race, the first-place woman was given a and the rest were given 0% products.

"If you win: housewife and, if not, at least lose weight. The problem is not the 'pink' but that companies use it to cover up what is important, such as the fight against sexism."

I wonder if men who identified as women were allowed to compete in the race. Would Rodríguez Pam consider that to be sexist?

But, I digress.

Finding racism, sexism and other "isms" has become its own industry

Awarding a food processor to the winner of a race is a strange prize, but assigning a deeper meaning is equally ridiculous.

For what it's worth, the organizers of the race released a statement: "We apologize but we consider this a product with no sexist character and ideal for any athlete who wants to improve their nutritional habits. We regret if any woman felt offended."

That's ... perfectly reasonable. It's not as if this were the prize for a women's car race. Theoretically, the competitors care about their physical fitness.

Serbian twin sisters Ivana Zagorac and Sladjana Zagorac and Silvia Rey Veiga, third, winners of the Madrid Women's Race 2023, on May 7, 2023, in Madrid, Spain. Prizes for the winners were later deemed "sexist" by the outrage mob. (Photo By Carlos Lujan/Europa Press via Getty Images)

I don't know how much you know about food processors, but those top-shelf ones can go for thousands of dollars. I'd love to have one, quite frankly.

Same goes for the other products. It seems the organizers tried to match the prizes to things athletes might want.

But this is exactly what you get when you create fake positions for people. That's why stories like these continue to come out. It's always some "Director of Diversity" or "Vice President of Equity."

Why? Because governments, universities and corporations hired these people to FIND racism, sexism, etc. If they don't find it, they lose their jobs.

So what do you think they're going to do? They're going to FIND it.

That's how you end up hearing that bridges are racist. Parks are racist. Video games are sexist.

Just for context, Ángela Rodríguez Pam's Twitter bio reads: "Feminista y bisexual. Galega. Secretaria de Estado de Igualdad y contra la Violencia de Género."

Which translates to: "Feminist and bisexual. Galician. Secretary of State for Equality and against Gender Violence."

I don't blame her. This is her job.

I blame us for listening to people like her.