Crypto bros behind WNBA sex toy scandal too immature to see harm done

The crypto bros behind the rash of sex toys being thrown at WNBA games are not funny, creative, rebellious or any of the other glowing narratives they’ve imagined for themselves.

They’re misogynists, showcasing their immaturity and insecurity in the oldest way possible. The WNBA and its players have reached a level of popularity usually reserved for male athletes and leagues, a level of popularity these man-babies can only dream of.

Whatever message they’re claiming to be wanting to send about the toxicity of the crypto industry is negated by the callout to the long history of slapping down women who dare invade the male sanctuary of sports. And doing so with the kind of “humor” that has the demeaning of women at its very core.

These aren’t pranks. This is a coordinated campaign of harassment designed to remind WNBA players and their fans that, for all the progress women’s sports have made in the last few years, the playing field will never be level if they have anything to say about it.

“It’s a sobering reminder of the power of misogyny and the pervasiveness of misogyny and homophobia in our culture,” said Cheryl Cooky, a professor at Purdue University who studies the intersection of gender, sport and culture.

“It’s a really important reminder for those of us advocating for equality, advocating for women’s sports and trying to increase their visibility, that the work isn’t done,” Cooky added. “Just because women are filling stadiums, the work is still not done. The struggle is still not over.”

Since July 29, sex toys have been thrown at six WNBA games in five different cities. That’s more than a third of the league, for those who’d try to downplay it.

Had a player slipped on one of the objects, it could have resulted in a torn ACL or a broken wrist or a concussion. But it shouldn’t take a career-altering injury to see how malicious this is.

Creators of a cryptocurrency meme coin, Green Dildo Coin, have claimed credit for this inanity, with a spokesman telling USA TODAY that it wasn’t meant to be a takedown of the WNBA. Rather, he said, these crypto bros are trying to perpetuate a culture cultivated around jokes, pranks and stunts.

Which, aside from not making sense, is contradicted by the acknowledgment that the group’s next foolishness will be “a lot lighter. They’re a lot more tasteful.” Sure. Save the “tasteful” and funny stunts for the general public while subjecting the WNBA, its players and its fans to this NSFW nonsense. Not demeaning or hateful at all!

I’m just surprised the crypto bros didn’t tell WNBA players to smile more while they were at it.

The crypto group’s spokesman also pointed out that objects, including sex toys, are thrown at other sporting events. But a sex toy being thrown — repeatedly! — at women’s games when most of that league’s players are queer and women of color hits differently than the one-off tossing of an octopus or a hat or even a sex toy at a men’s game, and it begs credulity that these “bros” don’t get that.

Especially when you listen to one of their social media livestreams and hear their vulgar comments about W players. Or see their “Paid You What We Owed You” merchandise, mocking the T-shirts W players wore at the All-Star Game to call attention to their demand for higher salaries and more equitable revenue sharing.

“The showing of sex objects is trying to show male dominance. (Because) women’s sports is the ethos of women’s power in our country,” said Ajhanai Keaton, an assistant professor of sports management at UMass who specializes in the intersection of organizational behavior, race, gender, media and politics.

It should not be lost on anyone that the crypto bros launched their campaign of misogyny two weeks after the All-Star Game. The WNBA had been front and center in casual conversation, and the StudBudz, two Black, masculine-presenting players, went viral.

Of course there was going to be repercussions.

The history of women’s sports — hell, women in general — is littered with stories of backlash any time there’s progress. Women’s soccer was banned in England for a half-century because its popularity was considered a threat to the men’s game. An increase in the number of women athletes resulted in gender tests and insane claims that physical activity would damage their reproductive systems.

And this country might never recover from the audacity of two women running for president.

“As much as there’s a cultural narrative of the rise of women’s sports, there’s also a really powerful backlash that corresponds to that celebration and explosion in interest and explosion in popularity,” Cooky, the Purdue professor, said. “Those two things are happening hand in hand, and that’s not by accident.”

Unfortunately, the crypto bros have gotten the attention they wanted. But they’ll soon discover what other trolls have: Only weak men demean women, and anyone insecure enough to pull stunts like this is desperately trying to compensate for something.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.