Sarah Thomas

I'm sure most, if not all, of you have heard about the new female NFL referee by the name of Sarah Thomas. While reading articles on this woman and how she came to be the first female referee for the NFL, I came across one article in which the first line sucked me in. It reads, "before every kickoff, football referee Sarah Thomas looks in the mirror and tucks her hair into her cap." When I first read this I thought it was some kind of insane rule that she was being forced to follow. As I continued to read I discovered that Thomas does this for the simple reason that once she is on the field, "it makes her practically indistinguishable from the rest of the otherwise all-male crew, just another black-and-white striped shirt and authoritative bellow" and this is exactly what she wants. Thomas says that when she is officiating the other male referees do not think of her as a female, they thing of her as just another official. This is the reason that she has been and will continue to tuck in her hair and do her job. Although the other referees may see her as one of them, I can guarantee that there are a large number of players and fans who do not feel the same way. I am totally for a female NFL referee, however, I do not completely agree with Thomas choosing to tuck her hair into her cap. I understand the not wanting to distract aspect, but I think that she should not feel as if she needs to hide the fact that she is a female. At the end of the day, regardless of how anyone thinks or feels about this situation, I am glad to see society taking a step in the right direction by hiring a full-time female referee for the first time in the NFL's ninety-five year history.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/09/how-sarah-thomas-became-the-nfls-first-full-time-female-referee/