It’s the grabbing of his crotch when the Spanish women’s team won that showed Luis Rubiales for what he is. The subtext seemingly: my bitches won; then he took ownership with that forced kiss. He picked the winning goal scorer, Jennifer Hermoso, to kiss – she may be Spain’s most famous woman footballer, but I’m the man in charge – her boss. It’s almost like he is seeking status in what he’s ‘allowed’ to do to this woman.
With England’s women’s team support, Hermoso may become the first honourary lioness! The pressure to accept what happened must have been intense – who has the courage to call harassment out in the face of a national celebration of a first women’s World Cup win – that took guts. Especially now that Spain’s football federation has threatened to take legal action against Hermoso, accusing her of lying about the ‘non-consensual’ kiss. What she didn’t say, “No”? The threat of legal action against Hermoso is classic DARVO: Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim, and Offender.
The crouch grab, the forced kiss, and then the threat of legal action if she continued to say it was non-consensual – 3 strikes and he should be out. What is so galling is that Spain’s first women’s football win has become all about him – overshadowed by a prick!
What on earth does he think he’s doing here? Regressing to a caveman?
It reminds me of Louis Walsh groping Mel Brown on live TV – these two men thought they could get away with a quick grope in Walsh’s case and a forced kiss on the mouth from Rubiales. Walsh counted on Mel not challenging him on live TV, Rubiales counted on Hermoso’s acquiescence in the face of national celebration and TV – why would she ruin everything? They both calculated wrong. Both these women deserve enormous respect. Would you have challenged someone in his position at this point publicly?
I remember while in the sixth form, I got a Saturday job in Boots the Chemist. The most respectable full-time member of staff was a man a few years older than I. He was good-looking – not my type. At a New Year’s party, he went to kiss me and stuck his tongue forcefully down my throat – I was too shocked to say anything – did that really just happen? Yep, he hid behind his mask of respectability and popped out to see what he could get way with.
The latest on that kiss: https://tinyurl.com/3n4v382x
