Spiranac Speaks Out Against Haters
When you delve into Paige Spiranac’s tale, you’ll notice that she’s been subjected to a lot of criticism and unjustified insults. She’s endured it all. There’s been vicious mockery of an injury that terminated her Olympic gymnast hopes. Then, there are constant jibes about an illness that caused her hair loss. Plus, the more obvious, sexist shaming of her golf game. Spiranac discussed the abuse she received on her golf game before to transitioning out of professional golf on the Golf Digest podcast ‘Be Right.’
Spiranac built up a sizable social media following during her studies at San Diego State University. As a result, she was invited to play in the Omega Dubai Ladies Classic on the Ladies European Tour as a guest starter. Her profile was the first example of how social media may help a tournament gain more publicity.
She won her third start on the Cactus Tour after going professional. However, her ambitions to join the LPGA were unsuccessful. ‘Fans’ were ready to offer their opinions throughout that period. Whether it was about her physical beauty or her golf skill, she was criticized throughout her childhood and collegiate career.
‘It’s Been Really Hard’
On the Golf Digest podcast, Spiranac reflected on the events.
She said, “It was really hard because when people came at me, it was about my golf game.” “As we all know, your ego is so tied in to how you play, and publicly for people to be like ‘You suck, you need to quit’, that was really hard for me and I took it very personally.”
Spiranac added, “My early interviews I talked a lot about cyberbullying, and I was kind of dealing with other things behind the scenes, so I was a big advocate for that. Things have progressed where I’ve stopped playing professionally and now social media has become my career”.
The 28-year-old is now a prominent advocate for Cybersmile, a non-profit organization. They provide global assistance and educational activities to combat cyberbullying.
Recognizing her Role
Online bullying and hate have no place in society. However, Spiranac did speak up about her reaction to some of the criticism that was perhaps more justified. She can now be found on Twitter and Instagram, as well as her own podcast, ‘Playing a Round with Paige Renee,’ offering insight into tournament golf, her thoughts on golfers, and what’s going on in PGA Tour tournaments.
Describing the transition, she said, “It was hard because now I want to have a ‘hot take’, but sometimes it comes at the expense of someone else, and not in a way that’s bullying. Now I’m Tweeting stuff about players, and it’s funny, but I would get so upset about that before [if it were me], but it’s not really bullying. I was just soft. I was a huge baby. You do have to have a good sense of humor, you have to be able to laugh things off”. Balance is perhaps the key word, although some of the remarks Spiranac has been subject to over the years fall woefully beneath that benchmark.
Spiranac is now the most followed golfer on Instagram, eclipsing the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Listen to the full interview on Apple Podcasts.
Read the original article on Golf Monthly.
