It’s My Dream That, One Day, Boys And Girls Will Be Able To Bust Ghosts Together

Earlier today I was watching coverage of the parade in New York City commemorating the U.S. women ‘s national soccer team and their incredible victory at the World Cup. As I was watching the footage of the energetic fans, I began thinking about how spectacularly the women played ‘ just as good as any man ‘ and how silly it was that we still divided between a ‘World Cup” and a ‘Women ‘s World Cup.” Eventually, I started thinking that it was about time we changed things in our society. It ‘s about time that we stopped separating our sexes along old-fashioned lines. Yes, I ‘m arguing that it ‘s about time that we start letting men and women bust ghosts together in a co-ed ghostbusting company.

Think. How many times have you been in a situation like this? You ‘re at home, relaxing, when all of a sudden your microwave starts leaking blood and a voice coming from inside your child ‘s toy chest begins chanting the name of a fourth-century Sutzaarian war demon. Clearly, you ‘ve got ghosts. But who are you going to call? Well, you have two choices. Are you going to call the male ghostbusters or are you going call the female ghostbusters? Suddenly, you ‘re stuck weighing the pros and cons of the each gender ‘s approach to busting ghosts, and that ‘s the last thing you need to do when there ‘s full-bodied apparitions spooking up your house.

It ‘s all so silly! The year is 2015. Isn ‘t it time we move past this?

Now, I know all the old arguments. Society would have you believe that men and women can ‘t bust ghosts together because they bust ghosts in fundamentally different ways. That male ghostbusters wear gray uniforms while female ghostbusters wear gray uniforms with little orange stripes on them. That male ghostbusters drive a 1959 Cadillac while female ghostbusters drive a decidedly more feminine 1989 Cadillac. That the romantic tension between busters of opposite sexes would be too strong for them to focus on the ghosts. So on and so forth. But, honestly, this is just societally taught stereotyping at its worst.

Nearly every other industry in our country has accepted men and women working together. We ‘ve got male and female police officers and fire fighters. Even soldiers in the military. Why are we so frightened (no pun intended) of letting our ghostbusters bust ghosts with the opposite sex?

Honestly, I blame our media. Hollywood has long been fascinated with depicting the heroic exploits of the people in the ghostbusting industry. But they ‘ve never once allowed a co-ed busting team to appear on screen. Sure, they ‘ve given the male ghostbusters a female receptionist and vice versa, but that ‘s not enough. We still haven ‘t seen a movie come out showing men and women launching up their proton packs together? And if we can ‘t even see that in our entertainment, we ‘re never going to see it in real life.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have a dream. I have a dream that one day, along the crowded streets of Manhattan, the sons of former ghostbusters and the daughters of other former ghostbusters will be able to sit down together at the table of cooperation. And then bust the ghost that ‘s lifting that table into the sky and making it fly around all crazy.

They ‘ll bust that table ghost. Together.