[MrDarcy]

I was a mentor for an all girls high school FIRST team and I have to say, the way they were treated at competition by other teams and the way the organization handled that sexual objectification of them at competition leads me to a “that checks out” conclusion of Kamen and Epstein.

Culture propagates from the top.

[mindslight]

How did you rule out the much simpler explanation that the culture propagates from the hormones of high school boys, and going against that is a hard problem? You're going to have to be explicit about the details of "the way the organization handled that", as the obvious assumption is that they'd be stuck between a rock and a hard place trying to post-facto punish at the organizational level (as opposed to proactive policies for team mentors to follow going forward).

[mikegreenberg]

I am currently a mentor and previously a judge and volunteer for many years at regional events. In all my years I have never seen anything remotely like sexual objectification. I obviously can't know your experience but I would be very very surprised to find this occurring... especially at competitions.

I believe this implication goes against core values of the org and certainly it's local volunteers. I have no skin here except to defend a program that is doing amazing work. My kids are participants and I have contributed to the org for more than 10y.

Just offering some more anecdata for passers-by.