One of the many unwelcome things white European invaders brought to America was the feminine physical ideal - the notion of the smaller, softer, weaker sex (oops - I threw up in my mouth a little bit). Here's some thoughtful journalism pointing out how female athletics are quietly subverting this ideal, and how the system is quietly subverting its subversion.
"...the weights of amateur female athletes are almost never published, in basketball or any other sport," writes Jere Longman, but the people behind it explain it is for the girls' own good...
By way of Stumptuous comes this NY Times article - Athletes embrace size, reject stereotypes. This interesting essay is good food for thought, and full of research to make it concrete thought.
excerpt
The weights of male athletes are widely publicized by college teams, but 35 years after passage of the gender-equity legislation known as Title IX, and 25 seasons after the National Collegiate Athletic Association began sponsoring women’s basketball, the weights of amateur female athletes are almost never published, in basketball or any other sport. Even as women are embracing their size and power, projecting the notion that a wide body can be a fit body, the idea of weighing female athletes is under vigorous debate.
read full article at the NY Times
sshh - she's a big girl
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3 comments:
My girlfriend has been shooting this story about a female highschool wrestler. You should hear some of her descriptions about how it's going for this girl.
My girlfriend used to blog, then she stopped - which sucks - because it's stuff like this that she should be writing about...
But - the girl is getting hell. Wrestling is a rough sport - I did it in high school - but I think those guys she is wrestling are pulling some illegal and cruel shit. Smashing her face into the mat. I mean - I often had my face going into the mat... but it was the result of some mistake I made - like taking away one of the 'legs of the table' know what I mean? I haven't seen her matches, but... I don't know - I just hope they're not breaking the rules just to mess with her. I hope even harder that if they ARE breaking the rules, the refs and coaches and parents do something about it.
I gotta get you the links to the photos. They just had their district tournament, but the big tornado stories kind of overshadowed everything around here lately.
There're so many ways of looking at this situation - I'm sure I'm missing so much...
Wow, thanks for the food for thought, Bobby. I'll be looking forward to the photos. Most often, the issue with co-ed stuff is sexual harassment. You raise a really good point; if the female is seen as "other" in a versus situation, the seeds are there for some dirty fighting.
Now where are the photos of you wrestling?
No no no. No photos of Bobby in the singlet are in existence anymore.
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