Sunday, August 17, 2008

Where are the suspects?

Not much news about the sex testing labs in Beijing since the initial news broke a few weeks ago. This editorialist, though, notes that as egregious as such testing is, in the US we have our own version of such testing. They're based on appropriate demonstrations of femininity and adherence to hegemonic beauty standards. And many female athletes--she only cites a few--get in line for fear of being deemed a lesbian.
Here's an excerpt about both the challenges and potential in sport:
Sports programs are a particular challenge when attempting to make schools, playgrounds, and locker rooms safe for our LGBTQ children. And as long as young women will be stigmatized as lesbian, that stigma will control women’s participation. But sports can also provide innumerable opportunities to teach valuable life lessons and can be a powerful influence in addressing myriad social issues. And eliminating lesbian-baiting can be one of them.

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