After Atalanta

Several things have conspired to lead to this post--the most recent being that two minutes ago a woman ran by the cafe I am sitting at grading papers wearing a running skirt--just as I was thinking about running skirts and the reasons women give for wearing. I was thinking about this because of this article about the growth of female distance runners . This piece focuses on Portland, Oregon. It was a smidge of history. I did learn that Joan Benoit Samuelson would walk when a car drove by her as she was running. The piece overall is an important reminder of how women's participation in distance running does not have a long and rich history. It has a controversial history, however, as noted by the article sent to me by a friend. If you study sport and sport history, you likely know about the one time the IOC decided to let the women run a little bit longer and then they all collapsed from the exertion of running 800 meters and it was too much for people to bear and so they banned ...

Not my own--most of the time anyway. But all this neoliberal, neo-queer stuff is really confusing. Especially in the context of the Olympics. So according to Pat Griffin , the person I go to for such information, there are only 4 out athletes at these Winter Olympics (all women), plus Johnny Weir who sometimes epitomizes these neoliberal, neo-queer discussions for me. But four! That number is quite low. So we enter the "it's the 21st century and I don't need to be out; I am who I am" kind of discussion countered by the idea that that's just baloney (articulate, eh?) and queer people are making themselves more invisible in this age of increasing visibility and controversy over issues of sexuality. But this latter argument is hard to put on someone like Weir, who will not discuss his sexuality because it's "private" (though he has no problems with privacy when showing his ass on his Sundance Channel show) but is not at all subtle in his behaviors and c...

I am sitting here watching the US women's hockey team cream China. It's 5-0 at the end of the first period and China has only had one shot on goal. Four-time Olympian Angela Ruggiero scored the first goal. It was a pretty offensive-looking move for a defense person (that's right, Cammi Granato--she's a woman!). She just skated right in and slipped it around the goalie down low. Anyway here's a profile of Ruggiero from the NYTimes that highlights her charity work over the year. And thankfully leaves out her stint on that Donald Trump show. Ruggiero was the intermission interview and I have to say she looked a lot like a softball player: lots of eye make-up. I mean mascara that you could see clumping. So she's wearing a helmet most of the time but she put on the eyeliner for the intermission interview?

Roller derby has hit Britain! The American, largely female-only sport has been exported to Britain and is growing exponentially. Check out this piece in The Guardian about the emergence of the sport overseas. This is very good news for overseers of British women's physical fitness (note the problematic nature of having such overseers however well meaning). Because British women are quite absent in sport and physical activity. Which makes the popularity of roller derby a little curious. Much of the rationale behind the lack of activity is the need to uphold standards of femininity which many women find incompatible with sport participation. But roller derby is one of the most aggressive (an historically male trait) sports out there. But the performance of the sport with the self-styled "kits" (I love British-speak!) that often include skirts and fishnets and makeup might temper the perceived masculinity many women see in sport. Who knows. Also I found out an interesting t...

Hard to believe that once upon a time, the National Organization for Women was considered radical. That a lot of the popular sentiment that said the American women's movement of the late 60s and 70s as man-hating and radical came from the very visible actions of NOW. But today, and even back then to a certain extent, it's just a lot of the same liberal status quo junk; the "you go, girl" empowerment rhetoric that has not a lot of substance behind it. So my disappointment upon reading Patricia Ireland's (former NOW president) opinion piece on Florida State University women's basketball team's new snazzy website was palpable but not surprising. A few weeks ago, there was some chatter on teh internets about said website with people weighing in on the potential homophobia and certainly heteronormativity that underlies this website which features players dressed in evening wear. Blogger and sports writer Jayda Evans wrote about the FSU site as well as the overa...

Sorry for the absence these past two weeks. Little bit of travel and some pending deadlines have made me a little scattered. But the weekend is nearly here and if you are looking for something indoorsy to do (temps here dropped 30 degrees in one day--*sigh*--with rain the forecast) go see Whip It! I went a few weekends ago and really enjoyed it. Pretty light, puts you in a good mood, which I was quite in need of, and it's about roller derby. Like I said, not too deep but very woman-centered. Touches lightly on issues of class and age. Though it does not really interrogate the aggression required of and afforded to female skaters, it's obviously a big part of the movie. Acting was so-so. (I really hope Ellen Page can get out of her Juno-esque stereotype some day--yes, yes, I know there was Smart People.) I have heard next-to-nothing about the movie since it was released, but prior to the wide release there were a lot of articles about women's roller derby. Here are some of t...

Saw a funny editorial out of New Zealand a while ago and tucked it away thinking I should blog about it--then, of course, I forgot about it. But it's too good not to share so please check out the Kiwi humor (or humour) about women's sports, homosexuality, and skirts. Apparently a team of netballers in New Zealand has been ordered out of their shorts and into short skirts. The editorialist talks about Wimbledon's recent scheduling of the pretty people and Mary Jo Kane's research on how sex does not sell women's sports and the general fear of non-feminine women and its effect on women's sports. All in an incredibly sarcastic and witty way!

Every time I hear about saving softball, people invoke young girls. We're doing it for all those girls in the stands, commentator Michelle Smith says. I am so sick of this rationale. Why do women's sports have to invoke the future of girlhood as a primary reason for saving the sport? I agree that it is part of the larger argument. But it is almost always proffered as the sole reason--at least during broadcasts of softball games. I haven't completely dissected the rhetoric yet and this is not the reason behind this post, so moving on... Since these girls in the stands are the future of softball and Smith likes to talk about the skills necessary for youth players to develop if they want to play collegiate and eventually international ball, I think I should add that in addition to 1) becoming a leftie (seriously--lefties are ubiquitous on team USA); 2) learning to sneaky bunt or slap; 3) and making it to first in less than 5 seconds young girls are going to have to learn the a...

1. Finally some good hockey news (besides the fact that the season has started). The city of Brampton, Ontario has named its new community centre after hockey star Cassie Campbell. The facility has a fitness center, pool, basketball courts, tennis courts, and of course, ice rinks. 2. From the "oh, you've got to be kidding me" department: over a quarter of British women surveyed said they avoid cycling because they fear helmet hair . No wonder there are big problems in Britain with women's physical fitness and activity levels. Other reasons for not cycling include fear of being seen without makeup and arriving to work sweaty. But wait, it gets better. The reporter noted that women should not fear such things because cycling can be sexy. Proof? Olympic gold medalist in cycling pursuit, Rebeca Romero, posed naked recently in an ad for a sports drink. That doesn't make cycling sexy. That makes nudity sexy--though not universally, I would add. Besides cycling is sexy--...

Picture the scene: group of female athletes, rookies, playing a sport joining a league that is trying to gain some credibility in the male-dominated world of sport and sport spectatorship. Learning how to apply make-up. How to dress appropriately. Comport oneself. Sounds like a scene description from A League of their Own . But no, it's WNBA rookie camp . So much for Candace Parker's belief that though this is important now, "as time goes on looks will become less and less important." I think it's time, again, to question exactly what progress is, and what we have given up, sacrificed, compromised in the name of simply having women's sports in existence. I am glad there is a WNBA; I am glad more and more women participate in the Olympics in more and more events (though still not in the same numbers as men nor with access to the same sports as we have seen in the battle over ski jumping). I am so psyched women's professional soccer is coming back. But this ...

Not too long ago I asked where the moms were in a post about a dads and daughters event in California aimed at getting girls interested in sports. I found them. They seem to be getting a lot of press these days; all these moms who get pregnant, give birth, and continue their careers in sports. A few years ago it seemed like everyone on the US Women's National Soccer Team was getting pregnant and coming back to the game. Now the discussions are all about tennis player Lindsay Davenport who retired, had a baby, and came back to the tour and has had great success in her endeavor. And of course there's Brenda Frese who gave birth to twin boys six weeks ago and is back pacing the sidelines at the NCAA tournament. (Well she was back. UMD lost to Stanford last night--another big blow to my bracket. *sigh*) I didn't really mind at first all the pictures of Davenport and son Jagger, or of a pregnant Frese in her office chair on the sidelines, all the interviews with both about mothe...

Today is National Girls and Women in Sports Day. There are thousands of events going around the country today and in the coming days and weeks as part of the celebration. Organizations like the American Association of University Women and the Women's Sports Foundation, college teams, and local community groups sponsor various activities and speakers or offer admission to games. Before I get critical, I want to say that a lot of these are great events exposing girls to higher levels of competition as well as the different types of sports available. Often events include interaction with older female athletes creating a role model/mentoring relationship. But some of the rhetoric around this day is a little troubling. For example, in Syracuse, NY this weekend the Orange are turning pink . Yep, the women's basketball team to celebrate NGWSD along with engaging in a breast cancer awareness campaign will be wearing pink t-shirts during warm-up and pink shoelaces throughout the game. W...

I was excited to find out that a Massachusetts girl was playing in the Pop Warner Superbowl this week down in Florida. She didn't make it to the Today Show like Holly Mangold (high school player) or Katie Hnida (DI collegiate player) but her story made The Boston Herald . The short story tells us that 15-year old Jane Peters has been playing football---just like her brothers--for 6 years. She plays both offensive and defensive end and her favorite part of the game is "hitting the boys." This kind of information makes one feel good. But then this kind of information makes me cringe: According to mother, Trish, "her daughter still primps off the field, wearing make-up and doing her hair." Yes, don't worry, folks, she is still a girl. Because god forbid a female football player not care about her hair and lip gloss. Peters may be younger than Mangold and Hnida but there are similarities in the way the stories are presented; mainly that there is attention paid-...

I think maybe I am glad she doesn't play on my team anymore. Though she was largely responsible for making Martina Navratilova into the amazing player she was (and still is of course) and you just cannot completely condemn a person who has that kind of impact. And she also has pics on her website of her and Martina and other gay icons like Rosie O'Donnell and Billie Jean King. But last night, when she was commenting on the UNC game, she made several remarks that just made me stop and wonder why the born-again Lieberman even thinks women should be playing such a rough and tumble game as basketball. First, her co-commentator, was discussing UNC's Ivory Latta and her relative quickness this season after summer knee surgery. He spoke with Latta prior to the game and reported that Latta's weight was only 3 pounds more than what it was last season. In other words, it's not extra poundage slowing her down this year. Lieberman said, "You never ask a lady about her weig...