After Atalanta

In a continuation of my last post in which I crib from GLAD lawyer Jennifer Levi's thoughtful social media posts, I offer here an explanation of why and how trans athletes became the target of the right. First, I keep seeing left of center posts/headlines/discourse that highlight how few trans girls/women are competing in sports. I don't love this framing. The underlying premise of inclusion and access does not have a tipping point.  Perhaps what it is meant to show is how the right is weaponizing this issue. This is both reasonable and true but not really very profound in its assessment. Look at some of the groups and people doing the work of banning trans athletes and you will also see agendas which are racist, and anti-Semitic, and Islamophobic, and anti-LGB as well.  If I have not already recommended Judith Butler's Who's Afraid of Gender? (though I am pretty sure I have), go read it. Some of what Butler says is what Levi echoed in a recent posting contemplating the...

I ended yesterday's post with a line about female Olympians, who are the minority gender at the Winter Olympics, receiving a greater piece of spotlight. The caveat (in addition to the fact that it actually might not be true if one does a thorough content analysis of media coverage) is that the spotlight they are under highlights their sexuality, or rather their performance of their (hetero)sexuality/femininity. Obviously in most other arenas (pun intended) the spotlight on female athletes and women's sports is pretty dim. So much so that the media sometimes forgets altogether that women's sports exist. Because when "women" gets placed in front of "sports" it has some kind of cloaking effect, rendering women's sports invisible to the world. This phenomenon was on display last year when Andy Murray won Wimbledon, the first Brit to do so since Fred Perry in the 1930s. Except for Dorothy Round Little, Angela Mortimer Barrett, Ann Haydon-Jones, and Virg...

...a male commentator makes a sexist remark. Someone needs to start a blog or Tumblr or something entitled "Commentators Say the Darnedest Things"--and by darnedest I meant racist, homophobic, sexist. Last winter the BCS Championship was marred by a one-sided game and the comments of broadcaster Brent Musburger who spent some of the game's downtime talking about the quarterback's pageant girlfriend. At this year's Wimbledon, the comments focused on an actual participant in the event. BBC commentator John Inverdale noted, before the women's final on Saturday, that soon-to-be champion Marion Bartoli was not pretty. He surmised that Bartoli's father, who--like his daughter--has been considered somewhat of an oddity in the tennis world because of his style, told his daughter that she would have to work harder because she was never going to be a looker like Maria Sharapova. The comments caused discord immediately and Inverdale apologized before the broadca...

A few weeks ago, I neglected, among other things, to post about this amazing column by wrestling coach Hudson Taylor that was posted at HuffPo. Hudson, since he was a student-athlete, has been an ally of LGBT athletes and works to end homophobia in sport. Taylor demonstrates a very keen awareness of the way in which homophobia and sexism are intertwined. It is not a coincidence the sport has a history of sexism and homophobia. They reinforce each other. How different is it really when a male athlete is referred to as a "girl" or as a "fag"? Both are meant to question his masculinity and inspire a man-up moment. What about the ways that the lesbian stigma in women's sports is connected to its inferior status? So, good job Hudson Taylor. And much awe and respect to Pat Griffin for her column this week posted at Opposing Views. The day I read it I was teaching in my class two articles: a piece called "Patriarchy" by sociologist Allan Johnson and Pe...

Last month Florida Gulf Coast University released the findings from its external investigation of its athletic department. The short version of the FGCU saga is this: The very few female coaches in the department got together and complained about the state of the athletic department, specifically gender equity. All of them suffered some form of retaliation; some left the school entirely; some were suspended or fired. And then a few filed a lawsuit. There were settlements. For a more detailed recounting of the events head to the Title IX Blog . Part of the settlement included a mandatory external review of gender equity. Dr. Christine Grant was chosen for this task. A very good choice and one that would ensure that this review process (there had been several before) was legit. More good news is that her report revealed that things are in good shape at FGCU. Equitable scholarship dollars: check. Equitable opportunities: check. Equitable distribution of resources: pretty good. (There are ...

So it's over. We can all get back to our lives now that March Madness has ended. But before I put an end to blog posts about collegiate women's basketball, I have a few things to say about...yes, feminism. I will start with what I am sure many would call the nitpicky: an article in the NYT about last night's championship game, the Big East, and the surprising appearance of Louisville. The men's team at Louisville, of course, did not make it to their Final Four as expected and so that meant, according to one player, that star Angel McCoughtry had become "the man"--a term she had no problem with because, as the writer notes, she's no "raging feminist." And she understands that men's basketball gets more attention, though she believes it's because men's basketball "has been around since the Stone Age." I don't mean to pick on McCoughtry here. My point is that a smidge of feminist leanings, or heck just a little bit of women...

I thought I was going to be able to avoid talking about the Superbowl all together but this story was just too good and it isn't about the Superbowl directly so... In case you are not aware--we are in a recession. Things are not good--even for football. Parties have been cancelled; there is far less swag and booze this year according to reports. But who knew the bad economy would help eliminate sexism. Okay, not quite eliminate sexism but it's definitely a step in the right direction that the Lingerie Bowl is no more. At least for this year. Okay, well it wasn't exactly the economy; more of a red tape fiasco that the producers of Lingerie Bowl VI couldn't get the right permits in time to stage the event (which airs on Pay-per-View during halftime) at their original location. So they were going to put it on at a Caliente, a nudist--I'm sorry--a "clothing optional" resort. Except LB peeps wanted the spectators to be wearing clothes if they attended. Some of ...

Reader JB informed me of an interesting--but not entirely surprising--double standard in the world of sport journalism. At the beginning of the summer ESPN columnist Jemele Hill, a young black woman, was suspended from her job after likening rooting for the Celtics to thinking Hitler was a victim. She apologized and served her suspension. Last weekend, Lou Holtz, older white guy, also working for ESPN made a comment during a conversation about the not-so-hot record of Michigan's football coach saying something about Hitler was a good leader too. I assume facetiously though another commentator said "you mean, bad leader" and he said yeah, yeah, bad. Holtz was made to apologize --that's it. The racist and gendered double standard just smacks one across the face. Holtz just made himself sound stupid. Hill's analogy I cannot quite understand because I don't have the whole context (ESPN took down the column). But here's the thing, I guess I'm not sure when...

...of their daughters' games. At least if you follow the thinking of this guy who wrote an article in the Telegraph entitled " Men are made to work not rear children ." Said writer got out of going to his daughter's sports day to work in the office and make more money. Because that's what men do. And the forthcoming legislation about parental leave has him all in a tizzy about the changing gender order. There's not a whole lot to say about his ridiculous stance. My first obvious point of course is that neither men nor women are meant or made to do anything. And second, I wonder how the writer would feel about the necessity of attending the sporting event of his son given that he must believe sports are something boys and men are allegedly meant to do.

I thought I could just subtly overlook this story and let bloggers like Diane take care of it, but the story about Justin Gimelstob's sexist, misogynistic comments seems to making more news a week after it broke somewhat quietly across the pond. I didn't have anything profound to say when I read about Gimelstob's trashing of female tennis players generally, his sexualization of a few specific ones, and his violent comments toward Anna Kournikova (all his comments, in my mind, inflict a certain amount of violence, but his one about hitting Kournikova was most explicit). And I don't suppose I have anything especially profound to say about it now either. Am I surprised a male athlete who only had a so-so professional career by modern standards and has been given a mouthpiece by the media so easily dispenses with misogynist rants? Nope. Am I surprised that the apology he issued (or Tennis Warehouse issues--hard to tell) wasn't really an apology? Nope. Am I surprised th...

Talking about the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, that is. It came out over a week ago but I just don't know what to say about it--that hasn't been said before about it anyway. A colleague of mine emailed to say she looked it over and that her dissertation research on the issue--she looked at every single one!--just gets reinforced every year she picks up another edition. And sure, they've started to put actual female athletes in the issues (but we all know how I feel about female athletes a la Amanda Beard and Amy Atkins posing) but that doesn't make it any more palatable. This year was Danica Patrick's turn. She is actually the only athlete in the swimsuit issue this time around. (Thankfully the cadre of professional football cheerleaders who posed for the issue were not termed athletes and I can avoid getting into the discussion.) So JB, who tipped me off to Patrick's appearance, asked if Patrick was an athlete or a model. The quick and dirty answer is: sh...

The Women's World Cup held in Canada last weekend prompted this very good article addressing the lack of female coaches in the sport. With the 35th anniversary of Title IX and the continued work of scholars like Vivian Acosta and Linda Carpenter, we in the US hear about the lack of women coaching fairly often. I probably see at least one article on it a week these days. But according to the reporting out of Canada, the situation in international women's skiing is far worse. There was only one female coach present at a meeting of coaches that took place during the World Cup. And most every skier the reporter spoke with said she preferred a male coach. I had flashbacks to my master's degree research on gender and coaching in women's ice hockey where no player said she preferred a female coach and only a few said they had no preference. This was despite the fact that the majority of them had been coached by very successful women. None of the skiers interviewed could give v...

It's so rare I get home in time to watch Jeopardy these days but for some reason I was able to catch it several times last week. And in those few times I heard host Alex Trebek make two questionable comments about gender and sport. The first came when he was interviewing one of the contestants (does anyone else hate these things as much as I do? I usually mute them). The contestant reported that he is both a high school swim coach for the girl's team and an ice hockey coach. Alex, apropos of nothing, said something like "and I assume the hockey team is boys." Why he would assume that is curious. Women play ice hockey--most people know that even if they don't watch or even support. And, hello, Alex Trebek is Canadian. Canada has the best national team in the world right now. Women's hockey has been around in Canada just as long as men have been playing the sport. So I thought it was a little bit of poetic justice when, later in the week, the defending champion ...

It was a sweet weekend for University of New Hampshire hockey. The women hosted #1 ranked (and two-time defending NCAA champions) Wisconsin. And they won 2-1 each afternoon . [ Being there is great but hearing it broadcast also provides some insight. For example, Martine Garland, who was easily the today's MVP scoring UNH's two goals, was called a defenseman. I have bitched about this before, but I find it so interesting that others don't find it jarring to hear something along the lines of " She's a great a defense man ." But not necessarily surprising. Last night Wisconsin earned what I like to call the "learn how to count" penalty when, in the course of a shift change, they wound up with 6 players on the ice. From the stands I heard fans yell--before the whistle blew and the penalty was called--"too many men, too many men." And they were not talking about the gender composition of the US Congress. But I was pleasantly surprised when the...

The women's British Open is in progress and the big news of course is...well, the course. The women are playing at the famed Old Course at St. Andrews. This is the first professional women's event at the course where women are usually forbidden. Yes, this weekend marks the first time women will be allowed into the clubhouse. In the past the men-only establishment made sure everyone knew who was permitted entry by posting the sign "No dogs, no women." Lovely. Anyone upset at the fact that every other weekend of the year even if the sign isn't there the effect is the same? Seems not. All the women interviewed see it as this wonderful thing for women's golf. From Annika Sorenstam (who was tied for 4th in the second round at the time of this posting) and Paula Creamer to officials of the Ladies' Golf Union all see this weekend's event as a sign that the times are changing, that women's golf is getting greater respect. It's possible to read this we...

Twisty at I Blame the Patriarchy writes about the pornification of high school pole vaulter, Allison Stokke, that all started when a sports blog, With Leather, posted a picture of her and entitled a post " Pole Vaulting is Sexy, Barely Legal" in early May. (Actually where and when it started seems to be under debate; there were other blogs and websites posting pictures of her during her high school career. But it definitely exploded with this sports blogger's post, though.) The Washington Post and many other news outlets have covered the story which includes the extent of the internet fanaticism around this high school athlete. Above-linked sports blogger tries to keep saying that he wouldn't be interested in her at all if she wasn't so darn good at pole vaulting. I don't recall Lebron James, when he was an outstanding high school athlete, being sexualized at all--let alone at the level of intensity and perversity that Allison Stokke has faced. Despite the p...

The Mills College soccer team , after having suffered from racist, sexist, and homophobic slurs and harassment, directed their off-field energies into getting the NCAA to change the rule regarding ejection from games. Prior to the Mills College campaign the rule stated that "abusive, threatening or obscene language, behavior or conduct" was grounds for ejection. But, as we see, that language is kind of vague. At an NCAA meeting* the soccer coach and Mills College athletic director advocated, on behalf of the team, that the language of the ejection rule be changed to read: "engages in hostile or abusive language or harassment that refers to race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or national origin, or other abusive, threatening or obscene language, behavior or conduct." And in March, the NCAA approved the change. Collegiate soccer doesn't start again until the fall so we'll have to wait to see how the rule is enforced and/or changes behavior and conduct. * T...

Tonight's episode of Family Guy , which I usually find funny in its treatment of the government and conservativism, did something very unfunny. They dissed the WNBA hardcore, commenting on low scoring (it was 16-9 at the start of the 2nd half with the two high scoring superstars contributing 4 points apiece). Far more egregious though was the statement from the commentators which went something like "is such stardom worth being so ugly." Pat Griffin, writing about the Imus incident on the It Takes a Team Blog , wondered if the comment was not overtly racist but just sexist (and homophobic--an aspect most have ignored) would it have created such as uproar. Probably not. The sexist treatment of the WNBA on an animated cartoon may not generate any news at all. But if you saw the episode and were also offended get in touch with Twentieth Century Fox which produces the show. I cannot find contact info right now but when I do I will post it.

What is this strange new feeling I am having? I think it must be success. Don Imus will no longer be doing his radio show. CBS and WFAN have fired him just a day after MSNBC decided to stop simulcasting the program on television. ABC News calls it a "stunning fall"; and I have to admit I am feeling a little stunned. I am sure there were a lot of intersecting factors at play in this situation that resulted in the firing of Imus but I guess I had become so cynical as to believe that a lot of people would protest--and rightly so--and there would be some form of punishment. When the two-week suspension was announced I figured that that was it. When MSNBC made their announcement I figured that was the best we would do and hoped the Imus show would die a slow death with people refusing to go on the show, ratings dropping, etc. But this is better. I think. I do wonder about the backlash. The this-was-PC-gone-amuck backlash. This column and all the issues of racism, homophobia, and ...

Imus has been doing the apology tour. I have to say it's far more extensive than any other celebrity-says-something-bad apology binge. And his remarks about the Rutgers basketball team have earned him a two-week suspension . But there is speculation that when one is required to apologize repeatedly and for 13 minutes at a time, one is not long for the public airwaves. So please keep (or start) writing letters. Create enough noise to show MSNBC and others that the privilege of speaking on the airwaves is not one that Don Imus deserves. As always the power is with those who hold the purse strings. If advertisers begin to pull their support of the show MSNBC may be forced to drop Imus. I have only found three of the show's sponsors: The New York Stock Exchange. Simon and Schuster, and Random House. The only contact information I could find for S&S is this link to a customer service form . At Random House you can try emailing customerservice@randomhouse.com . [Ebuz noted the em...