from: Bridget
Raising a child in a genderless world is close to impossible but I feel I have done a pretty good job keeping my children "middle of the road". My daughter, Morgan, is not a girlie girl but she enjoys dressing up. She is athletic but not a top athlete. I chose this picture because I feel it captures both sides of my daughter. She has chosen from a variety of sports since she was three. She started out tumbling, then tried soccer but has chosen lacrosse and field hockey as her two favorite sports. Lacrosse a traditionally male sport is played much differently with girls. There is no contact and requires much more refined stick skills, why is that? Are girls to delicate for contact or just patient enough for stick skills. In this picture Morgan is playing a defensive position on her field hockey team. She is normally in the goal. What I have found fascinating about field hockey is the fact that it is a physically taxing game, such as lacrosse, but they must wear a skirt? Never understood that! The girls dress like girls because it is an uniform. If they had a choice I believe shorts would be fine with them. In this picture you can see she has her hair in French braids, mainly to keep her hair out of her eyes. She would have it in a messy pony tail, if I would let her. Most of the girls have ribbons and such to have a touch of the girlie side. Not Morgan, plain Jane, no frills. When she is on that field she is equal to any boy playing soccer or football. Her main goal is to help her team win. One question I have discussed with my husband and friends is why there is such a divide in sports. If a child is interested in any sport they should be able to play. It shouldn't matter if they are male or female. If they have the skill let them play. I have seen some pretty mean girls out there and some pretty tame boys. A couple years back I followed a story line in the local sports page about two high school boys who played field hockey but were not allowed to go to the state championships with their team because they were boys. Why not let them go, they helped get there team to that point? The county did not offer boys field hockey team, which my son would probably like to play on when he is older. Why is there not a girl's football team? I see the county has stated a boy's volleyball team! Sports are sports. As you can see in this picture of Morgan she has as much passion as a boy would have on a soccer field. Because it is a girls sport she is forced to wear a skirt which is far from practical to play in. If you take a look at female sports in general, are the uniforms practical? Or do they emphasize the sexuality of the female? Are there male sports that do that to boys or men? Why to our young girls?
3 comments:
I really enjoyed your blog because it showed that it is ok for girls to show their more masculine side. I played sports my whole life and am actually getting my degree in coaching. I grew up in a very small town in Texas where lacrosse and field hockey were unheard of. High school football was all that mattered. My Volleyball team actually won a state championship and you could still fit more people in the stands: but to watch our football team lose,you had to get their at least an hour before the game just to get a seat. Boys and girls should be able to participate in the sports that they want. Even if they are terrible and never get to play, at least they are apart of a team. I also see your point about why does it have to be a skirt. Most sports uniforms are designed to help aid the athlete. Volleyball players wear tights because it allows them glide across the floor more easily when they dive for the ball, but what is the purpose of a skirt?.
I also grew up playing one to two sports a season so I really enjoyed your comments. I agree that the “male sports” are more aggressive and physical. I was probably a little more aggressive than most of my teammates. I wished sometimes that I could have played on the boys teams because there was more competition. I also believe that anyone should be able to play any sport even if it is assigned to be a female or male sport. Who is to decide a girl cannot play football and boy cannot play field hockey. If they have the skills to make the team, why should they be denied the chance to excel in something the enjoy just because of there gender. Not all girls like cheerleading and not all boys like football. The whole point on the uniforms makes no sense to me. I have worn a few skirts and I know I could definitely not do any physical activity in a skirt. When I played basketball as a child, the boys had normal basketball shorts; we had short shorts that were not comfortable to wear but more feminine. I do not know how many times after I shot a basket that I had to rearrange my shorts. Would you choose beauty or comfort?
I also really liked this post because as i a guy, I know that girls work just as hard and are just as dedicated as guys are in sports. To be honost, I almost dont like playing with girls because they are so intense, thats why i dont understand why girls cant hit in lacrosse. I know plenty of my girlfriends who played LAX that would have loved to be full contact. I think powder puff games are stupid too...Girls like to be rough and hit things too, so why not let them. I played an all girls soccer team indoor once, all i have to say is that i got abused and beaten up. Girls are so much dirtier..haha...elbows, shoulders, tripping, it was one of the hardest games i ever played. I think womens full contact LAX would be awesome. I mean think about all the sports that women play that are full contact, they are nuts!! womens UFC fighting, boxing, soccer. Womens sports are alot more fun to watch anyway because of how intense it gets. So we need to do away with all these soft girl sports and let them beat the crap out of eachother like us guys do...I'd watch it.
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