Will This Nightmare Ever End??

If only social issues could have simple and quick endings like those in movies or anything else. But, nope!! the problems are still here and we have to deal with them everyday. Men and women will forever have their differences and realize they both are too stubborn for change.

Change is always happening and if one door closes, another opens up. Women were shut down for many years about joining sports teams, but they persevered and earn their right to play. Once they thought their dreams of playing sports were long gone, fate surprised them!

But now women still face issues in sports and it begs the question, will this nightmare ever end? Why can’t everyone just play and get past the genders? Life would be so much easier if men and women were not always trying to compete against one another.

Maybe one day things will look better for women, but until then, they will remain in the same rut as they were before they were allowed to play sports! The answer is simple, this nightmare will never end because there will always be issues and differences between men and women and that will never change!

One Giant Step For Womankind

This is for all the men that said that women could not play sports; were not strong or tough enough to handle the game! This is a story of a young girl that aspired to play football, being one of the guys.

 

Erin Ferris always had a love for sports, whether it was for soccer or anything else; but she felt that something was missing. She loved watching football all her life, but she was sick of sitting on the sidelines…she wanted to be closer!!

 

Yes! I do mean on the field, she wanted to play football for the Chicopee High School team. She played when she was younger, but now grown up, she was ready for that competitiveness that was missing.

 

Of course people resented having a girl play alongside tough and rugged men. They thought that there were plenty of other sports that would be happy to have her skills contribute to their team; however it was not good enough for her. She wanted to be there, under the lights, protecting the quarterback and running for touchdowns.

 

I cannot blame her! I always wanted to play football for as long as I could remember! I have always been a big jock, but never had the courage to tryout for football because of my tiny body structure. I mean I can easily take a hit, but these guys that played also had a lot of height on me, so I felt useless to the team, so I never tried out.

 

But it was pretty cool seeing a girl playing alongside the boys, changing the “appearance” of the game. With her determination and courage, she offered a new incentive for women athletes everywhere. Do not be scared to try anything new, because the moment you do is when you really lose!  Go for what you want even if society says you can’t! Make the changes it will take in order for you to get where you want to be! If you end up regretting the steps you never take is what really takes a toll on you.

 

Erin Ferris was one of the handful of women who decided to challenge society’s norms within sports and tryout for a “man’s sport”. Well she earned every minute she played and her position because she played with the big dogs and was good enough to make the team! Good for you Erin and I hope you enjoyed your years playing football, because not many females can say that! So cherish that!

I Guess Less Is More

I know I have already touched base with the whole uniform issues among gender sports, but now i would like to go further into the reasons as to why and off insights from athletes themselves. It is not so much that women have been allowed to play sports, I see it as a new sexuality is making its way to the big leagues.

 

Women often deal with the pressures of the media and other people about their appearances, clearly it is way more than they thought! Beach volleyball, the girls are to wear basically, a swimsuit! The uniforms are supposed to look small for their bodies, preventing any resistance I guess.

 

Do women even have a say in what they wear?? If they did, I am sure they would choose a uniform that was more comfortable and flattering for themselves. It is a little excessive to watch event after event in track or field, volleyball or even tennis for that matter, as see the revealing outfits they are to wear.

 

If you really think about it, basketball might possibly be the only sport that offers longer shorts to women; but then again, I believe that there is another reason for that. But, that is an entirely different topic. Janis Prince Inniss offers her insight about women athlete’s uniforms, being a track runner herself.

 

Inniss knows personally what people expect her to wear when she participates in her events for track and field, but yet she cannot help wonder if there is a reason she has to wear underwear and a bra (pretty much). Male athletes can wear comfortable and appropriate clothing, but women are to wear shorts up their asses and bras to show off your tits (in a way).

 

But even other sports like gymnastics and figure skating, women are wearing tight leotards and short dresses, while the men are in shorts, pants and long-sleeves. It really just does not make sense to me.

 

Another incentive comes down to one’s religion. You cannot expect women of a highly religious background to wear the type of clothing other women athletes wear. They accommodate to their religious beliefs and wear what is necessary, but comfortable for them…so why cannot other women wear a little more flattering clothing?

 

Tahmina Kohstani of Afghanistan, adjusted her sporting attire for her events in track and field to accommodate her religious views and beliefs. She wore the traditional hijab and long-sleeved shirts and pants to help not to disobey any modesty laws back home. She is proud of her religion and would not dear to threaten it just because the sporting world wants to see women practically naked.

 

Clearly the only women women can get publicity is to be remembered as the girl half-naked…not by their talents! Women are often, if not  all the time, recognized by their looks first, talents second. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

 

Nope! Marta Jasinska explains her thoughts about women and how she never really realized how discriminating the world can be towards women and that it seems that the only way women can be accepted is by the clothing she wears.

 

SINCE WHEN IS SPORTS ABOUT LOOKS??

 

I guess I am just confused as to why people play sports to begin with… Is it because they actually have talent? Or is it because they can parade around half-naked and be publicly recognized for that? I wish I knew now.

 

Guys of course, are looked at as great athletes with exceptional talent! Women are looked at with amazing bodies and great looks….and then their talents! Do you see where I am going with this? Women are looked at as objects, even in sports and it is disgusting in my eyes!

 

Why is it acceptable for women athletes to flaunt around half-naked, earn millions and be “icons” for the world? Oh because guys love it, that’s why! I wish this was not an issue, but clearly society cannot get past the good looks women offer to them. Talent should always come first, no matter what, but society feels otherwise!

 

This is why society is screwed up! Guys are talented and women have looks…that is the bottom line that the world is summing up for us. It really is a shame, but it seems like there is nothing anyone ca do about it, except to just let it happen; and clearly that is what we are doing; just letting it happen!!

The Girls Are Here!

I agree that in many sports there is unequal pay between men and women.  However I do not think this can be said for ever sport, for example tennis women and men might not play one another but their income, the tournaments they play in share the same cash prizes.

The world’s top four -­ ­Serena Williams, Victoria ­Azarenka, Maria Sharapova and Li Na – are big earners with their tournament winnings, sponsorships and ­endorsements. Financial bible Forbes has just ranked Sharapova, Williams and Li in the list of the world’s top 100 earning sports stars of 2013, with Azarenka close to the 100. They were the only women in the list. But more significantly, only three male tennis players were also included, show-ing the huge ground women have gained in the sport. Sharapova’s total income for 2013 was more than Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal netted, while Williams and Li were not far behind those two men.

I would love to see Serena and someone like Nadal play a match, could this happen? Maybe, but probably not for ant type of tournament or special recognition. Yes this is not fair and really I don’t get it at all. But I’d bet it would be a very close match!

“Women Crush Wednesday”

Charlotte Dod, a.k.a. “Lottie Dod”, was the youngest women in tennis history to win the Wimbledon Ladies’ Singles Championship at the age of 15. She went hone to win this competition for another four times.

She was an English women, with a love for sports, not only tennis, but especially tennis! She also raised some great athletic skills for other sports, such as; golf, field hockey, and archery.

She was gifted enough to win the British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship, playing with the England women’s national field hockey team and also win a silver medal during the 1908 Summer Olympics, in the archery event.

IS THERE ANYTHING THIS WOMAN CAN’T DO???

She really sets the bar high for aspiring female athletes!! The Guinness Book of Records named her the most versatile female athletes of all time! How many female and male athletes can say have these kinds of accomplishments under their belts? Probably none! This is not something you can easily earn, it takes time and a whole lot of effort and determination and heart to get to where Lottie Dod got during her lifetime

What is interesting enough though, is that none of these sports that she excelled in offered the same kinds of talents for each. I mean, if I was good in tennis, I would not assume I had some hidden talent in archery or field hockey or golf. All these sports have so much different talents that she needed to have in order to be successful. But she worked hard and persevered and became a world-wide icon for female athletes and will forever be a name that women will remember!!!

NOW THAT…IS HEART AND DETERMINATION!!

Growing Apart…

“Girls aren’t as fast as boys, or strong or athletic. This is not me talking, it’s a scientific fact, girls can’t beat boys, it’s as simple as that.”

I always resented hearing these comments every day, probably because I am a female athlete. When I was younger, and I played on a co-ed soccer team and it was very enjoyable for me to experience playing alongside guys instead of just women. As I grew up, the teams segregated by genders and I never understood as to why. I mean, if it was okay for us to play with one another at a younger age, why couldn’t we just keep that going?

Dina Gentile offers her opinion stating that the only reason as to why sports were co-ed at a younger age was of the fact that the numbers were not high enough to divvy up the genders. I do not entirely agree with this only because it is never the same for all sports; some are more popular than others.

Even though the young boys and girls would offer very similar talent abilities, everyone had a chance to play. There was no dominate gender that played more than the other one; the players have worked hard at practices and they would play in return.

Growing up meant growing apart…

Even though there are co-ed teams for some sports, such as track and field, cheerleading, swimming, golf and wrestling, that still did not determine that men and women could compete against one another. I believe that they still only compete against players of their own gender, which does not help the overall cause that we are trying to subdue.

I am not saying that any of the sports I just mentioned are “not sports”, they are just not the breadwinners of the school. The major sports do not offer a bi-gender roster.

Debate.org discusses the pros and cons of joining both genders to play under one united team. It was split down the middle saying that women can offer different and needed talent that does not always show in male athletes. Then again, others feel that if women played alongside males, they would bring the intensity levels way down.

It is very frustrating to listen to people arguing that women do not bring the same kind of intensity as the men do. Well first of all, that is not possible anyways because men and women are naturally different, but why do they have to put female athletes down and criticize them. Women bring just as much intensity as men do; they may show it differently but trust me, women get just as crazy as men do when it comes to game time!!!

Most people just worry whether women can handle the intensity that men seem to have when playing sports. Joe Green offered his input that women would suffer more injury if a guy came barreling at her at full speed rather than a female. This is technically true because of our different body builts but yet I still strongly believe that women can cause great injuries to guys.

I just do not see the problem. It is not like its all girls and one guy playing on the field at a time; it is a mixture of both. The top athletes will play and if that includes females, who the hell should care?!?! Society changes every day so guys literally need to get the sticks out of their asses and just play the game…not worry about what gender is playing beside you.

The New York Times wrote a piece about the newest rendition of the classic movie, Air Bud; Air Bud World Pup. Even though this movie depicts the talents of one incredible dog named Buddy, it also sheds some light on a controversial topic in society today. The soccer team had gone co-ed in the movie and even though the boys were skeptical at first, they shut their mouths once they saw how good of an athlete she was.

That is how it should be. Fine, you can make all the snide remarks you want about female athletes, but if they are just as good as you and they prove their talents on the field, why keep going on with the comments? Clearly they are here for the same reason as them and the fact that they are getting crap for it, is highly unjust and unfair. Women prove everyday that they are just as good as the guys are in sports but yet they get nothing…

I can not even picture a world where it was not like this in sports, but it is difficult because of the stubbornness of the male athletes. I hate that things are not changing. I am not even asking for every team to go co-ed, but if a girl/guy wants to try out for a girl/guy sports team, then there should be no problem with that. It is there decision and they should be able to make it themselves, not society.

“ANYTHING BOYS CAN DO, GIRLS CAN DO BETTER”
(and they do!!)

She IS THE MAN

Amanda Bynes displays a perfect example of how poorly women athletes are treated, in the hit movie, She’s The Man. Her high school’s women soccer was cut because there was not enough girls signed up. Her and her friends devised up a plan to transform herself into her brother in order to play for the boys team.

 

Even though this movie is by far, one of my all-time favorite movies…it is really sad to actually see the truths regarding women and sports. Men would just laugh and think they are crazy or that they are not as athletic as men are. It disgusts me to know end how badly people did not women to be included in sporting events.

Like, why? Seriously, why was it such a big issue?

 

Amanda Bynes ended up scoring the winning goal of a rivalry game. She scored as a girl because she was caught impersonating a boy.

 

A very inspirational and emotional moment happened at that moment……

 

The captain of the team spoke up for Amanda Bynes and basically she had too much talent not to be able to play in the game. Even though the other coach was furious and did not want to allow it, but they let her play and she kicked ass!

 

Amanda Bynes did what not many girls would have done…she did not let society determine her fate for her. She took a stand and let her talents for soccer speak for her. She stunned everyone!!!

 

This story just proves that sometimes you have to bend the rules in order to get where you want/need to be. She had so much determination to play soccer and did whatever she had to in order to make that happen. I would definitely have done the same thing if I was in her position.

 

Society just needs to realize how much talent women athletes have to offer and get over the fact of their gender. It should not matter and I feel like people would enjoy sports more if they were not so focused on the sex of the athletes.

TALENT OVER EVERYTHING!!!

 

A, B, C…Inequality

American sports will never truly allow women athletes to be equal with male athletes. Both genders deserve equal opportunities because they both earned the right to. Committees should see past the gender and allow women to play just as aggressively as the men do. Do you think men would really get bothered if women were given the same rules and chances as them? Every athlete should follow one standard and generic guideline of rules. Focus on the actual talent of the player, rather than the gender they belong to.

 

Get over it guys, women are making a comeback and we are not going anywhere!! Hell, I don’t see why gender was ever an issue in the first place! I am a female athlete, and it pisses me off seeing how different women athletes are treated. Just because men are selfish and stubborn, they get all the recognition, fame and money. Knock knock, who’s there, not women; because they were not allowed to play! Let women play as tough as the men do, if they want to risk injury then that is their choice, not someone else’s.

 

Men are just ignorant and it is annoying that they get everything handed to them and women have to work for it. No reason for women to to be treated this way or have to deal with this kind of segregation. Olympics should not be limiting what events women can participate in and what rules they must follow. People want to watch top athletes and not once did they say only male athletes. Questioning why women were never allowed to play back in the day. Reading magazines and  newspapers, I shouldn’t be only seeing male athletes. Salaries are another major difference when we are breaking down men and women athletes.

 

The females worked their butts off just to get a chance, only to not get the same recognition and media coverage as the guys do. Understanding the female athlete’s mind and needs will forever be a struggle for men. Venting about this issue won’t make a change, but I’m hoping that it will raise some kind of awareness. Wondering if this will always be the case or if things will change in the sporting world. X-rays are always available for athletes, including women athletes.

 

Yearning for that true sense of equality will always be embedded in female athlete’s minds. Zillions of women, now and in the future, want to see these changes not just discussed but PUT INTO ACTION!!!

Women Crush Wednesday

Maria Lenk was an avid swimmer from Brazil just waiting for the day that she can compete in the Olympic Games. Well she got her wish in 1932 at the Los Angeles Olympic Games. A young 17 year old was no doubt one of the greatest athletes Brazil had to offer.

She made history when she became the first Brazilian and South-American women to compete in the Games. She also was the first Brazilian to actually set a world record in swimming. Competing for national ranks, she made outstanding accomplishments over the years, with one of them being, the first women in the entire world to swim the butterfly stroke in an official competition.

Her dreams were sadly cut short when WWII happened and the games were cancelled. She could have easily have more Olympic history that year if only the chance was open for her. She later retired her swimsuit in 1942 but still competed for Masters events.

In 1988, she was inducted into the FINA Swimming Hall of Fame and awarded the “Top Ten” award only given to the best of the best masters swimmers around the world. In 2004, she received the Adhemar Ferreira da Silva Trophy for her lifetime achievements. In February of 2007, the mayor of Brazil named their newest Aquatic Park venue after her, that held events for swimming and diving. One of her biggest moments, even though it happened after her passing, the Brazilian Swimming Trophy had changed its name to the Maria Lenk Trophy in honor of her outstanding accomplishments throughout her lifetime.

Her name will forever be remembered and her accomplishments and efforts will forever shine in Brazil and throughout the sporting world. She deserves the utmost respect and credibility for her triumphs and earned every bit of recognition she received. She definitely set the bars high for swimming athletes everywhere!

We started from the bottom, now we’re…..still there

It took them forever to finally add women to the Olympics, but I am not sure why it took quite this long. Women should have been just as much involved with the world-wide competition as the men were. In 1990 only 2.2% were female athletes, like what?? That was what like a few athletes, props to those females that got their chance!

 

But by 2012, the female athlete count for the Olympics jumped to 44.3% which is more like it!! That is pretty close to half of the total athletes competing in the Olympics. This is how it should be..and even amount of both gender athletes.

 

In an article I recently read, even though women were allowed in the Olympics, they still were not able to compete in a handful of the events. Women were excluded from weightlifting, boxing, cycling, wrestling, and water polo for the Summer Games while ice hockey and bobsledding were not offered to female athletes during the Winter Games.

 

This seriously annoys me, like I am sure that there were many women who trained their asses off for the Olympics, just to find out that they wasted their time and efforts because the Committee will not let them play in that event. That is stupid! Once women earned their way into the Olympics, they should not have been limited to the types of events they can participate in.

 

Women will always and forever be fighting this fight of equality, especially in sports! Sports are a “guy’s thing” and we should not even be thinking about changing that! I just like seeing how in today’s Olympics, the women athletic events are seemingly just as popular than the men’s. I know that when I watch the Olympics, there are plenty of events for female athletes that I do not want to miss.

 

I don’t know, I think it is because women are always fighting for equal opportunities that when I get to see them play, it is just so much fun to watch and entertaining for me! The intensity for women’s sports is just remarkable and you can definitely see it when they play.

 

We will fight to the finish! We are down but certainly not out!