Sunday, April 24, 2011

Can Athletic Women Win?

Our class discussion concerning weight and the healthy and unhealthy athlete caused me to think for quite some time. With the exception of Matt Weight I can say I have had the most experience with changing my body as a result of sport. As I have mentioned I have weighed as much as the mid 300’s and as low as 189 pounds. Though my thoughts arose at the comments made by the females in our class, I really had never given thought to the fact that it must be a hard balancing act between maintaining the feminine look that most females desire and having a body effective for their sport. I found Sarah’s and Dr. Spencer’s insights to be particularly interesting concerning size and women’s basketball. Mainly because the other sports discussed did not require weight gain. As women, I would imagine it is difficult to be told to gain weight especially after growing up in our society that often preaches that skinny is the way to be. O had never thought of it before in large part because I just did what my coaches told me, though I did understand that once I reached 310 pounds it was definitely non attractive and I really disliked having to be that big though as athletes do I did what I was told. Further, can women win if they reached the ideal athletic body for their sport and position they are often labeled as too masculine or muscle bound. Furthermore, if they maintain a sleek though it may bit be best for the performance, though will it matter. For example, in our society female athletes are often glorified for their looks and not enough for their talent. Take Brittney Griner, an incredible player who is often charged with being too manly due to her physical stature. Can women win?  I am not sure but I am glad we had that class discussion as it opened my eyes to a concept that had unrealized existed.

2 comments:

  1. Pace, I would have to say that women cannot win. Their life as athletes is a catch-22. If they "bulk up" or become to masculine in an effort to maximize their performance they are chastised, as you pointed out, for being to manly. On the other hand, in an effort to maintain their femininity, they in turn do not maximize their potential and compromise winning in the competitive sense. I cannot say that I understand what female athletes have to contend with, however, I do feel their pain as they real do have conflicting forces pulling at them. Do I risk being considered a man and win or do I look like a girl and lose? Not that being feminine and competitive cannot exist in the same space, but this is their daily struggle.

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  2. I am glad that discussion in class was interesting. I thought it was great that there were so many people in the class who have worked in athletics and have experienced some of the difficulties of trying to attain a certain body image while also trying to be strong for their sport. I am not sure if I said this in class, but one scholar (Mike Messner) wrote that it is like a "double-edged sword." If women are too good, they are compared to men (like you said about Brittney Griner), but if they want to get better, they may have to gain strength that detracts from their desired "traditional femininity."

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