Tag Archive for "athletics"

Posts Tagged athletics

Hard at Work: “Diverse Bodies” and the Olympics

The celebration of bodies—specifically of women’s bodies—in the Olympics, has not necessarily been progressive or benign.

By Alexandra Brodsky • 9 years ago

K-12 girls: Exercise your right to equity in sports!

Title IX, the law that prohibits sex discrimination in education, is 43 years old. Yet huge disparities still exist in athletic opportunities for young girls and boys.

By Katie Barnes • 9 years ago

On contemporary sports culture: privileging masculinity

Athletes. Female athletes. College basketball. Women’s college basketball. Tennis. Women’s tennis. When it comes to sports, we qualify women’s athletics in a way that does not happen with men.

By Adrienne Elyse • 9 years ago

How to be a feminist sports fan?

Ed. note: This post was originally published on the Community site.

My mornings begin with ESPN. There have been a handful of mornings when I don’t tune in — and those mornings have led to days that have ended poorly.

Ed. note: This post was originally published on the Community site.

My mornings begin with ESPN. There have been a handful of mornings when I don’t tune in — and those mornings have led to days that ...

By Mychal Denzel Smith • 10 years ago

Yes, Michael Sam is a distraction — from our bullshit ideas of masculinity

Future Hall of Fame football coach Tony Dungy said he wouldn’t have drafted Michael Sam, the first openly gay player to be taken in the NFL draft, because he “wouldn’t want to deal with all of it.” He’d be a distraction, according to Dungy.

I get where he’s coming from. Seriously. What with all the media attention Sam is going to get. All the cameras following him around. Think of how fans of the team would constantly try to get his attention, and fans from opposing teams would hate him, and people who don’t even follow sports would form opinions of him without knowing him. He’ll constantly be doing interviews and commercials and being ...

Future Hall of Fame football coach Tony Dungy said he wouldn’t have drafted Michael Sam, the first openly gay player to be taken in the NFL draft, because he “wouldn’t ...

By Maya Dusenbery • 10 years ago

Girls soccer team in Colorado wears hijabs in solidarity with Muslim teammate

How great is this? At a recent match, referees told Samah Aida, a high school soccer player in Colorado, that she wasn’t allowed to wear her hijab on the field. The refs claimed that it posed a safety risk — not actually true according to soccer’s governing body FIFA, which recently lifted their ban on religious head coverings.

How great is this? At a recent match, referees told Samah Aida, a high school soccer player in Colorado, that she wasn’t allowed to wear her hijab on the field. The refs claimed that it ...

By Syreeta McFadden • 11 years ago

Here are some female pro athletes who came out years before Jason Collins

While the sports world acknowledges the reality that prominent gay professional athletes like Jason Collins exist, our friends at Buzzfeed remind us that the ladies have been breaking barriers as self-identified lesbians for decades.

Of course, it can’t be overstated how powerful Jason Collins’ coming out is–what the impact will be for other male athletes in football, soccer, baseball, or the profound signal it sends to the African American community. As Garance Franke-Ruta explains, “Female professional athletes are already gender non-conforming. Male ones are still worshiped as exemplars of traditional masculinity.” A high-profile male athlete like Collins coming out can help spark a shift towards embracing wider definitions of masculinity.

But let’s not forget the trailblazing women. As ...

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