How Girls Are Expected to Conform in Our Sports Culture
Just look at her. There’s something so free about the girl on the playground who hasn’t gotten the message that she should act like a “little lady.” The playground is her place to soar, to dream of flying, driving a race car, climbing mountains, becoming a great ice hockey or soccer star, or setting new records on the basketball court. She can get dirty, tear her jeans, scrape her elbows and shins, hang upside down forever, shout and laugh uncontrollably, and make any sound from any body part that she wants. For a time in her life, there are no limits placed on her just because she’s a girl. She thinks of her body in terms of how it functions to accomplish her many dreams, not as an object judged by others. She couldn’t care less about how she looks and what she wears as long as it helps her to run fast and jump high or do whatever else she wants to do. She might be called a “tomboy,” but that’s not so bad in our culture. Our society’s sexism actually protects her for a while. A “girly...