Shrinking and Pinking: Shifting Sports

New shifts in sport have been all over the news lately. Danica Patrick is the first woman to shift into the pole position (the top qualifier) at the Daytona 500. And while the International Olympic Committee's unexpected and shocking decision to drop wrestling from the summer Games impacts more men than women, it's telling that women's wrestling was only recently added a few years ago. Lolo Jones is another summer Olympian facing a shift in sport. The hurdler announced in the fall that she was going to try her hand (or legs, I should say) at bobsledding. After making the team as a pusher, she actually won a gold at the World Championships late last month!

It'd be pretty amazing to see her in Sochi after London; and hopefully no fourth place this time around.

Another London Olympian just made a sport shift as well. Canadian synchronized swimmer Tracy London has retired from her sport, but picked up a new activity. What is it? Pole dancing!

London and her company emphasize the health and acrobatics associated with pole dancing, and de-emphasize the other connotations. At least she isn't Suzy Favor Hamilton, right?!

While I usually emphasize female athletes here who are fighting or breaking barriers, male athletes often have to deal with difficulties and tough, sexist sports connotations as well. Here where I live in Massachusetts, male gymnasts were shocked when high school gymnastics was cut from the roster of approved sports. Even more shocking was that the spokesman for the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, Paul Wetzel, spoke derisively of it as a "girls' sport." His comments provoked a backlash-- but not enough of one to help save the sport, which will likely become a club endeavor.

Just goes to show that shifting (of attitudes) still needs to happen when it comes to male sports as well. Given his thoughts on girls/boys sports, I'm guessing Wetzel won't be rooting for Danica Patrick in the Daytona though (he might like London's "pole" position better)... But I will!

Bikini Babes: Olympic Gold and Pageant Bling

Last week some pageant bling helped me get into the holiday spirit. Take a look at these amazing/atrocious gowns from the 2012 Miss Universe Pageant and tell me they don't make you think of a) A Christmas Tree and b) A Mrs. Claus outfit gone wrong.

(Well, actually only if Mrs. Claus was a part-time baton twirler and a part-time stripper-- seriously I don't know HOW they can call this a dress!)

I tweeted about both of these dresses during the December 19th Pageant; in fact I tweeted so much that I got put into Twitter jail, a place I did not even know existed (for this rules-following girl who never ever got a detention this was traumatic). I got locked out right after I saw Miss Mexico's monstrosity, so I'll blame her fashion choices.

Such questionable fashion choices almost made up for the fact that again this year my favorite part of the pageant didn't appear live. But what could really make up for seeing a jaw-dropping ensemble, like that worn by Miss Angola 2012, on your TV screen?

The next best thing is reading hilarious commentary about those national costumes, like that written by Tom & Lorenzo, which I encourage you to check out.

In addition to her questionable gown choice Miss Venezuela got a lot of disdain thrown her way after her unintelligible answer to her final question. But the most interesting question to me was for Miss Brazil and it came from Olympic Gold Medalist Kerry Walsh Jennings. Walsh Jennings asked Brazil what she thought about the fact that they both compete in bikinis and did she see this as sexual.  Brazil totally deflected the question, but I found Walsh Jennings observation to be spot-on-- and something I mentioned here back in March after the decision was made to allow female beach volleyball players to wear something other than bikinis. To be sure female beach volleyball players are criticized for their uniforms (some even went so far as to speculate that the skimpy attire is why women's beach volleyball was featured so much in NBC's primetime Olympics coverage), but not the extent of pageant contestants, likely because sports are so much more valued in society today. I find it interesting though that Walsh Jennings is so enormously popular right now (just last week she found out of the sex of her third child live on The Today Show; and her former gold medal partner appeared on Dancing with the Stars). Perhaps these sorts of female athletic stars are just a new incarnation of the once enormously popular pageant queens of old?

Just like Walsh Jennings and many other female athletes at the Olympics, an American woman ended up at the #1 slot. Miss USA, which was a nice surprise. I knew Miss USA Olivia Culpo would do well-- as she is so beautiful-- but right after her USA win I speculated that she might be too short to win. I guess adding some inches with her high bun helped out though as she took the crown away from other strong contenders like Australia and Philippines. Olivia Culpo will definitely represent the crown well, even if she is disdainful of her Miss America pageant sisters.

My thoughts on Miss Universe are a bit belated as I've been down for the count with viral bronchitis (no fun to have over your son's first Christmas!). During my convalescence I caught up on some movies and my absolute favorite was Queen of Versailles. It's a thought-provoking take on the 1%, real estate market, income inequality, and the American dream. I was pretty surprised that beauty pageants were a part of this story, though I guess I shouldn't have been given the final two items in that list.  Jackie Siegel, the Queen of Versailles, was Mrs. Florida in 1993 (when married to a different man) and in 2008 she took over as director of the Mrs. Florida Pageant. Her husband is a huge supporter of the Miss America Pageant and Miss America 2009 is shown, along with 2010 contestants, at the Siegel's Florida mansion.  Siegel presents the Miss America Organization with a huge check in the documentary.

I'm not sure this is the type of attention the Miss America Pageant wants, but in the context of the Bravo-fication of American pop culture (note that Andy Cohen hosted Miss Universe and many of the channel's reality show stars were judges at Miss Universe, along with others with reality show ties, including co-host Giuliana Rancic who is married to the first ever winner of Donald Trump [who owns Miss Universe]'s competitive reality show The Apprentice) it's not shocking. Now, Andy Cohen, just get Jackie Siegel her own reality show, stat. And a crown (real diamonds, natch) to go with it.

Shrinking and Pinking "Chick" Fights

I learned a new term this month: "Chicked."  Apparently that's what you say in skiing when a woman beats a man on the slopes. Here's an excerpt from an article describing what it is to be chicked:

“That’s a verb used in ski racing – chicked – to chick someone,” explained Canadian alpine racer Larisa Yurkiw.

Yurkiw was the talk of the Swiss glacier when she beat a guy in training over the summer. The 24-year-old from Collingwood, Ont., who has high hopes for Sochi in 2014, won’t identify the humiliated racer, only to say he is not a Canadian, but a “fellow Commonwealther.”

“It was the biggest news of the day,” she recalled.

“It was just training and it didn’t matter,” Yurkiw said. “It didn’t count for anything, but it’s that prestige verb to be able to use.”

Of course, the reason this was in the news is because of Lindsey Vonn's (failed) bid to race against men in a World Cup downhill.

While she failed this time it's only a matter of time before she, or someone else, does get the clear to compete against men in a sanctioned race. Sure, some will be afraid of getting chicked-- but the same was true in golf and tennis and auto racing and many other sports.  Sure, she might have to make some changes to her all-female races, like if racing the course advantages her over competitors.  But given the potential for publicity and the march of women's athletics I suspect within the next quad or two we'll see this.

Even MMA is getting in on the action.  MMA-- currently considered one of the toughest and most hegemonically masculine sports-- welcomed its first female pro fighter into the UFC earlier this month.  I'm sure they are happy that fighter Ronda Rousey is attractive and photo/telegenic.  Notice that the link is to a story on TMZ about Rousey, so clearly she is already crossing over into mainstream media.  The International Ski Federation should take note that some people might like to see a man get "chicked."

One place where chicking doesn't happen is at Spelman College, an all-female historically black college. Like at all single sex institutions, women are the athletic stars on campus.  Well, at least they were.  Starting next academic year Spelman is eliminating its athletic program.  They won't drop fitness-- they actually plan to promote it for everyone on campus, targeting issues that impact black women's health-- but they will leave the NCAA.  This is the first school to voluntarily leave the NCAA in about a decade.  About 40 women who planned to attend Spelman for athletics will no longer be able to compete, but they will still be students.

It's an interesting take on how best to use funds to promote health and athletics for more women.  I wonder if other schools will follow suit? Chicks everyone can be sporty and smart.  And sometimes they do best the boys.

Shrinking and Pinking: More Girls, More Sports, More Changes

Compared to the past few months, October brought less female athlete news-- but as students returned to school and Olympic-caliber athletes returned to training, there's no doubt that women in sports were hard at work.  And, in many cases, they are working hard in new contexts. 1) In Massachusetts female high school golfers now have the chance to compete in a more rigorous state-level tournament, as the state's athletic association voted to add sectional tournaments.  This is a great sign that golfing is growing for girls.

2) Lolo Jones, the American hurdler who often gets more attention than wins, has just be named to the US bobsled team.

She's not the only one in the running to be a two-sport Olympian (summer and fall), as gold medal sprinter Tianna Madison also made the team as a push athlete (the people who run and literally push the bobsled before hopping in and letting others steer down the mountain). It will be interesting to see if they both make it to the 2014 Games!

I wonder if there is this same type of crossover in male bobsledding?

3) Legendary women's basketball coach, Geno Auriemma, of UConn's storied program made headlines this week when he suggested that the rim should be lowered in the women's game. His reasoning? It would help increase the audience for women's basketball because it would mean a faster game, more dunks, and better layups.  He also suggested changing the size of the basketball and a few other timing rule changes.  Through the article I learned that the net in women's volleyball is lower (mainly because of the average height difference between men and women)-- which shows he was right that I had no idea!

I have mixed feelings about different rules for men's and women's games, but changing the equipment to reflect the realities of known physical differences between men and women (like height) seems reasonable. In the end it's just great to see more females doing a variety of competitive sports.

Shrinking and Pinking: Success, with a Reality Check

Recent news out of the world of female athletics has been nothing but positive lately.  From the success of women in the Summer Olympics to the 40th anniversary of the passage of Title IX we've been very busy focusing on the accomplishments of women athletes. This past month one of the biggest stories about women and sports was Erin DiMeglio.  The 17-year-old became the first girl to play quarterback in a high school game in Florida (which, as the article notes, takes its high school football pretty seriously).

DiMeglio is third-string, but she's performing under pressure and learning how to take hits.  While the fact that she is getting so much attention shows that female quarterbacks (and football players for that matter, like the case of Brianna Amat) are quite uncommon, the assumption is that DiMeglio will help start a trend and we will see more and more girls playing football with the boys.

In general these stories imply a continued upward trajectory for women and sports.  But two other recent stories remind us that more work remains to be done.  The first is about coaching in women's sports.  Sports researchers have found that as rates of women participating in athletics increase there is often a decrease in the rates of women coaching.  Why? Because the compensation for coaching women increases, so then more men want to be involved. This means that many women's sports teams-- including those at the highest levels-- have male coaches.  Over time this is a problem that needs to be solved.

Additionally, even though we have made a lot of progress (and note in the DiMeglio article that her teammates routinely defend her to others and simply see her as part of the team), there is still a cultural bias against some aspects of women in sports.  A few weeks ago The Washington Post published an article entitled, "Throw like a girl? You can do better."  Many readers angrily responded to the piece, including Justine Siegal (previously featured on this blog-- in my first Shrinking and Pinking piece).  As she writes, "I have found that throwing “like a girl” is not biologically inherent but rather a result of coaching, expectations and opportunity. Gender is not the dominating factor in their throwing mechanics; experience is."

I also appreciated the end of the second letter, by Pat Rumbaugh: "I would love to see an article called “Look how flexible I am.” I bet girls generally win that one."  Until we start valuing (culturally and monetarily) those skills that may often favor women's abilities, female athletes (and coaches) will continue to play second- and third-string.  I know in the next 40 years we can do better.