Girls in Sports No Longer 'Tomboys'
Athletic competition builds character in our boys.
We do not need that kind of character in our girls.
~ Connecticut judge, 1971
Last month the Women's Sports Foundation held its annual Salute to Women in Sports at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. Mayor Michael Bloomberg attended, as did actor Holly Hunter and dozens of athletes, including figure skater Michelle Kwan, softball star Jennie Finch, and New York Jets kicker Nick Folk.
Founded by tennis legend Billie Jean King 31 years ago, the foundation seeks to "advance the lives of girls and women through sport and physical activity." It's well known that girls who play sports reap many off-the-field benefits, including better grades and higher self-esteem. "Eighty percent of the female executives at Fortune 500 companies identified themselves as former 'tomboys' and having played sports," the foundation's website states.
When I was a girl, organized sports belonged to the boys. If a girl played, she was without question a tomboy. At my brothers' baseball games, I sat in the grass, picked at the scabs on my knees, made dandelion chains, and ran into the woods to retrieve foul balls. Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago in the 1970s, I knew only one girl who played baseball. Katie was quiet and tough and came from a large Roman Catholic family. Like her bevy of siblings, she had straight brown hair, dark blue eyes, and a scattering of freckles over her nose. I could spot her coming down the sidewalk just by her swagger.
Sometimes during recess, the whole class would play kickball. I secretly coveted Katie's approval and, sure enough, when I'd make a good play—catch the red playground ball on the fly, for instance—she'd turn and nod at me, her eyes narrowed. She was a pocket Clint Eastwood on the school grounds. People said Katie was a tomboy. The first time I heard the word was when a boy used it to insult her: "Tomboy. Weirdo."
Meanwhile, across the country from our blacktop kickball game, members of Congress, led by the late Patsy T. Mink, were at work getting Title IX passed. In 1972, they succeeded. The law states that no one in the U.S. may be excluded from participation in any federally funded educational program or activity on the basis of sex. The Women's Sports Foundation reports that since the enactment of Title IX, "Female high school athletic participation has increased by 904% and female collegiate athletic participation has increased by 456%." In other words, Title IX, now officially the "Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act," worked.
The Seminary Gender Gap
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ulcseminary
I started in the martial arts over 30 years ago, when I was just shy of 12. I was one of the few girls in the class. Thirty years later, when I go to a seminar, I still one of the few women black belts there. My sister, when she was 8, signed up for little league. It was a giant sensation because no girl had ever been in little league before. She did it for one season, just to make a point. It worked. The next season, there were two girls on the team. Now, it's the norm. Progress is definitely being made.
Bonnie
Until the women in today's Christian churches make more concerted efforts to achieve equality within their fellowships, the Christian schools and universities will continue to treat female athletic teams and their respective sports as second tier programs.
Szanne Blihovde
My daughter has another term for herself. She's a "tom girl" - an athlete and a girlie-girl at the same time!
Lane
I was raised in Iowa, where the girls' basketball state tournaments often outdrew the boys'. Girls participation was highly encouraged to the point that people moved in from other states so their girls could play sports. The only problem was the silly "girls rules" half-court that was required for basketball (though I think that has changed). The girls basketball players in my high school enjoyed the same star status as the male players, not only in the halls but in the community. When I went to college, though, it was a different story. It was a Christian school in another midwestern state, and the male teams were given all the perks and equipment, while the girls team were relegated to "powder puff" status. I hope this has changed, but I'm cynical. I agree that boys need to be given the same freedom to pursue activities that are traditionally viewed as feminine (until those activities become a profession--remember when women were allowed to cook, but not to become chefs? When it was considered "sissy" to play in the band, but women weren't pro musicians unless they sang and are still rarely seen as conductors?)
jules
Agree with Gina. We could also tell them that being talented artistically (dancing, painting, etc.) is a gift from God.
Gina
We could tell them about Gene Kelly and why he got into dancing: because it helped him get the girls. :D (Seriously, that was the reason!)
Laura Droege
Good point, Robyn. I'm worried that there is still a double standard: it's getting to be okay for girls to do traditionally "boy" things, but it's still not okay for boys to do traditionally "girl" things. Now how can we tear down the sexist idea that boys who like art/dance/etc. are "sissies"?
Robyn Widmer
Awesome. Now when will boys who like art and dance cease to be "sissies"?
Eric Rogers
If this were the only achievement of 20th century America, I think it would be enough. The glory of God is man and woman fully alive. Eric
LOUIS SANDBERG
On our honeymoon in 1953, I learned my new wife was much better at shuffleboard than I was. She beat me again and again. That's not all at which she was better than I. It was a great pleasure to discover her great gifts over the next fifty three years. "Tom boy"? Hardly!
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