Girls Playing with Boys: Guest Post by Miranda Kenneally author of Catching Jordan
Girls Playing with Boys: According to statistics there are over 1,200 female high school football players across the country. What are some of the positives and negatives of blurring the lines between female and male sports? Do you support it?
Positives:
* Girls can be just as strong and fast as guys. Why not prove it?
* If girls prove they are as awesome as guys on the field, they can prove they’re awesome off the field.
* I can’t wait until we have a female president of the USA.
Or even a Vice President!
Negatives:
* Girls’ body frames are more fragile than guys’. They get hurt more easily. I would be remiss if I didn’t say this.
* I don’t think there are any other negatives!
I definitely support girl power. One woman who truly impresses me is former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. I bet she’d get along well with my character in Catching Jordan, Jordan Woods. Not only is Dr. Rice a beautiful woman, she’s smart and she followed her dreams. She loves football, and would love to be the NFL Commissioner one day. She’s not scared to be herself: unique. I’ve met her and heard her speak many times about how her ancestors from Alabama were sharecroppers. As an African-American woman, she had many hurdles to get past in her life, and I know she’s glad she took risks. Everyone should take risks, regardless of sex or race or background. Otherwise, we’ll never evolve as human beings.
I guess what I’m saying is, Yes. Most guys are stronger than most girls. But if girls keep trying and working hard, they’ll eventually evolve to become stronger – maybe even stronger than guys one day.
I very much relate to Dr. Rice. I grew up in Tennessee. Not many people in my family had been to college. Hardly anyone thought I’d succeed in life. My high school guidance counselor told me I probably wouldn’t make it at a big university in Washington, D.C., and then she encouraged me to go to a local community college instead.
But I disregarded her comments and did what I wanted to do.
You should never let anyone hold you back from your dreams. I certainly didn’t. Dr. Rice didn’t.
I’ve gotten way off topic here, so getting back to girls playing sports generally played by boys. I think girls should play the sports they want to play, while keeping safety in mind.
If we all don’t try to improve or move beyond the status quo, the human race will only move backwards.
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Please check out the trailer for Catching Jordan. I loved this book and will be posting my review later today so be sure to stop back and check it out!
I'm absolutely fed up with being told how boys are "physically superior" to girls,and we shouldn't be allowed to compete against them in sports where there is physical contact.
ReplyDeleteI wrestled at school between the ages of 13 and 16, against girls(officially) and boys(unofficially). I was just as successful against boys as I was against girls, because at that age girls have stepped ahead of boys in their development and are generally bigger and a bit stronger.I never understood why mixed matches were not allowed as the strength difference was not a factor .I always thought that boys were actually at a disadvantage because they were self-concious about the erections they would usually get when wrestling with a girl. It never bothered the girls that this happened; we regarded it as a compliment. The boys would invariably try to hide it though, which put them at a disadvantage.
I'm now 17, and have taken up boxing. Once again, i'm very frustrated that I cannot compete against men, as there are relatively few girls to fight. Although the size difference is not a factor(in boxing you fight against opponents of the same weight), the same arguement is used to discourage mixed bouts; testosterone gives men a natural advantage in strength and stamina. In this case I have to agree that this is true, but it gave me an idea. In boxing there is a strict rule against hitting "below the belt". This rule is meaningless for girls; it is obviously to prevent blows to mens' testicles. But it is these very organs that give the men their physical advantage over us. Wouldn't it make sense to allow mixed fights, but include the groin in the target area? Surely this would be a fair and simple way to equalize the sexes, not only in boxing, but in other contact sports. I would certainly be willing to participate in such a match, just to see if this is a realistic solution. What do others think?