A FEMALE DECISION

After the production of my documentary film where I touched on the issue of stigmas and stereotypes within the female athletic community, I was inspired to take a deeper look at this issue. It is often believed that women have to choose one sort of identity. This identity crisis is usually situated between two worlds, the traditional “feminine” world and the “jock” world.  Society often places extreme emphasis on choosing one or the other, “Feminine women are not ruthless, not aggressive, not victorious. It’s not feminine to have a killer instinct, to want to win with all your heart and soul to win…Femininity is about appearing beautiful and vulnerable and small” (Paloian). But why can women not be athletic and also feminine? Why must we choose one word to associate ourselves with? 

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In this poem I hoped to convey the struggle within the mind of female athletes based on these stigmas. I wanted to place extreme emphasis on the desire to be both and be a blend of many different personalities, and not have one hobby or activity define who you are. Many leagues and teams across the nation try to play into the idea of femininity and preserve it but this has often gone the wrong way. Teams and leagues play into the classic ideas of femininity and lose track of all the possibilities our new society holds, “When the WNBA began 21 years ago, much of the advertising for the league revolved around the femininity of the players…They emphasized the heterosexuality of the players by focusing on the female basketball players who also had children” (Robinson). This is a prime example of the desire to preserve femininity in female athletes by only portraying what we typically look for in women, the idea that they should be with a man and should have children. The WNBA has done extensive work recently to be more inclusive and have a more broadened view of what it means to be a woman and embrace your femininity.  

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Due to the fact that females have to conform to one identity they believe they have to mold themselves into the person that they title they carry expects. Usually sports are a sanctuary for most, but this can quickly be taken away by society and stereotypes. By being forced to conform to societal norms, females could be turned away from sports because they do not want to be defined by what they choose to participate in. Much like the WNBA the rest of the female sports society has a lot of work to do to be more inclusive and embrace every woman's version of femininity and promote the union between being a woman and an athlete.