Time Herald-RecordJanuary 13, 2006
by Akilah Monifa
The perception that many women athletes are lesbians is undermining women's sports. And the message to lesbian athletes is clear: You are not wanted.Christine Grant, former University of Iowa's women's athletic director, said, "Homophobia in women's sports is like the McCarthyism of the 1950s. The fear is paralyzing."Basketball superstar Sheryl Swoopes of the WNBA's Houston Comets recently came "out," though she is the exception. (To date, only three female athletes have come out while active players.)Many people view women athletes as masculine merely because they play a sport. But achieving physical superiority over your competition is the goal, no matter what the gender of the athletes. It is the equation of physical superiority with masculinity that we must challenge.And it doesn't help when, at the 2004 Summer Olympics, female athletes in beach volleyball competitions were required by the sport's governing federation to wear bikinis. The design of these skimpy uniforms had no practical purpose. Male beach volleyball players, on the other hand, wore shorts and tank tops.Even in 2006, allegations of outright discrimination persist.Penn State's women's basketball coach Rene Portland was quoted in the Chicago Sun Times saying back in 1986 that she does not allow lesbians on her team.And though Penn State officially added sexual orientation to the school's nondiscrimination policy in 1991, Portland is accused of violating that policy.Jennifer Harris was a star athlete for Coach Portland's Lady Lions and was given a full scholarship in 2003. But in 2005, she was abruptly asked to leave the program.According to a federal lawsuit recently filed by the National Center for Lesbian Rights on behalf of Harris, Portland repeatedly questioned her about her sexual orientation, and threatened to kick her off the team if she found out Harris was a lesbian.Harris is not a lesbian but she says her former coach perceived she was. In the filing, Harris says Portland repeatedly asked her to look more "feminine," which included a demand for her to remove her cornrow hairstyle.Portland says the charges are "completely and utterly untrue" and that it was Harris' playing and behavior that caused her to be dismissed from the team.Whatever the outcome of the suit, any policies of discrimination should be benched, and we should value women athletes for their skills, talent and competitiveness, not their sexuality or perceived sexual orientation.Akilah Monifa is a writer for Progressive Media Project, a source of liberal commentary on domestic and international issues; it is affiliated with The Progressive magazine. Readers may write to the author at: Progressive Media Project, 409 E. Main St., Madison, WI 53703; e-mail: pmprojprogressive.org; Web site: www.progressive.org. For information on PMP's funding, visit www.progressive.org/pmpabout.htmlanchorsupport.
Showing posts with label women. Show all posts
Showing posts with label women. Show all posts
Friday, January 13, 2006
Sunday, June 4, 2000
Love and Basketball
by Akilah Monifa
Sunday, June 4, 2000
SPORTS IS the modern opiate of the people. Like all good drugs, it provides a satisfying boost to its users (both participants and spectators) and huge money to its owners. A compelling spectacle, sports promotes the cherished American ideal of intense competition on a level playing field where race nor gender matter. Sports heroes, language and images saturate U.S. culture, presenting a model of race, gender and sexual roles.
The WNBA has kicked off its fourth preseason in the dust of the now-defunct American Basketball League. In women's sports, sexual preference -- not race -- is the big taboo for corporate marketing. As Christine Grant, University of Iowa's athletic director was quoted in the News and Observer in Raleigh, N.C.: ``Homophobia in women's sports is like the McCarthyism of the 1950s. The fear is paralyzing.''
Just take a look at the WNBA's promotional ``femming up'' campaign to avoid even a question about the sexual orientation of the players or women coaches. In a magazine article, Dot Richardson of the 1996 Olympic softball team complained that because she was an athlete, people thought she must be a lesbian.
Pat Griffin, author of ``Strong Women, Deep Closets: Lesbians and Homophobia in Sports,'' writes, ``Somehow lesbians have become the scapegoats for problems in women's sports.'' According to a 1994 NCAA study, 49 percent of female athletes and 51 percent of female coaches said they felt homophobia was a hindrance to attracting and retaining women in athletic careers. In professional sports, it's OK to be a lesbian, just not OK to be out. Some college coaches use homophobia to steer straight players to their ``family friendly'' teams and away from teams known to be tolerant of lesbians.
Now, for the first time since ``Personal Best,'' there is a movie about women in sports. ``Love and Basketball'' tells the parallel story of two basketball players, a boy and a girl who meet at age 11 when they become next door neighbors. Told in four quarters from 1981 to the beginning of the WNBA, ``Love'' mirrors the issues faced by professional women athletes. The tomboy and lesbian accusations. The notion that women aren't as good athletes as men. The limited opportunities for women in terms of professional sports even with the WNBA. The inequities in college opportunities despite Title IX. The lack of commercial endorsements and salary inequities in professional sports based on gender.
Women are still conflicted with attempting to balance personal and family relationships with their sports careers. If sports is a metaphor for life, the very attributes that are admired in male athletes are disdained in female athletes. But not all women/girls have stereotypical values and interests. When the lead female character in ``Love and Basketball'' attends her senior spring dance, her mind wanders when making out with her date. She is trying to concentrate and remember how many offensive rebounds she got in the championship game.
When the characters in the movie first met at age 11, Monica's dream is to be the first woman to play in the NBA. Her male counterpart tells her that he will be the one to play in the NBA and she'll be his cheerleader. Made sense at the time. And still does today. The reality of a women players or coaches in the NBA is not on the horizon. But then again, the WNBA was not something that folks thought would happen and thrive. In the movie, the characters' parallel lives diverge when in their freshman year at the University of Southern California, the guy drops out and is drafted in the NBA. The woman graduates, at first plays professionally in Europe and then finally in the WNBA. The guy gets bounced around in the NBA and eventually sustains what is probably a career-ending injury in that he tears a knee ligament. In the end, it is he who is the courtside cheerleader and stay-at-home dad with baby in tow, cheering on mom, who is playing for the Los Angeles Sparks.
But then again, that's Hollywood. Although it has been said that a male athlete has better odds of being struck by lightning than becoming a professional, what then are the odds of becoming a professional female athlete?
Big money is involved, for players, corporations, colleges and cities. Gender inequities abound. Who will break the silence?
Akilah Monifa is a free-lance writer in Oakland.
Page ED - 9 URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2000/06/04/ED52558.DTL
Sunday, June 4, 2000
SPORTS IS the modern opiate of the people. Like all good drugs, it provides a satisfying boost to its users (both participants and spectators) and huge money to its owners. A compelling spectacle, sports promotes the cherished American ideal of intense competition on a level playing field where race nor gender matter. Sports heroes, language and images saturate U.S. culture, presenting a model of race, gender and sexual roles.
The WNBA has kicked off its fourth preseason in the dust of the now-defunct American Basketball League. In women's sports, sexual preference -- not race -- is the big taboo for corporate marketing. As Christine Grant, University of Iowa's athletic director was quoted in the News and Observer in Raleigh, N.C.: ``Homophobia in women's sports is like the McCarthyism of the 1950s. The fear is paralyzing.''
Just take a look at the WNBA's promotional ``femming up'' campaign to avoid even a question about the sexual orientation of the players or women coaches. In a magazine article, Dot Richardson of the 1996 Olympic softball team complained that because she was an athlete, people thought she must be a lesbian.
Pat Griffin, author of ``Strong Women, Deep Closets: Lesbians and Homophobia in Sports,'' writes, ``Somehow lesbians have become the scapegoats for problems in women's sports.'' According to a 1994 NCAA study, 49 percent of female athletes and 51 percent of female coaches said they felt homophobia was a hindrance to attracting and retaining women in athletic careers. In professional sports, it's OK to be a lesbian, just not OK to be out. Some college coaches use homophobia to steer straight players to their ``family friendly'' teams and away from teams known to be tolerant of lesbians.
Now, for the first time since ``Personal Best,'' there is a movie about women in sports. ``Love and Basketball'' tells the parallel story of two basketball players, a boy and a girl who meet at age 11 when they become next door neighbors. Told in four quarters from 1981 to the beginning of the WNBA, ``Love'' mirrors the issues faced by professional women athletes. The tomboy and lesbian accusations. The notion that women aren't as good athletes as men. The limited opportunities for women in terms of professional sports even with the WNBA. The inequities in college opportunities despite Title IX. The lack of commercial endorsements and salary inequities in professional sports based on gender.
Women are still conflicted with attempting to balance personal and family relationships with their sports careers. If sports is a metaphor for life, the very attributes that are admired in male athletes are disdained in female athletes. But not all women/girls have stereotypical values and interests. When the lead female character in ``Love and Basketball'' attends her senior spring dance, her mind wanders when making out with her date. She is trying to concentrate and remember how many offensive rebounds she got in the championship game.
When the characters in the movie first met at age 11, Monica's dream is to be the first woman to play in the NBA. Her male counterpart tells her that he will be the one to play in the NBA and she'll be his cheerleader. Made sense at the time. And still does today. The reality of a women players or coaches in the NBA is not on the horizon. But then again, the WNBA was not something that folks thought would happen and thrive. In the movie, the characters' parallel lives diverge when in their freshman year at the University of Southern California, the guy drops out and is drafted in the NBA. The woman graduates, at first plays professionally in Europe and then finally in the WNBA. The guy gets bounced around in the NBA and eventually sustains what is probably a career-ending injury in that he tears a knee ligament. In the end, it is he who is the courtside cheerleader and stay-at-home dad with baby in tow, cheering on mom, who is playing for the Los Angeles Sparks.
But then again, that's Hollywood. Although it has been said that a male athlete has better odds of being struck by lightning than becoming a professional, what then are the odds of becoming a professional female athlete?
Big money is involved, for players, corporations, colleges and cities. Gender inequities abound. Who will break the silence?
Akilah Monifa is a free-lance writer in Oakland.
Page ED - 9 URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2000/06/04/ED52558.DTL
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