What are our bodies built to do? Are they built to last, are they built to go through extreme situation or are they built to grow? If bodies are meant to grow, physically as well as in other ways, then the oppression that the female gender has been subject to over the years has stunted growth. And in relation to sports and not just sports but to growth, it seems that the female body was only meant to reproduce. Who says females can’t play like males? And why is it bad to “throw like a girl”. Female athleticism has been down played from a young age. Making it so that sports has become a very male dominated, testosterone land where women are not widely enough accepted. The reason for this I believe is how we construct the female body. As it has been seen in the media, the popular female body has always had some kind of sex appeal to it. Historically, the female body has been overly sexualized to the point of obsession and blindness. It seems that media and society can’t see past the ignorant veil they have constructed. This sex appeal that the female body has seemingly forever been framed around has carried over to sports and female physicality. In many articles our class has read, we talk about the potential of the female body and how it has been largely un-explored and I believe this to be true. There are biological differences that separate gender and socially constructed differences that separate gender and in context to female physicality and sports, there has been no growth in the area. Females are heavily influenced at a young age to perfect their body, but not in a physically strong and practical sense but in more of a sexually appealing sense, perfecting their body in the name of vanity rather in the name of good health. Though I feel the cover of “good health” is often used as a scapegoat. There are many instruments that are used to keep the female athletic body repressed and oppressed, such as the looming question of a women’s sexuality if she would ever dare to play a sport that is not conventional to her gender. This is problematic because homophobia is often used as an instrument to hide the real sexism that is going on against the athletic female body. Females are breaking records in many of the same sports that men play, reinforcing the idea that the female body’s physicality has not yet been explored as deeply. Even in advertisements we see that athletic men and women are posed very differently and marketed in different ways. Men could be seen standing upright, tall and looking like they’re in power; compared to women, we see maybe a back shot, or a woman standing in a more crouched position to indicate femininity, because their already physical and sport like bodies do not do so. Our society is so image based and we as a society are so obsessed and blinded by these images that we vie for them in vain. I feel like we really forget what our bodies are built for and are fogged by assumptions on what the female body is built for, when I feel like all our bodies are just meant to grow.
Duane, I really liked your blog! Your closing statement that bodies are just meant to grow is really powerful. There are so many things we do to our bodies to alter the way we are growing and our over all image. One way of altering the way we grow is by working out. This just makes me think of pre-season and during season for soccer. The ways that my body would hurt would truly amaze me sometimes. You could catch me saying "I don't think bodies were meant to do this" and sure enough they aren't. The limits that people posh their bodies to are incredible, especially for an athlete. You put in endless amounts of hours to build your body in a way in which you can use it as a tool in the sport you play and both variance in gender and sport changes what you need to transform yourself into. A male line-back in the NFL can weight 300 lbs and be big and flabby as long as he can protect his QB. A female swimmer will train her entire body but must be delicate not to become over muscular and fall in the female athlete homophobia. As a female soccer player I focus mostly on the strength of my legs (I can't remember the last time I lifted and did arms). This blog brings up very interesting concept!
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