I grew up in an athletic family with two brothers, and the one thing puzzled me about them was how they could get so into sports. We had about five board games that dealt specifically with sports trivia. They seemed to know every answer, but my sister and I couldn't begin to pretend we had a chance of getting any questions right. I love playing sports, but I never had an interest in keeping up with the professional leagues. It's not that I was mad at them for having that interest; it's just that I wanted to know why I didn't care. I wonder what made me not enjoy collecting baseball cards, choosing a favorite team to keep track of, or picking a favorite athlete. I think I have finally figured it out. Since I never felt I had the option to become a professional softball player (my favorite sport) I never cared what the professional male athletes were doing, and I think a lot of women have that same mindset.
My brother's dream job is to be a professional baseball player, and a lot of boys do grow up believing they will go pro in their best sport. Sure the chances are slim to none, but at least they can dream and aspire for that goal. I wonder if guys ever get the feeling of not wanting something because social norms say that it's not their place. If I wanted to be a professional baseball player people would laugh and say that's impossible. Not having the belief that I could go on to a higher level had made me throw the idea of trying for it completely out of the picture. It wasn't until my senior year of high school in my elective history class that I realized women had to defy boundaries in sports just to get to where they are today. We learned about Billie Jean King who fought for equality in women sports by defeating Bobby Riggs. She proved gender shouldn't matter, but skill should. She also believes that sports should have men and women playing on the same team, not against each other to prove a point. Her story reminded me that women shouldn't just accept where we are now with sports equality. The opportunities girls have today involve the Olympics and a few professional sports that often don't get a lot of attention, or they make the athletes dress really skimpy just to get attention. There is so much more that can changed and improved on, so women can't stop fighting.
It can be argued that men are naturally stronger than women, which is a valid point, but some men are also weaker than some women. There has to be some balance that allows sports to stay as competitive as they are now but still involve women. I can't say I have the answer to this dilemma, but I can encourage people to keep braking down the boundaries that hold our culture back. A lot of good ideas come from people with a dreams to change how everyone views the world. Don't just accept something because that the way it is, accept it once you know you've done everything in your power to change it. Who knows what tennis and women's sports would look like today if Billie Jean King never took any action. Who knows what the world will look like if you never take action on something you believe in. The power is in our hands to change the future and we can't take that responsibly lightly, because we don't know what we are capable of unless we challenged old ideas.
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