I quit sports before I began high school but it was a great experience. My team almost beat every other junior high (the other team cheated), I made several friends, I got a little bit in shape, and I made some amazing memories. But there are also some negatives.
Every year at my junior high we would have a students versus teachers volleyball game. The eighth-grade girls and boys team would both compete against the teachers and we were actually the first to ever beat the teachers (mostly 'cause they lie to save their reputation). It was great but the girls' team did manage to do better. We were a better team in general and unlike the boys, we didn't hog the ball and we were good at working together rather than trying to show how good we are at spiking.
After the game was over I heard a couple people grumble about how the girls did better which was not only hurtful but a little odd. I didn't see what was wrong with that. The boys' teams did better at every other sport at the school and I thought it was great that there was finally one thing we were better at.
After researching feminism for a while, I found an article titled "Why Do We Find Muscular Women Wildly Perplexing?" by Jamilla Rosdahl. It was a little stupid. Actually not even a little, it was a lot stupid. Not what the author said but why she had to say it. Women are "supposed" to be delicate, feminine creatures and often times even women who are tall struggle because they are ridiculed if they are taller than any man they date. The idea of a woman having muscles seems to make people uneasy because they seem masculine and often times are told to hide this.
They are ridiculed for this and told they must be confused about their gender or their sexual preferences or maybe they are told it is unattractive and that their "man-hater self" will never find love and this needs to stop.
It's entirely possible for a woman to be stronger than a man and it's none of their business if she is. These women should be inspiring and not ridiculed for their choices.
We constantly hear these ideas about how women need to be feminine and delicate and even those "feminists" who should be supportive or at least proud of these women and their accomplishments rather than putting them down. We need more strong women in the world who can show everyone else who doubts us that we can be strong and it's okay. It isn't gross or unnatural and the only reason we don't is because society pressures us into giving up.
I have seen too many girls give up sports because they didn't want to be more muscled than any of the guys they would date. They didn't want everyone to think they were weird or accuse them of taking steroids so instead they give up something they love and they regret it.
That wasn't my choice and I did it because I wanted to be more academic and I didn't think I was good enough but it is still sad that people don't realize they can be muscled. Society tells us that we can't and it's not only demeaning but it is none of their business. It's our body and if we want to have abs and biceps like a rock we shouldn't be told that we'll turn into an ugly old lady with no husband or family. Pressuring someone into giving up something they love is cruel. These gender roles of "the woman should be weaker" are dumb and not only do they confine us to boxes and make it impossible to get out and disprove them but they don't allow us to grow and flourish as people. Muscles are a part of our bodies and it's our choice whether or not we want to strengthen them but it shouldn't be perplexing or weird if we do and we shouldn't allow ourselves and others to confine us to these roles in the first place.
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