Yesterday morning I don't know if anyone was listening to Kost 103.5, but they were putting new songs from Lionel Richie's new album called Tuskegee. It's funny that he mention's that the reason he names the album Tuskegee is that it takes him back to his childhood and how he wants to show that he was able to triumph. I didn't get to hear the entire conversation, but if it had not been part of our learning history in class, I won't have had no clue what he was talking about. As soon as the title was mention "Tuskegee", my head started recollecting the readings and how it involved the runners and what the University stood for. Last night I was also watching CSI and it so happens that the evidence that they are collecting deals with testosterones. The hair that was being examined had xy and xx chromosomes. It showed that the person had androgynous chromosome system. It was a female daughter who had both sex hormones. This is almost like my panel information on sex testing on female athletes. In her case she could be raised as a girl or be raised as a boy. The parents decided they wanted a girl, but she had boy interests. It was the death of her dad that made her go through the surgery and alter her reproduction to a man. He became a killer always leaving female evidence and for that reason there was never enough evidence to support he was the killer. Now it makes more sense when I was watching the investigators how they found it difficult to pin point why there was high levels of testosterone in a female hair. They thought probably she was taking male hormones, steroids, and they mentions she must be an athlete or in to excessive exercising. I guess that might have been a reason why sex testing became important, because they had the style of a girl, with the strength of a man. Sometimes I watch stuff with out realizing that it all has a history and curiously it had to do with what I have learned in class.  Geannie Tomas kin388i wed 4-6:45

Before this semester, I don't think gender inequality in sports was something I thought about. I mean, call me naive but, I think the system is set up so that women and girls do not pay attention to those things. All through grade school and high school, the only thing most females thought about was playing. I don't even think most female athletes paid attention to the fact that the Title IX pamphlet we got at the beginning of each season read our rights. Yea, we hear Title IX but I'm sure that very few understood that Title IX essentially gives females permission to compete in athletics. It took me to take a Women In Sports class to get a grasp of the oppression that women faced before laws like Title IX were put in place. I didn't even know that women were not allowed to interact in a competitive manner in certain areas for so long. I'm sure I'm not alone and it reveals that institutional changes should be made in order for girls and women to be more knowledgeable about the past, which would ultimately allow them to appreciate the opportunity more. Our female predecessors did brave things like stand in front of someone in the bare skin with Title IX written on their bodies in black marker in order to get some sort of equality and I thank them.

-Champagne J.
Kin338I

Head Scratcher

For those who are familiar with professional basketball it is safe to assume that you all are aware of a certain Los Angeles Clipper who is a frequent guest on Sports Center’s top 10; and he would go by the name of Blake Griffin. When we watch the Clippers we are graced with Blake Griffin’s athleticism. He is a: freak, monster, and beast. All these terms are viewed and meant as compliments, but what would happen if we were to call Balyor’s Brittney Griner a beast, or freak? How would that be seen or interpreted? Are there different terms that we are supposed to use because she is a female? And if so, what are they? Ms Griner you are the most hyped female basketball player since Lisa Leslie, Candace parker didn’t get this much recognition for her dunk during her Tennessee days. You are now part of an elite group of only 7 women who have dunked in an NCAA game. If you decide to peruse a pro career and dunk in the WNBA you will be only the 3^rd behind Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker… So what term of endearment to use when describing you?  You will now be called Mega Beast. Here is to you Griner, I mean Mega Beast.

David Rehm

Kin338i Sec.2

Pat Summit!!

As I am following the Women's NCAA Basketball tournament it has made me pay more attention than ever to the amazing and most winningest coach of Tennessee's women's team, Pat Summitt and I came across this article: http://www.npr.org/2012/03/27/149472833/season-ends-for-legendary-coach-pat-summitt.  Her and her Lady Vol's just lost to the amazingly talented Baylor team yesterday, which could have put Summitt into her 19th final four.  She has been coaching for 38 seasons now, and after this game everyone is trying to figure out what is in Summitt's future, and if she will retire or return for her 39th season as head coach.  This woman is a huge role model and big influence for all women wanting to be a coach.  She persevered through so much, and even was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's and fought through it this past year.  Regardless what she chooses to do, I hope she is truly honored for her work.  She is an amazing coach and is better than pretty much every coach even the male coaches.  I hope she inspires many more women to want to be coaches and help them to realize how great they can be.  As I did research for my panel position paper I came across a couple articles that talked about how its impossible for women coaches to have long careers because of marriage and children, but Pat Summitt went against the odds and had a long and very successful career as the head coach of a women's basketball team!  I hope everyone will remember her not only as a coach but as a WOMAN!!!!

Tiffany Brickey
KIN 338I Wed 4-6:45pm

Linsanity

Jeremy Lin was born in America and is of Taiwanese descent. In his early years of basketball, he received no athletic scholarships and went undrafted into the NBA. Despite this rocky start, he is now the starting point guard for the New York Knicks. As you most likely have heard, the fervor of his fans has been given the title "Linsanity." Linsanity did not only begin recently, but is a carry over of the extreme fandom when he played for the Golden State Warriors. Many Asian Americans cheered him on and caused a great amount of pressure for Lin. It has been noted that Lin played better in games on the road where he did not have the pressure from his adoring fans who expected a great deal out of him. Even now, Lin continues to feel the pressure from Asian American fans across the country. While these fans may merely be proud of a fellow Asian American's success, it seems that Jeremy Lin feels the pressure to perform and succeed in being what might be called a "race hero." This leaves us with the question, does Jeremy Lin want to be a race hero, or is he like Althea Gibson, who wanted to be recognized for her athletic abilities?

Sarah Garcia

M,W 4-6:45

Women Playing the Craziest Sport

Women should be able to serve in combat roles. Women have been serving honorably in both Iraq and Afghanistan for the past 10 years. As of January 2011 110 women had been killed in Iraq and 24 have lost their lives in the Afghan campaign. Women make up about 14% of the armed services. Of the roughly 2.2 million troops that have served in Iraq and Afghanistan more than 255,000 have been women.  Women have only been allowed to serve in support units not direct combat units. This has caused glass ceiling effect for women in the military. Combat units make up approximately 10% of Marine Corps and Army occupational specialties; therefore not letting them participate in these fields creates an obstruction to promotions and advancement. The military has made many great strides in the past year letting lesbian and gays serve open in the military and for the first time letting Navy women serve on submarines. By not letting women serve in combat roles it casts a shadow on the sacrifices so many women have made for the country. A woman who is well disciplined, smart and physically fit would do great in an infantry unit. The military needs to let women compete on the greatest sports team.( the grunts)
Richard Bitting, Kin 338I Women in Sport

Effects of Title IX on Women's lives

       As i was doing research for my panel paper, I came across an article entitled "As Girls Become Women, Sports Pay Dividends" by Tara Parker - Pope. In the article it explores the effects of Title IX in the lives of girls through research. Statistics show that having girls be more active in sports can help increase the quality of their future. ".. changes set in motion by Title IX  explained about 20 percent of the increase in women’s education and about 40 percent of the rise in employment for 25-to-34-year-old women". (Pope, 2010). According to research, sports help people do better in life. In my opinion it is definitly better to have Title IX, so that we can give more opportunities for girls to do sports. It is amazing how sports can change or better the life of an idividual. It was also stated in the article that due to Title IX and the increase in girls playing sports, the obesity risk for women 20 to 25 years later has declined. I find it amazing that an increase in participation in sports can have so much impact in the live of girls everywhere.  Eventhough this is definitly good news, there is still work to be done because statistics show that there is still a low number of active female athletes. I believe that because we are armed with this information we should keep going and fight for equality, especially if invovlement in sports can increase the quality of life of an individual for the future.

Parker-Pope, T. (2010, Febuary 15). As Girls Become Women, Sports Pay Dividend. Retrieved from New York Times: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/15/as-girls-become-women-sports-pay-dividends/

Kat Talento
KIN338I

When Women Win Too Much

I just read a heroic article about New Jersey athletic female coach, Nancy Williams fighting back her job and getting equal opportunity for women in athletics program. First, she was fired for filing a Title IX compliant because the football players at Shore Regional High School harassed her and the team. William lost again and did not get her job back because she was winning too much as a female coach.  William won nine state championships in her coaching career and won more than 1000 games. The football players egged her house and took away the equipments so they do not have the advantage.  I think it’s unethical that they mistreated her and her teams and it is not right to take someone talent away. I believe the football players were jealous how the field hockey girl’s team was more successful than them. 

Cheyenne Hayes

KIN338I Spring 2012

http://www.womenssportslink.com/WhenWomenWinToMuch.shtml

Women and MMA

With the recent rise in popularity of mixed martial arts, the sport has been in the mainstream media significantly more than before. I can remember getting with a bunch of my friends and going to our buddy's house to watch his illegal japanese stream to watch Pride events live that we couldn't get otherwise. I've always been involved in combat sports and thought they were great to teach discipline and respect for your opponents. However, in light of recent controversy I thought it was important to talk about the involvement of women in a sport that many consider even too brutal for men.

Dana White (UFC's president) has gone on record as saying "women have no place in this sport". However, there have been notable (and astonishingly talented) women competing in MMA for years. Let's break this down in mathematical terms-- here we have a sport that we are labeling "brutal" (which I don't agree with). Once something is labeled brutal, it is automatically assumed women should not participate because women are "Delicate" and can't handle this type of thing. It's really too bad that we limit what women can do based on silly labels that we place on ALL things, but in this case sports.

Bennett L.
Kin338i Sec.02

Saudi Women & the Olympics

Yesterday, I stumbled across an article from cnn.com titled "Will Saudi Women make Olympics debut?". This article spoke about an historic event that may take place in the upcoming summer olympics which is the inclusion of women athletes from Saudi Arabia.  At first, I was surprised to hear that women from Saudi Arabia have not been allowed in such a grand event but as I gave it more thought I realized that maybe the issue is not discrimination by the International Olympics Committe but rather its the ideology in Saudi Arabia that is an obstacle for these women. Unlike the men in the country, these women are still struggling for their basic freedom. Even though 55-57% of the university graduates are women, they still have a higher unemployment rate than men. The stagnant inclusion for women in society may rise from religious ideologies. Religion plays a big part in reducing women involvement in sports as it is said to be un-Islamic to be a woman and be involved in sports. This made me think back to my childhood when I lived in India. I remember that my twin sister never got the same privilages that I did as a male. If I joined karate classes, she was told it wasn't a sport for a woman. Even when I took art classes, she was was told to stay home and help my mom out around the house. Clearly, the same principle applies in the case for the Saudi Arabian women who are being captured by the shackles of societal values. It's quite saddening to see how much struggle women still have to go through around the world. But on the brighter side, I am glad that the idea of being included in a diversified event such as the Olympics is very much alive for the middle eastern women of our world...
ANI DESWAL
Kin 338I
W 4-6:45

Sleeping with the Enemy

            There are many problems affecting women’s participation and development in sports.  Most of the time, if not all the time, men are blamed for the creation and perpetuation of such problems.  Although men take a big chunk of responsibility in such unfortunate situations, it can’t be ignored that women’s roles and attitudes toward their own gender, contribute to the preservation of the many known problems.  I was impressed when I saw some data provided by Beauty Redefined on its article “our Issue with Swimsuit” (Feb,12, 2012) referring to how feminism is portrayed in the Sports Illustrated Magazine, and how such phenomenon has become an American cultural thing.  According to the author, 32% of adults in America read the magazine and 22 million are reported to be women.  Furthermore, it is reported that there is an increasing number of male professional athletes who stand up publicly to support sexual orientation disclosure in sports, an attitude not yet followed by female athletes, “ Heterosexual in Sports”, Griffin, P., (2011). Although women may have their own reasons not to support their own gender, their continuing attitude toward social behaviors, contributes to the creation and preservation of their own problems.

Axel D.Kin338is2
3/26/2012

Females and Football?

            Yesterday I posted a link on our class Twitter page to an article titled, “Soccer Star Isom Doesn’t Make LSU Team.” It tells of Mo Isom, a senior and former goalkeeper for LSU’s women’s soccer team and how she tried out as a kickoff specialist for her school’s football team. Though she didn’t make the team (only one female has played at the FBS level), she has been invited back to try out again in August.

            Several aspects of this article grabbed my interest. First of all, the headline doesn’t mention that Isom is a female. The article itself does mention this and spends a few sentences to inform readers only one female has previously played at that level, and last year another female unsuccessfully tried out as kicker at Virginia Tech. Overall the article spends more words describing how Isom’s try out went and her accomplishments on LSU’s soccer team, all without evaluating the events based on her gender or sex. Unfortunately, a fair majority of comments posted after the article by readers concern Isom’s appearance. For me, the way the article was written is a parallel to how those intimately involved in the sports world are knowledgeable of the progress women have made, and though gender is still somewhat of a focus, hopefully we’ve reached a point where achievements are more notable. The disgusting comments following the article are a reflection of how the general public is unaware of the obstacles female athletes have faced, how the progress that has been made is taken for granted, and how there is still progress to be made. 

-Therese Weed

Kin 338I; Wednesdays 4-6:45

Sexy Sports

As I was doing extra research on my panel paper, I came across an article titled "Sexy Sports" by Noel S. Williams. I found this article extremely interesting; It discussed that feminist were "getting their panties in a twist" concerning women sports getting more attention by wearing sexy uniforms. An example used was the Lingerie Football League, where obviously the women wear bras and panties as uniform. The author notes that the league "probably is [sexist], but who cares?" The author also notes that "so what?" if the league is perceived to be an "objectification at its most pernicious". "We're talking about sexy football, not salary equity or workplace discrimination.” I believe that though these women choose to partake in this league, women are still objectified to their bodies and not necessarily the sport itself. There is no need for these women to be lingerie while, in the NFL, the men wear fully covered uniforms.  I am not saying that women playing football should be in the same uniform as the NFL requires its players to wear, but I do feel that the uniform should be a little more tasteful. It is unnecessary and impractical for women to be playing tackle football in just lingerie. Obviously, like many other industries, the driving factor is to make money by selling sex.  I feel that these women are seen as sex objects than outstanding athletes. I believe that this league, in a way, makes it acceptable for the general public to look at women in this light---only as sexy. There is so much more to women’s football, such as athleticism, empowerment, and determination, than just how a women looks in lingerie. There are so many different approaches to bring attention to athletic women than just wearing seductive uniforms, but our society has been constructed in such a way that sex is essentially found in everything---and I find it disgusting.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/02/sexy_sports.html 

Natasha Nguyen 
Women in Sport 
Wednesday 4-6:45

An inspiration to All…

Bethany Hamilton is not only a professional surfer but also a true inspiration of her fighting power to never give up. You see from the age of seven, Bethany Hamilton has been a phenomenal surfer and has let nothing get in the way of that, not even losing an arm. In the year 2003, a shark, off the coast of Hawaii, attacked Bethany Hamilton, at the age of thirteen and was fortunately left alive but lost an arm in the attack. With the help and support from her friends and family, she was able to get back on her feet quickly and in the following year she won fifth place in the 2004 Regional Event.

She has now gone on to win more than thirteen titles a crossed the United States and other countries. More importantly and what’s closest to her heart rather than the fame and titles are her seventeen different inspirational awards and honors. Although I’m sure Bethany is grateful for her many accomplishments, she wants to leave a greater impact than her earthly positions. In the words of Bethany Hamilton, “I don't really want people looking to me for inspiration. I just want to be a sign along the way that points toward Heaven.” 

In the world we live in now it is rare we hear of positive role models for our young children to look up to, Bethany Hamilton is what people should strive to be like. If I had Bethany’s courage and faith I believe I would be able to move mountains. If any of you are interested in the actually story but don’t feel like reading, check out Soul Surfer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWeOjBCi3c4

Amanda Kemblowski

Kin 338I- Wednesday 4-6:45

Female Boxers Hold Their Own On and Off the Ring

             A few weeks ago, I found this article titled “Gender has no weight in the ring,” by Jim Caple. This article was interesting because it gave me a glimpse of the issues female boxers faced on and off the ring. At the beginning of the article, the author recounted one of Claressa Shields’ boxing matches against a boy from the gym. He alluded to the boxer’s desire to be greater than her male counterpart.  Caple continued by highlighting another issue that these ladies faced.

            These boxers came from rough backgrounds. Tyrieshia Douglas stated, “We're not just [competing] for us, we're doing it for the world to hear our story.” These athletes want to be heard, yet many have been ignored by mainstream society. Today, female athletes continue to work to accomplish their journey toward equality.

            I feel that it is a shame for women to work twice as hard in order to receive equal or lesser rights than men. This article opened my eyes about the struggles female athletes face. Also, most of these problems are unnecessary. No matter what sex a person is they should be able to play any sport without being hassled.

Edwin Martin

Kin338i

Wed 4-6:45 PM