In Tampa, Florida a 13 year old female basketball player played for the boys junior varsity basketball team. The coach of the boys basketball team noticed the women playing with boys in her free time. After observing the women play he noticed that she would be able to keep up the boys and offered her a position on the team. With the addition of a women on the boys basketball the school immediately took action by orgainzing a board meeting that ended in an 8 to 2 vote for the women not to play on the boys basketball team.
This incident correlates with many dynamics that women in sport has touched upon. The ideology that women cannot play with boys is very upsetting. The fact is that if women can be competive with men there is no need to have a board meeting about it and just let the individuals compete against eachother. Unfortunately this is not about sports at all. It is a classic example of gender ideology that men and women need to stay segregated in society.
-Adam Baker
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?cl=11140232
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In response to "Gender Ideology" by Adam Baker, I believe a story like this to be a paradox. Although it’s easy to see the view point women being equal to men and should therefore be allowed to participate in coed sport, one must consider the deeper implication of this. If a female athlete chooses to seek playing time with the boys, this would imply that her female counterparts are not good enough to compete with her. Since the athlete feels she can’t be matched with other females, her only option his to move to the next level and compete with boys. If in fact men and women were equally skilled at sports, there would be no need for a female merger into male sport. By this virtue, those who voted against a coed basketball team are therefore empowering women. They are sending a message females and males are equally skilled and there would be no need to allow the athlete to play with men. Although her intentions are good, the female’s act of gender equally is actually proof that women and men are in fact not equal.
Francisco Bueno
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