“Hey, did you hear about that football game tonight?”
“I can’t wait to watch that tennis match tomorrow!”
“Can you believe the ending of that basketball game?”
As a female athlete, I’ve heard multiple people talk about “that game coming up” or “that meet coming up,” yet 95% of the time, they talk about a men’s event.
Why? Well, most people would answer: “Because men’s athletic abilities are more impressive than women’s.” While that may look true on the outside, it is inaccurate.
Due to the difference in men’s and women’s biology, men indeed have a greater possibility of building absolute muscle—or total muscle mass. However, when compared as a percentage, men and women have similar potential to build muscle based on their starting weight. The same goes for speed and agility.
For example, if two beginner lifters—a woman who weighs 120 pounds and a man who weighs 180 pounds—started the same fitness plan, both would gain a similar percentage of muscle compared to their original weight. However, because the man weighs more, he would gain more absolute muscle mass overall.
“There are biological differences, and that’s fine, but that doesn’t mean one is less valuable than the other. “ said Coach Tiller.
The physical build of women and men also affects other abilities, such as balance. A woman’s center of gravity is lower than a man’s, resulting in women having an easier time staying balanced than men.
That’s why women participate in sports such as dance, cheer, gymnastics, etc. more often than men, sports that many people don’t view as sports because they apparently aren’t ‘manly’ or ‘hard’ enough.
“It’s harder to accomplish the goals that we have because we are not respected,” said Addison Hale, a member of the dance team.
This culture, this idea that women can’t do the same thing as men because of their physical build-up needs to be changed. And not just by men.
Both men and women have fallen prey to the idea that a woman is just not capable of the same things a man can do in fitness. For example: Pat Summit coached up one of the greatest athletic teams of all time, regardless of gender. King University sent a female alumnus to the Olympics for wrestling, a male-dominated sport.
These are just two of the many examples where women have done well in a male-dominated sport. However, although women excel in these and many other sports, female athletes are still viewed as less valuable when compared to men in speed and strength.
This causes a domino effect in which women are viewed as less impressive in their athletic abilities, hence the idea that women are less impressive to watch. When fewer people come to watch any athletic event, that results in less revenue for the salary of women’s athletes and coaches. This is seen at our very high school.
“If you look at a Tennessee High basketball game for example, no one shows up for the girl’s game except parents and families,” said head cheer coach Micah Hill. “But then the student section and teachers and other sports show up for the guys’ game and consider that the “big varsity game” even though both are varsity level sports.”
This idea also affects how women react to failure in certain athletic situations, sometimes basing it on the idea that ‘Oh, but you’re a man, so of course you got that last set’ or, ‘Oh, well it’s easier for you as a man to score because you are just naturally faster and stronger.’ This enables women to give up by giving them an excuse.
Both men and women need to come together to realize that solely because of physical build, women’s athletic abilities are different from men’s, but are not any less impressive. Just because an individual is a female athlete does not mean that they do not have the same potential as any other person.
“The physical abilities that men and women are born with are equally different and the same thing that men can do against other men is equally as impressive as what women can do against other women.” said senior Avery Hommel.