In a very competitive and more open minded world, more women are participating in male dominated sports. But unfortunately, this attempt for cross-gender sports can still be a difficult subject when addressed in certain company.
Over the past decade women integrating into more aggressive sports that are male-dominated, like football and ice hockey, has been rough yet successful! Women are literally "taking the bull by the horns" (like becoming female matadors) by organizing and joining athletics that many people once deemed as unsuitable for a woman.
Although the media doesn't discuss mixed gender sports, because they are few and far between, having all women sports is a huge step in the right direction for feminism! Now there is a Independent Women's Football League that have teams located all over the U.S. consisting of all women players that take football seriously. There are also college women's hockey leagues where these devil's on ice fight for that puck!
This year Life Magazine created a page on their website showing the beautiful and strong women that consider themselves female matadors. These women are risking their lives against beasts that weigh a couple hundred pounds and have sharp horns. These women show the beauty, elegance and poise a matador is expected to possess. But, women being accepted into this sport still generates harsh judgments amongst families that have generations of male matadors. Being a matador in countries like Spain is a sport of male-dominated pride that is passed from generation to generation. So why is there a double standard of the tradition being passed to a daughter?
A sport that is becoming so wide spread that started underground and is now being featured in various movies, is women's roller derby! There is even a Women's Flat Track Derby Association where women try out all over the country in a brutal and aggressive sport. I first came across roller derby over a year ago when I lived in Savannah, Georgia when I wrote articles for my colleges paper called The Inkwell. My editor skated for the womens derby team, The Savannah Derby Devil's and she was a feminist goddess in my eyes...Even though I never told her.
This is a subject that truly intrigues me. I am so proud to be a strong woman in our society today. And I am proud of the strong women in the world who challenge the conventional male-dominated world of sports and speak for many women around the world.
I totally believe that women can play any sport that a man can play if they are prepared to be treated the same way that men are. If women can accept that then all the power to them and hope that they rock it all the way. For certain sports, the women who play are either seen as dykes for playing the sport to begin with or in order to attract a larger demographic, they are way over sexualized. Perfect example is the Lingerie Football League. Now all the power to the girls for the beating that they take from the other girls, disgrace for what they are wearing.
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