Kimberlee+and+Marisa

[] __Abstract:__ This article is about feminism in sports. In order for a female athlete to be recognized by the media, she has to show her femininity. Jennie Finch, a professional softball player who has won NCAA Championships, has a gold and silver medal in the Olympics, and a World Champion is said to have become the face of softball not only because she is an outstanding pitcher, but because of her femininity and beauty. She wore shiny headbands, ribbons in her hair, and make-up to her softball games. She added the feminine side to the sport. One of her teammates said, “She set the standard for softball in a new era of being able to be feminine and play this sport.”

__Questions:__ 1. How has beauty affected sports? 2. Why does **physical beauty** matter in professional sports, when it should be about skill? 3. Does beauty/looks matter more for men or women? How? Why? 4. Is it a female's normality to be "girly." What is a female's normality? 5. Why do women need to prove their **femininity** in order to be accepted or recognized as an athlete. 6. Is female athletes projecting their femininity really helping female sports progress? 7. Why do known softball players, such as Jennie Finch, date/marry Major League Baseball Players? Is it a coincidence?

Marisa's Response: After reading this article, I was not too surprised to read that physical appearance and femininity make a difference in women's sports, especially in the professionals. If you look in the media today, the well known female athletes are the ones that are good looking and have nice bodies. I think it's their physical beauty that attracts the media and it’s their femininity that adds a little more extra to their attraction. I don’t think that male athletes and female athletes are seen and judged the same way. I believe that it's harder for a female athlete to be recognized by the media than a male athlete. The fact that male sports are more popular in the media than female sports doesn't help the cause for female athletes to be recognized. I did not see how the freedom to be feminine shows progress of women sports. I guess this article is saying that appearing feminine is a requirement in women's sports. Society today has made it necessary for women athletes to show **some** femininity. I think it’s because they need to show that they are a woman, even though they are biologically a woman, they need to prove it somehow. I think people see that being athletic as a woman takes away from their femininity that’s why woman feel that they need to prove it. Kimberlee's Response: This article was very interesting and it affects me personally. I will admit that now I wear shiny headbands also. I thought it was intriguing how much looks plays a role in sports. In order to be a known athlete, it’s not all about the skill, but rather it’s a combination of beauty and skill. I think these women want to attract the media so they dress up to go to the softball game. They wear make-up and various hair accessories to look beautiful. If you were to look at athletics in the olden days, beauty didn’t really matter compared to today. Today if you aren’t beautiful you aren’t going to be known. Also when comparing the women athletes to the male athletes there is a big difference because beauty plays a bigger role in the women’s sports than men’s sports. It seems like for men skill is more important, but for women you have to have both.