As athletes, we [women] repossess our bodies. Told that we’re weak, we develop our strengths. Told that certain sports are wrong for women, we decide what feels right. Told that our bodies are too dark, big, old, flabby, or wrinkly to be attractive to men, we look at naked women in locker rooms and discover for ourselves the beauty of actual women’s bodies in all their colors, shapes, and sizes. Told that certain sports make women look “like men,” we notice the truth: working out doesn’t make us look like men, it makes us look happy. It makes us smile. More important, it makes us feel healthy and powerful. It makes us feel good.

Suggested Reading:
--Mariah Burton Nelson
The Stronger Women Get, The More Men Love Football: Sexism and the American Culture of Sports New York: Avon Books, 1995