That's what I overheard Aidan's baseball coach say to the team yesterday. Immediately I bristled. I was offended. And I kept debating whether I had the guts to go head to head and say something to him, to respond to a comment that is so assumed it's an American idiom.
While I was pondering my own nerve, I watched my 2 year old daughter scale a tricky ladder on the play ground while a 3 year old boy watched and then ran away. Minutes later the same boy timidly went down the small slide while Sophie climbed up 2 slides higher and said "My turn this one."
Meanwhile, Ella was on top of the monkey bars and then swung upside down. (Same child who climbed the REI pinnacle on her first try while the entire store stopped to watch and then gave her a round of applause.)
So, hearing a coach groom a new generation of males to believe that girls can't throw is an insult to my own 2 girls. Do I think they're naturally athletic or have an extra dose of testosterone? No, I've just never said "you can't" or "you shouldn't." Though I admit I struggled with whether I should send Ella out to the field to pitch one at the coach.
I didn't say anything, but have been stewing. How do you not be "one of those feminists" and still fight for feminine ability and dignity?
1 comment:
First off - beautiful kids! Second, you would get along with Heather (my wife). A "fan" we didn't know was sitting behind us at a football game and yelled, at our own QB, "you throw like a girl." Heather immediately turned and punched the guy right in the gut and asked "do I hit like a girl? Respect your team!" He apologized and they got along famously for the rest of the season!
Post a Comment