The lovely folks over at Bitch are talking about a topic I brought up a few months ago during the summer Olympics: the sexualization of female athletes.
La Macha does a great job of asking people to think about the implications of the hyper-sexualized female athlete, and also if there's a way female athletes can negotiate between a sex positive image and the aforementioned.
There is a thin line, in my humble opinion. I mean, really, where do we draw the line - or rather who is doing the drawing of the line? Is it the female athletes themselves or the advertisers and companies that endorse these athletes?
Speaking of advertising, the folks over a Jezebel also brought up the issue regarding sexist advertising. We all know sex sells - or do we? Is this a universal claim or just something posed so consumers (you and I) remain complacent?
If you ask car racer Danica Patrick, she'd probably that this pose is empowering. So be it. Like I said in a previous post I don't have a problem with grown women doing what grown women want to do.
But then La Macha brought up another key point about 'white' female sexualization versus women of color. Perhaps some of the more 'feminized' athletes who can sell a sexualized athletic image are boxer Laila Alli and WNBA player Candace Parker. But what about when idiots call female athletes like Serena and Venus Williams monkeys, or when the women of the Rutgers basketball team are called nappy-headed hoes. What are folks really saying about Western beauty here? And what in the world are we, as consumer and sports enthusiasts buying into exactly?
As the debate continues, my head throbs and my blood pressure rises...
World middleweight boxing champion Laila Ali has more going for her than stellar athletic ability. As the youngest daughter of world-renowned boxing champ Muhammad Ali, she has some pretty big shoes to fill. But she proved her boxing worth right from the get-go when she knocked out her very first opponent without a hitch.
That was back in 99. Since then, Laila has kept rocking the ring and using her time in the spotlight to advocate for positive social change. Ali currently serves on the board of trustees for the Women’s Sports Foundation, a nonprofit that seeks to “advance the lives of girls and women through sport and physical activity.” She works for better health and fitness through her partnerships with the American Diabetes Alliance and the Nation’s Food Bank Network, which helps to alleviate hunger for low-income children in the United States. She has participated in fundraisers for ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History. She is an outspoken advocate of women and girls in sports, and also addresses the specific challenges faced by women of color and low-income women in sports. Rock on, Laila.
Watch this short video segment where Laila talks about how media representations affect young people, women, and people of color.
I stumbled across a wacky sport that turns chess into an active, physically competitive, spectator sport—chessboxing.
It kinda reminds me of playing battle chess back in the day, before the dawn of YouTube when we still carried our computer entertainment around on floppy disks. In case you've forgotten about the early versions of battle chess, here's a reminder:
Chessboxers play alternating rounds of four minutes at the board and three minutes in the ring. Players go for a maximum of 11 rounds, and can win the game with either a checkmate or by taking the other guy out with a swift punch.
“Fighting is done in the ring and wars are waged on the board,” is the official slogan of the World Chess Boxing Organization.
WCBO’s explanation for the slogan is really interesting:
“[W]e’re trying to promote aggression management. Fighting is simply done in the ring where certain fairness rules apply and where there’s a referee. Wars should be waged on the board, not in reality.”
I agree with that. More of us should be promoting fair play and friendly competition both on and off the board.
Women in Afghanistan have undergone religious fundamentalism and nationalist pressure resulting in heightened legal and social restrictions.
Over 40% of Afghan women ages 15-19 are married.
Afghanistan is among one of the countries worldwide leading in murders of women by intimate partners.
Average number of childbirths per woman: 6
700 – 999 Afghan mothers die per year during childbirth (compared to 10 – 99 mothers in the United States).
Afghanistan leads among nations as one of the main originating countries of sex trafficking.
Percentage of adult Afghan women who are illiterate: over 75%
Percentage of Afghan population living in poverty: over 75%
These are just a few stats to ponder when thinking about women’s rights—human rights—issues concerning Afghan women. Notably, there have been some improvements for Afghan women after more than twenty years under Taliban rule.
Now, Afghan women confront a new challenge—boxing. Though, some would argue that boxing shouldn’t be encourage especially in a country that has experienced intense levels of social violence over the years. Others would add, however, that boxing empowers women, particularly women who’ve been subjected to generations of subjugation for simply not being born a man.
For those who aren’t quite sure this is necessarily a sport for social good, consider Shala, a 2012 Olympic hopeful who spoke out last year during a BBC News interview, “If you get involved in sport, you stay out of war.”
Whether we believe this is a step in the right direction or not, perhaps we should appreciate that now women in Afghanistan have more choices than before. And for me, choice is progress.
