Thursday, November 30, 2006

What Exactly Is A "Girl's Sport"?

Talk about a double standard.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A state appeals court on Thursday rejected a lawsuit by a boy who wanted to compete on his high school's girls' gymnastics team.

The District 4 Court of Appeals upheld a judge's dismissal of Keith Michael Bukowski's lawsuit against the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association, which has a rule prohibiting boys from competing in girls' sports.


If we rename football "boys' football", does that mean girls can't play any longer?

Courts have previously ruled that letting boys compete on girls' teams jeopardizes opportunities for girls. But Bukowski, who had competed in gymnastics at a local YMCA, argued the case was similar to recent examples of girls who were allowed to compete on boys' teams in football and wrestling.

Like I said, a double standard.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

“Perhaps ‘manhood,’ rather than physicality, shapes scholarly definitions of sports.” Jodella K. Dyreson.

Check out Jodella K. Dyreson, “Sporting Activities in the American-Mexican Colonies of Texas, 1821-1835,” Journal of Sport History 24:3 (Fall 1997): 269-84. Available online through the Amateur Athletic Foundation (http://www.aafla.org and do a search). Dyreson offers an interesting take on definitions of sport, particularly in terms of gender bias and gynocriticism. While at the Amateur Athletic Foundation website (which features the Journal of Sport History) check out anything by Nancy L. Struna and women’s history.

Anonymous said...

Double standard indeed! This kinda stuff drives me nuts!