Wednesday, March 7, 2012

how women playing sports changed the world





many, many, many years ago, a lawyer friend said, women not making it in business, they don't act as part of the team. in those days, i expect the ladies mainly had motherhood as a model and learned to be ruthless - as we know a mom will tear you apart with her teeth to save her child, this the reason human beings have survived. not really a good basis for team-play. i'd argue soccer leagues and olympic basketball have toughened up those who in olden times could lift a wagon out of the mud. 


yes, through the modern magazines, the female of the species learned she had to be decorous to get the house and kids. when i first came to town, all the college fraternities and sororities participated in the pioneer day parade. the guys would be outrageous, over-the-top with parodies of cavemen and taxi-drivers. the gals, alas, couldn't break loose, had to look pretty, no face distorted  by a disdainful laugh or bold gesture. 


and what a shock it was when once in high school, i walked by a kitchen door to hear the girls inside swearing like sailors! today, walking down the street at noon,  i hear four-letters words come out the most beautiful mouths. when women started buffeting each other in roller-derbies, all pretense ended. and i maintain their sports the most fun to watch, the most emotionally expressive. by comparison men appear well-oiled machines, it's either gorilla looks or high-fives, way more stylized by comparison.


and it doesn't take watching margaret thatcher in the iron lady to see there's been a seismic shift - though her end came when she lost the ability to play on a team, going off into the mother-hen syndrome. at home things have changed too. the boys used to be filled full of hot air and probably still are. no wonder they collapse in a sodden heap after forty. the girls taught to be real, even if having to hide their toughness. with the change in economies to electronics and detail and personal communication, this founding in their own being paying off. 


if you don't believe me, watch the video. yes, a woman in boots alarms me! historically, only the dominatrix in comic books wore  them. now the pounding  behind me and not the click-click of high-heels says to me, move over. 








volleyball shots:  http://www.pbase.com/wwp/voll