And not just figure skating and cheerleading...
Personally, I’m a huge NBA
fan. I don’t just mean I like watching basketball, I mean I love it! I
know all the teams, stats, schedules, players, coaches, and anything else that
has to do with the league. I definitely know as much as any boy would. However,
the NBA is considered a sport that males watch. I am female and for that reason,
people think that I can’t possibly be that big of a fan of basketball
and that even if I were, I don’t have much true knowledge of it.
It’s quite sad actually. The other day my friend (also female) and I were debating whether Allen Iverson or Kobe Bryant was the better basketball player. I was on Kobe’s side, with my friend rooting for AI. It was a repeated disagreement between us so we decided to settle it by asking our friend Jemal. After answering us (just for the record, he agreed with me and said Kobe was better), he commented, “You girls don’t really watch ball, you’re just arguing over who’s cuter.” I was insulted. Just because I was a girl, he assumed that the only reason I thought Kobe Bryant was the better player was because I found him more attractive looking.
This is an example of stereotyping in sports. Activities such as hockey, basketball, football, and extreme sports are generally seen as games for guys. At the same time, skating, dancing, and cheerleading are perceived as girl sports. Perhaps this is accurate for the general fan base of these events, but keep in mind that not all the fans will be of the same sex. Even girls, who aren’t tomboys, can have true knowledge of football.
It surprises most of the males I come across when they just take a moment to really talk to me and realize that I do know about basketball, a lot of the time even more so than them. If guys just gave us girls a chance and actually got to know us before judging our knowledge of sports based on our sex, I think a lot of them would be pleasantly surprised.
Sherry F.
