Recounting Our Past and Present

Trigger Warning: Body Image, Body Dysmorphia, Eating Disorders, and SA.

When I was growing up, I loved playing sports. I was so fidgety and had to move all the time, so it was only natural that I would sign up for all sorts of sports, classes, and workshops. I remember starting gymnastics at the age of four, taking classes at school and doing it for fun outside of school. I started dancing and running when I was six, and by the end of elementary school I was on the soccer, basketball, and track teams. I think children’s physical activity is so important no matter what the context – it instills confidence and self-love, encourages collaboration and teamwork, and encourages perseverance, discipline and consistency. Being physically active made me a better kid.

A group of young friends running together.

But it was not at all without its challenges. When I was seven, I always wanted to try shooting a hoop on the playground, but I kept getting turned down because I was a girl. So I went home and asked my mom to buy me a basketball so I could practice shooting in the park. In a few weeks I could see my improvements. And the boys at school could do that too. So much so that some of the girls at school (occasionally) started playing with me. Being my stubborn self, I just wanted to prove something. But as I got older, I learned about current and past views of women in sports.

Little girls playing soccer.

The history

When discussing the timeline of women in sport, one can see that there are many contrasting attitudes – while some reflect an egalitarian world, others perpetuate gender stereotypes. Traditionally, the sport was male-dominated: married women could not compete in the ancient Olympics (under pain of death), and although girls could participate, they could not compete. However, it is also important to note that in ancient Greece women could participate in festivals playing ball games with each other; Carvings on walls, tombstones and other historical relics of ancient Egyptian society depict women swimming; and Spartan women could wrestle, race, and ride horses (more on that here). Prior to my own research and insights, I had a preconceived notion about the treatment and perception of women in antiquity, and I’m pleased, at least to some degree, that I’ve been proven wrong.

In ancient Rome, men competed as gladiators in the Colosseum.

However, stereotypes about women and their commitment to physical activity spread in Victorian society: it was initially noted that women who played sports were uncouth and would not make adequate, obsequious and refined wives (which, of course, would have prevented women from becoming engage in physical activity – marriage was a cornerstone of Victorian society, with the nuclear family as a fundamental institution not to be abolished or collapsed, as conservative ideology sees it). Even with the development that women were eventually allowed to play sports, there were specific sports that they could play and the consensus was that competitive sports were not ladylike. Men felt it was a fair compromise to allow women to engage in physical activity if it was done in a dignified, woman-like, and graceful manner. Under certain circumstances, women had to be supervised by men. All in all, this reflects that just 150 years ago there were barriers for women to enjoy themselves without being constrained by male standards.

A Victorian housewife sipping her tea in a ‘feminine’ way.

The gift

Society has evolved since then and we’ve seen the first college basketball game between Stanford University and the University of California in 1896, the first women’s FIFA World Cup in 1991 and the Lionesses’ victory at the 2022 European Championships. A timeline of women in sport can be found here. I love seeing other women thrive in an area we’ve been shielded from for so long. But this society brings with it another problem. And it is rooted in social stereotypes.

In my secondary school we all had to take practical and theoretical sports and I vividly remember that in a theory lesson we learned about BMI and were taught about endomorphs, ectomorphs and mesomorphs and my teacher gave us a list of sports that would be for each body type good at it. At the time I didn’t think much about it. Looking back, I wonder what disadvantages these left behind for my classmates. Back then, everyone jokingly referred to each other’s body types. Being told which sports to do better, rather than encouraging kids to try and find out. Feeling uncomfortable in your own skin. Be discouraged from even trying. People no longer understand how serious the weight and self-image discussion is, and it’s extremely damaging to our children. Research from the British Journal of Nursing suggests that 1-2% of teenagers suffer from body dysmorphia, and in the UK hospital admissions of children with eating disorders increased by 35% between 2021 and 2022.

We’re always stuck at the weigh-in. Measure constantly. Constantly staring.

These statistics are startling and, unfortunately, the result of social media and inappropriate social pressure on children to look a certain way, rather than celebrate the differences and diversity that our bodies have.

Our bodies are different. And every single one is beautiful.

And subconsciously that influenced me too. I felt uncomfortable in my own skin. The sport became a spectacle. An activity where I would only be made for the spectacle. When I entered high school, I tried many of the team sports that I did as a kid. When team lists came out, I would analyze the lists of successful candidates (especially the girls) and try to figure out what they had that I didn’t have. And I thought it was weight.

I look back at my pictures from that time and realize that wasn’t the case, but I’m not mad at myself for thinking that way. In many sports I’ve played, I’ve rarely seen a woman quite like me: curvaceous with big breasts, and when you enter a world of beauty standards and social norms, it’s very easy to get caught in that cycle.

What scares me is when women face a terrible fate, whether they are taken advantage of or lose sight of themselves. We live in a time engulfed by social conventions so detrimental to their self-understanding; so much so that they give up altogether and it’s time we changed. I don’t want future generations of young people to grow up in a world that gives them a distorted self-image.

There are many sports designed exclusively for women – netball (my favorite sport), synchronized swimming and figure skating. I think it’s important to introduce women to safe spaces where they can learn about the importance of physical activity. But beyond that, women who do typically “male” sports present to show that women can do whatever they want.

Women’s Basketball.

What we need.

Not only is it important to encourage women to play sports like we cheer for our boys, but also to protect our women from abuse when they play this sport. Break down barriers that prevent our women from trying something new. Increase the representation of different body types, people of different abilities and people from different backgrounds. Showcase the diverse lenses through which people can experience life and sport. Stop our women from being disrespected, used and abused. It scares me when I read the testimonies of athletes like Simone Biles and Aly Raisman who have suffered abuse in their careers: women are doing what we love and we are still at risk.

And the cure for this is twofold: first, we teach against these actions and affirm that they have no place in our society; and second, encourage people to speak up whether they are witnesses or victims.

Sport can serve as a safe haven, a way to express ourselves. It was my way of being my best self and bringing out the best in others. That’s how I learned discipline. This is how I found myself when I was lost. And regardless of gender or sexuality, ethnicity or disability, people should always be able to feel this. A home.

A team.