Real Sports: On the Basis of Sex: Girls' Baseball
I needed to log into HBO GO to catch an episode of Real Sports that I missed about girls and baseball.
The topic is fascinating for me. I played softball in high school and still play in a league - of course, Chicago 16" softball though. But as you know, I love baseball too. I did play Little League and never felt comfortable there.
But you need to watch this episode. It goes through the history of Maria Pepe who sued Little League USA for the right to play baseball. They fought her for 2 years. And after she won, Little League started softball.
I love both sports. And it breaks my heart each time I reflect on softball's role in discrimination against girls and women.
It infuriates me to watch the clip of men giving bullshit excuses why girls shouldn't play baseball including:
- Dental injuries will make girls less attractive
- Getting hit in the chest will lead to breast cancer (isn't it FASCINATING how people who don't want women to do something will find a way to link it to breast cancer?)
- No one wants a girl to be hurt by a boy (I was on La Vida Baseball a few weeks again and we were discussing women playing in men's leagues. Another panelist brought up this issue as to why he couldn't support women playing in men's leagues.)
- Some fathers didn't want boys to tag their daughters on the butt or chest. Because apparently everything is sexual, especially at the Little League age. Good lessons there, dads!
