In which gender essentialism can DIAF

[mephisto5]

Nine-Year-Old Girl Plays Football, Kicks Ass and Maybe Changes the World

Few 9-year-old girls are described as a “young-very young-Walter Payton.” But that’s what people are calling Sam Gordon of South Jordan, Utah. Gordon has become an Internet sensation after the spread of viral videos showing her shredding Pee Wee football defenses with a series

Comments

[pleasure_past]

I'm uncomfortable with male-only sports leagues for the same reason I'm uncomfortable with all boys schools; they're transphobic and they tend to nurture "dudebro culture" and a sense of superiority to females. I do think all girl leagues and schools should exist, though. There are still issues of transphobia to contend with, but I think those are far more fixable/less innate in the system than nurturing of male supremacy in most spaces that exclude girls. (Also, let's be real, most spaces that excluded females admittedly did so at one time or another because they believed women/girls were inferior.) And yes, I do think that good coaches should adapt training to the needs of their players, including the needs that arise out of the physiological differences between male and female bodies. It's segregation* I have problem with more than differentiation.

*I'm just going to throw it out there right now that I really hate the term "self-segregation" regarding all-girls schools/leagues, HBCUs, queer nightclubs, etc., even if it is a correct usage of the word.