Marian is an 80-year-old family friend whom I admire for her infinitely positive attitude. Marian was one of eight children growing up on a farm in a small town in Minnesota. Marian stated that on the farm everyone had to pitch in to help with chores, boys and girls alike, with no segregation of jobs. Marian and her husband had six daughters together and raised them on the farm where Marian currently has lived alone since the death of her husband one year ago. The chores on the farm were performed by everyone in the family, with all of their daughters knowing how to drive tractors and do fieldwork as well as any boy around. Marian feels that these skills and good work ethics have benefitted her daughters throughout their adult lives, and I would tend to agree with that theory.
Marian said that her brothers were able to play sports, but the girls were only allowed to cheer. At the time it was all she knew, so did not think anything of it, but looking back now, she indicated that it would have been a form of discrimination. Allowing only boys to play sports would not be tolerated in this day and age, and only allowing girls to cheer for the boys athletic teams is discriminating in and of itself. We all know that boys are no more athletic than girls, therefore have no more capability to out-perform a girl on the field or the court. Nowadays, girls are even getting involved in playing football, where special accommodations are made for locker room privileges.
This small portion of history reminds me of Benedict’s writings in The Plight of Women Soldiers, where she states that Army Specialist Mickiela Montoya was very angry about the treatment she received in Iraq from her comrades, the Army, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (Benedict, 2009, p. 582). Today it seems as if they allow women to be in the Army, but abuse and disrespect them while they are serving their country. This seems similar to the past when only boys were allowed to play sports and girls were only allowed to be cheerleaders. They allowed the girls to jump around and cheer for the “real” athletes on the field or court, making it seem as if they are involving the girls and allowing them this special privilege of being on or near the court as a special addition to the team. Personally, I think being a disrespected woman in the army and being a cheerleader are rather derogatory and meager offerings of involvement in something that seems to be primarily directed toward male participation.
Organized sports were not available to Marian’s daughters until her oldest daughter was a senior in high school. Upon the availability of sports to females, Marian’s daughters got involved in danceline, and did very well with that activity. Throughout Marian’s entire adult life, she and her husband enjoyed attending basketball and football games, and even though their daughters were never involved in either of those sports, they rarely missed a game until her husband passed away one year ago.
The family choices that Marian and her husband chose were to have Marian be a stay-at-home mom while her husband worked on the farm to make a successful living. Marian has never worked outside the home, but stated that some women did, though not very many. Marian stated that they had to skimp and save to make ends meet, but it was all worthwhile for her to be at home raising the girls and being available to help her husband outside. Marian is always offering and willing to help my husband and I with our two daughters when we work late or cannot get them to activities because we are so busy with work and school. She is always remarking that she is amazed that I can keep up with work, school and family, as her life was always centered around home, and I am always on the go to children’s activities, work, and class.
Marian’s family has always been very Christian-based with a strong foundation and belief in the Lutheran religion. I asked Marian if she has ever felt repressed by the Missouri Synod Lutheran religion which she has always been a member and had a strong belief. She stated that she has never felt that way, but has never known any different. Although the Missouri Synod has not evolved much over the years, Marian has never felt repressed by her religion or been bothered with the lack of female officials within the church. Women do not hold office in the Missouri Synod, but are very well-respected, just as Syafa Almirzanah states that in the Muslim religion, the Qur’an is very positive about women because men and women are created from the same cells and are the same before God (Almirzanah, 2009, p. 621). I also belong to the same religion and feel as Marian does, I enjoy the church, know that women are well-respected and appreciated for what we do within the church, and have never felt repressed. I also feel that if the male members of our church, and especially our pastor, ever thought that women felt repressed in our church, they would do everything within their power to change those feelings.
References
Almirzanah, S. (2009). The Prophet’s Daughters. In S. M. Shaw, & J. Lee, Women’s Voices/Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings (5th ed., pp. 621-624). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Benedict, H. (2009). The Plight of Women Soldiers. In S. M. Shaw, & J. Lee, Women’s Voices/Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings (5th ed., pp. 582-585). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Marian sounds like a wonderful woman, mother, and human being. She sees the world for what it is, and does the best she can to exist within it. Her thoughts on sports and women were very interesting. You mention that how accommodations are currently being made for women to participate in football and other male dominated sports.
ReplyDeleteIronically, online today was a story about a young girl that was kicked off her Christian football team due to gender. "A female middle school athlete who dreamed of possibly earning a football scholarship had her hopes dashed this week after officials at her Christian academy in Locus Grove, Ga., said she could not play next year because she is a girl” (Bennett-Smith, 2013).
She has strong support from her parents and her father is quoted as saying, “"My girl can handle herself," Cassy Blythe told CBS Atlanta. "I've seen girls in the military. I've seen fellow female police officers who went out there and they busted tail and they were just ... as good ... if not better in some aspects" (Bennett-Smith, 2013). Sadly for Maddy, she will never get to realize her dream. “"It's like taking my dream and throwing it in the trash," Maddy told local NBC affiliate 11Alive News (Bennett-Smith, 2013).The article discusses the attempts the family has made for her to be able to play next year but a quote from the school says it all.“The school's "official policy is that middle school girls play girl sports and middle school boys play boy sports" (Bennett-Smith, 2013).
In chapter 3 of our text, “Learning Gender”, the authors write, “men are not necessarily better athletes than women; rather, sports as an institution has developed to reflect the particular athletic competencies of men” (Shaw & Lee, 2012) I certainly hope that situations such as the one referenced above will become a thing of the past. Women of all ages deserve to have the ability to shoot for the stars.
Bennett-Smith, M. (2013, June 21). Maddy Blythe, Georgia Student, Reportedly Kicked Off Christian Football Team Over Gender . Retrieved from huffingtonpost.com: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/21/maddy-blythe-football-christian-bible_n_3479032.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl10%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D334329
Shaw, S. M., & Lee, J. (2012). Learning Gender. In S. M. Shaw, & J. Lee, Women's Voices, Feminist Visions (p. 109). New York: McGraw Hill.
I was unaware of the story that you mentioned above, and thanks for sharing. I do have a friend whose daughter played football throughout her high school years and I just remember wondering at the time why you would put yourself through all of that trouble. She was the only girl on the team, but fortunately the guys did enjoy having her on the team, which might be one of the reasons she continued to play. I do know that there were parents who were strongly opposed to her playing and did not make it easy for her, as well as her having to be a loner and special accomodations being made for her own locker room at each school. I think if it were me I would have given up rather than being a spectacle, but she must have enjoyed it enough to continue through high school. I find it sad that Maddy's school in Georgia is so close-minded in this day and age. What a shame!
ReplyDeleteMarian sounds like someone who has accepted the changes of time but has not forgotten her upbringing. I think many farmers and farm mothers taught children to work hard and they kept that work ethic through their lives. She mentions that everyone worked on the farm and it didn’t matter if you were a boy or a girl. You did the work that needed to be done. Boys played sports at school and girls just didn’t and it never occurred to Marian that they could. I attended Catholic schools in the late 60’s and early 70’s and that is how it was and so powder puff football was the only sport I participated in my junior and senior year. When our family lived in Washington state about fifteen years ago, Boeing Corporation (they make planes) in Seattle offered an internship to Juniors in high school for the summer so those interested in aviation could see airplanes and parts being made and also airplanes being repaired. It was a job and the students got paid. There was an article written in the newspaper that stated Boeing preferred to hire farm kids because they knew how to work and didn’t quit. Boeing counted on these students for summer help and felt the increased work load when students quit.
ReplyDeleteThe Plight of Women Soldiers was mentioned. My daughter who served in the US Air Force got mad as the male medics were unloading injured soldiers from the plane to a bus to transport them to the hospital and asked her to only hold the door to help them. She let them know she could rotate in to carry the injured just like them. It is hard to know who is or isn’t a feminist in the military so informing those you serve with works best.