This is kind of an old story, but the female soccer player Elizabeth Lambert was suspended, because of her actions against BYU soccer players. She hit players in the back, kicked a girl in the face, and even yanked a girl by her ponytail to the ground. Elizabeth has apologized since, but it doesn't seem sincere since she had so many altercations in the game. In class we were arguing if a male did this would people act like this and I say yes. Soccer is a contact sport, but the things Elizabeth did weren't part of the game of soccer. Also a girl in class pointed out that this is the only way that female college soccer can get coverage on ESPN and sadly I agree with her. The only women's soccer coverage that I have ever seen on ESPN was the 1999 U.S. women's team.
I agree with you when you said that this is the only way for women's soccer to get coverage on ESPN, this is a very sad reality. However, I am not sure that I agree when you said people would react the same way if it were a male being this aggressive. People generally expect men to be more agressive and I think that this issue would have been more expected and almost accepted if these were men.
ReplyDeleteYeah women are supposed to be more feminine and delicate and not express their frustrations with violence and agression, so with that in mind she was a bit over the top and reacting in a way that is acceptable and expected of a man. This does seems to dirupt the notion of feminity in sports and like you both said makes it alot easier for her to be noticed. If only talent reigned far more than beauty and violence among female athletes, coverage would be much easier to obtain.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first watched what I saw I couldnt believe that she was able to stay in the game that long and I really believe she should be suspened for quite sometime. It is sad that womens soccer only gets shown in a negative light
ReplyDeleteI really do not think we would have heard about this game on normal circumstances, but because there was an altercation that drew attention to the event, it was made a big deal. I think if it were men's soccer it would have been less important because men have to stereotype of being really aggressive in sports. It still would have been publicized the same I think because Sportscenter loves to talk about stuff like that. I was just shocked that anyone would give out so many cheap shots during the game and actually still be playing. I mean come on this girl was harassing everyone she came into contact with from the opposing team.
ReplyDelete