When it all comes down to face (and body) value

Layne Beachley may thrash the waves, and conquer 10 foot mammoths in Teahupoo, but who would have thought, beyond her seven world titles, that she too feels the pressures of body image?

In her newly released bio Beneath the Waves she admits to getting liposuction on her tummy at the very young age of 24. It’s comforting to know she has body insecurities just like 99% of girls out there, but on the flip side Layne makes a really disturbing observation that a women’s sporting career can only truly flourish if they are beautiful.

In this morning’s Sydney Morning Herald article Winners if they Look Good as Well, Layne says: “If you don't fit that image then you're not worthy of support ... It's a really unreasonable ethic to have," she says.

It’s definitely the topic du jour post Olympics, particularly when the sassy and gorgeous Steph Rice (pictured below) eclipsed her fellow Olympians not only with three golds and a world record, but also an alleged kiss from the ever –so-dashing Michael Phelps (ahem), some sultry FHM pics, a naughty fantasy policewoman Facebook tag, and the oh-so mysterious break from her It- boy-lover Eamon Sullivan (pictured left). These stories bombarded the headlines, and like a big infection, plagued some of the articles and interviews that were meant to pay tribute to her amazing sporting achievements! Not to mention the notoriety handed to other female athletes for their sporting successes.

If you type Steph's name into Google it lists a huge 4, 190, 000 page listings. This is a whopping supersize from the smiling energy bunny- yet not so much intrepreted as sexy by the public - Libby Trickett, whose Google result page lists 171, 000 results, (and 38, 00 from her maiden name Lenton). Despite having two golds from the Olympics, five from the Commonwealth Games and five world records, Libby pales in comparison when it comes to public notoriety to Steph, despite an equally successful and yet longer career in the pool.

However, the reality is that endorsements go to those who are most admired, and it just so happens that for women (and yes men too- but this is a female focused blog) admiration is not only about their sporting success, but also heavily due to their sex appeal. Hence Layne’s “you’re not worthy of support” comment that points to the reality that in terms of capitalising financially on their sporting successes, sexiness is the defining attribute that determines how big these endorsement can get. And with endorsements comes the ability to drum up support, and thus promote a longer and more recognised career.

In this pursuit, there is a tragic flipside where sporting inspiration has becomed eclipsed by thin-spiration. This SMH article refers to Tamsyn Lewis and her battle with anorexia after being told by a coach she was too fat, and the runner Suzie Rhydderch, whose hip collapsed - along with her Olympic aspirations - during a race in 2004 as a result of obsessive dieting.

With more girls looking up to models, socialites and pop singers, I hope the hard-earned achievements and notable ambitions of these remarkable sportswomen are not lost to a sex-obsessed, tabloid hungry society. That’s totally not hot.

Overstating the Underage?

I was feeling very nostalgic looking at some Beijing Olympic videos today. It was one for the books, not only for the spectacular show by the Chinese, but all the drama that went down- mainly the dodgy activities of the Chinese officials!

One of my favourite scandals was the allegations shot at gymnastics gold medallist He Kexin (pictured above) claiming she was competing at the ripe age of 14. Only 10 days ago did she finally get cleared of charges by the IOC of competing underage (16 is legal age) despite very convincing evidence that indicates otherwise. But despite all the heat and drama, I can't help but take a revisionist standpoint and question why Kexin competing underage was really such a huge drama.

It made me wonder, are age restrictions really necessary?

So to refesh your memory, during the Olympics speculation about Kexin's age made for headline news, which then called for an "emergency investigation" by the IOC after she had won her first gold. Many people were appauled by the alleged cover-up.

Former gym champion Bela Karolyi made this very firey comment to the Los Angeles Times:

"These people think we are stupid...We are in the business of gymnastics. We know what a kid of 14 or 15 or 16 looks like. What kind of slap in the face is this? They are 12, 14 years old and they get lined up and the government backs them and the federation runs away. There is an age limit and it can't be controlled."

What I don't understand is, why is it such a big deal that 14 year olds compete? I understand she breached the rules, but really, is this 14 year old really at such an advantage to justify her being potentially stripped of her medals?

In terms of Kexin, it's not as she's on the roids, and she hasn't bribed the judges- her only crime was (allegedly) competing underage, and yet she was one of the biggest scandals to come out of the Olympics. Thirty-eight thousand google listing of pages responding to "He Kexin underage" is evidence of this. If she is indeed 14, she goes in with less experience than the older girls, and a somatotype which would bear no advantage to the musculature and skills of a girl at 16+. Although I have been told her youthful lightness could serve as an unfair advantage, I question whether these are legitimate grounds for restricting younger competitors, considering that perhaps there would be many 16 year olds lighter than her, and yet thus allowed to compete.

I say:

"Leave He Kexin allloooonnneeeee"

I will even go so far as to suggest that perhaps age restrictions should be done away with, and instead the competitor be judged solely on their ability. Say Kexin is 14, which I believe many people are still convinced of, then isn't it more of a scandal that the IOC would stop this extremely gifted gymnast, who has proven herself as number 1 in the world, from competing on the grounds of her age!? I have heard arguments that 14 is too young because they are not ready for it etc, but what gives the rule makers authority to judge these athletes maturity and psychology?

This video has a cool discussion on the issue: (Just a head up, the introduction of this clip is tragically stupid, so skip to 1:04 mark if you don't want your intellegence insulted)

- Watch a funny movie here'>ftp://
Too Old (or Too Young) for the Olympics? - Watch a funny movie here

Let me know your thoughts!

We salute you Surfing Sista!

Our very own Manly beach rat, and greatest female surfer of all time, Layne Beachley has announced her retirement today.

With seven world titles under her Billabong belt, this surfing legend has left little more to be achieved in a career that has inspired and motivated a movement of female surfers, not only in Australia, but around the world.

"I'm really proud of the impact I have had on women's surfing and I feel blessed to have been in a position to inspire a whole generation of surfers to pick up a board and experience this wonderful sport,'' she said in her press conference.

Surf legend Kelly Slater, a nine time title winner gushed in his statement by naming our Layne as the greatest female surfer of all time.

"She has continued to blow minds and shatter records with her surfing style, technical ability and focus. She will be missed in the surfing world," he said.

Thanks Layne for making Australia proud! And on behalf of sporty sistas around the globe: we salute you!

Check out Layne carving the waves in Fiji!

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"Go home and wash the dishes!"

I promised myself this blog wouldn’t be a rant. But I’d be kidding myself to think everything’s sunshine and lollypops for women in sport. Women's Suffrage Day celebrated its 115th birthday on Friday, and although I’m inclined to celebrate how far women have come, I feel it’s necessary to vocalise the existing backwardness of our supposedly equal society in terms of how women are represented and treated in sport.

In a recent study by the University of California, Santa Cruz, on girls between the age of 12 and 18, it revealed that a whopping 76% had received disparaging comments about their sporting prowess just because they were female, mostly from male peers, teachers, parents and coaches.

From the perspective of an avid sportswoman, having played soccer, touch football, cricket, netball, soccer, athletics and swimming since the age of seven; from a very early age I understood where I stood in the world of sport. And that was always second banana to the boys. I was told in high school that netball, the most played female sport in Australia, was in fact a ‘recreational activity’ and not a sport, whilst our girl’s soccer team would constantly get the lesbian jeers from the boy’s side. I would always vocalise the disparity of the boys Rugby coach when he’d call them “ladies” in training, and ridicule them for weakling “girl throws.” Perhaps if they’d watched a game of the Swifts they’d see these ‘girl throws’ in a completely different light.

However whenever I stepped up to the misogynist PE teacher and the Rugby coach, I would simultaneously be grouped into the “feminist” Germaine Greer set; an otherwise irrational and embittered shrew. I think this backward perspective on those who speak up to the way women are represented in sport has done a lot to overshadow legitimate arguments and gag females from speaking their minds.

Despite all this, I am not saying that women have no representation; we can’t forget the sassy Chief Cricket writer from The Age Chloe Saltau, and the feisty Jacquelin Magnay (pictured below) from the Sydney Morning Herald, who’ve done a lot of remove the ‘shrill’ stigma from women in sport, and given us a layer of legitimacy and pride. But not even strong characters like these are immune from the prejudice, being that Magnay was fronted with the chauvinism of commentator and former AFL player Danny Frawley who told her last year to “to go home and wash the dishes!” Don't hold your breath!

Women make Homeless World Cup history this year in Melbourne

The Olympics were fun, the Paralympics were bloody awesome, but the sporting event I’m most looking forward to is the 2008 Homeless World Cup, which is being hosted by Melbourne from the 1st to the 7th of December.

But what’s most exciting about this event is that it will be the first time in Cup history that women will play in their very own Women’s Homeless World Cup!

Of the 500 homeless and marginalised people from 56 countries coming to Australia to play in the tournament, 80 women from Cameroon, Colombia, Ivory Coast, Kyrgyzstan, Uganda, Zambia, Liberia and Paraguay will leave their problems at their nation’s airports to come and play football.

Players from last year’s tournament such as Michele da Silva won best female player before going on to be selected to represent Brazil in the national under 21’s women’s team. Cheri of Liberia has also turned her life around after her stint at the Homeless World Cup last year by winning an athlete scholarship to attend a USA college for four years.

What better reason to trek down to Melbourne than to support our sporting sistas from developing nations!?

The games will be played at Federation Square and Birrarung-Mar in Melbourne City on 1-7 December. See you there!

(pic: http://imagined-community.com/blogimages/Ball.jpg)

Girls will be...BOYS?

Walking through Oxford Street can sometimes be a game of “lad or Lady?” Most of the time I fail miserably- believing my eyes that the leggy blonde barbie was just adjusting her pants, and not what’s in her underpants.

OK, so gory visualisation, but with advancements in hormone therapy and cosmetic surgery, being Paul on your birth certificate, and Pauline on the street can be done with tremendous ease. Now although I celebrate the freedom people have to explore their gendered self, I can't help but consider the implications of this gender bender culture and the ethics of professional sport?





"Um, actually on closer inspection...."






Can you imagine coming up against Miss Pauline in a competitive soccer trial, or worse, see her splash past Steph Rice in the Medley!? Mascara may diminish masculinity, but it sure doesn’t denigrate the physical superiority of being a male!

It seems my fears are not alone; the Beijing Olympic officials beefed up controls with a task force of gender police- whose mission was to sex-pose those girls who look like they could be benders of their genders. I can’t help but acknowledge the enormity of this mission- being that elite sport doesn’t necessary emphasis the elegance of the female figure...

Don’t know what I mean? Google “Jamaica Woman Sprint”.

This task force is authorised to impose invasive examinations on suspect females. Although I feel a short sense of relief knowing that Pauline would be picked up for gender fraud and the protection of the fair playing field, I also think laterally and challenge these black and white standards on the human body that can sometimes be shades of grey.

Santhi Soundarajan is an Indian middle distance runner who had her silver medal stripped from her on 2006 for failing these sex tests. Despite the backing of coaches, Indian Olympic officials and her family, she remains stripped of her medal on the grounds that she committed gender fraud.

Now I’m not going to rule out the possibility that we were all duped, I too would have considered that perhaps a cunning male is exploiting his effeminate looks to advance over female competitors (see pic below). But then again it could be, as she claimed, an example of the inadequacy of these gender tests.




















According to Professor Arne Ljungqvist, head of the Medical Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), “Some people are born with ambiguous sex organs, others have an anatomy that doesn't match up with their sex chromosomes." Normally, women have two X chromosomes (XX) and men have an X or Y chromosome (XY) in their cells. The presence of XX chromosomes confirms the person's female gender. However, some people born with a Y chromosome develop all the physical characteristics of a woman except internal female sex organs, a result of a genetic defect that does not produce testosterone. Some of these females can also have the appareance of male genetalia and hormonal imbalances that could result in facial hair and masculine features- not to mention the possiblity of enhanced physical strength.

Is it fair to categorise and dispel an athlete on the basis of their chromosomal make-up?

I also think of those with Gender Identity Disorder (a condition to describe a person who experience significant gender diasphoria- discontent with the sex they were born with.) This discontent is often supported by transgender hormones and brain functions. So if a male has lived and functioned as a woman from the age of 3 years and have hormones to support their gender identity, should they be able to compete in the gender category they identify with?

In all political correct-ness, it seems fair to allow people to compete in the event they believe themselves to fit. But then again, how can you regulate that?

But to consider the argument from a female athletes point of view, it seems unfair that a person with the potential capabilities of a male (in hormones and physicality) is able to compete for gold against the girls!

What do you think?

Blog Reviews

Because I Played Sports... (http://becauseiplayedsports.com/)

This blog is comprehensive on a massive scale, so much so I’m sure every article, or event that mentions “woman” and “sport” is posted and picked to pieces on this blog.

The range of sports covered caters for the real sports fanatics, from speed racing to surfing, to hang gliding (is that even a sport?), and features exclusively those participated in by the softer sex. I enjoy the bloggers sassy attitude towards the way sportswomen are represented in the media, and she (I’m assuming) brings solid evidence to her arguments about the sexualisation of female sports stars, and her campaign to have them taken seriously by sports journalists and audiences alike. I do however tire of the bloggers constant reference to the “objectification” of women in sport, and sometimes wish there would be a more optimistic focus on celebrating the achievements of women in sports!

But then again, this kick-ass approach she takes towards women in sports is what makes this blog so compelling!

Juiced Sports Blog (http://juicedsportsblog.com/)

In all honesty, American sports don’t exactly tickle my fancy. In fact, I only just realised gridiron was a sport, and not something you’d buy at Bunnings. However this blog is very cheeky, and has succeeded in the very hard task of engaging me in baseball and American football.

The bloggers (to which I’m going to assume are male) approach their sport with irreverence, and do this by (for example), comparing football teams to mafia run drug circles, and players to superheroes such as Spiderman, and constant comparisons to the presidential elections (“It’s almost as unbelievable to me as one of the two presidential candidates suddenly dropping out of the race...”) They also interact with readers by asking for their opinions and input into the accuracy of the stories. This could serve to create an open forum of communication and discussion, or else could undermine the audience’s faith in their coverage!

As for format, I do find the format busy, and cluttered, and their use of the same font for all the sections makes it dizzying to look at. The articles are also very long and paragraphed after each sentence, which impedes on the flow of the story. It also means you have to keep clicking into links to access the rest of the story; this is also done on the front page where they only list 2-3 news bulletins on one page. This gets laborious after spending some time on the blog.


US Open- Tennis Blog of the New York Times (http://usopen.blogs.nytimes.com/)

I have a strange new obsession with the New York Times. However, this particular blog on the US open is sanitised and just so very beige. The blog here is merely just a compression of exactly what happened in the game- and a couple of uninspiring cliques such as “he hit his way to the top”, which doesn’t live up to the authors final run-down of the competition as “exciting” and “dramatic”. Surely he would have capitalised on this and made the blog a little more enticing?

I do, however, see the value of this straight-forward-run-down as legitimate and comprehensive coverage of the tennis, however I question why they would be writing such a simplistic run down, when true fans- who are most likely the audience for this tennis dedicated blog- would in all likely hood have already seen it.

However I do give the blogger props for the clean and structured format, as well as the plethora of large pictures that accompany each text box. This makes it easy to read, and appeals to the visual aspect of the game.