Lesbians in Professional Sport

     Today I will be discussing the stigmas that women face in professional sports.  "The image of women athletes as mannish, failed heterosexuals represents a thinly veiled reference to lesbianism in sport" (Cahn, pg. 343).  Typically, women that participate in professional sports are questioned about their femininity and sexuality.  There are stereotypes all throughout women's professional sports against women and the idea that they are all lesbians, when, in fact, this is not nearly true.  Though some female professional athletes, such as Martina Navratilova came out of the closet as lesbians, it would be unfair to say that this is true of all female athletes.  I believe that the ideas that the world have about femininity and masculinity affect the way that people view athletes, and as athleticism is generally viewed as a masculine trait, people assume that female athletes are masculine.  This leads into the question of homophobia against lesbians and more generally women in professional sports.  "Manifestations of homophobia in women's sports can be divided into six categories: (a) silence, (b) denial, (c) apology, (d) promotion of a heterosexy image, (e) attacks on lesbians, and (f) preference for male coaches" (Griffin, pg. 253).  There are many ways that homosexual women in sports have to (or choose to) hide their sexuality from others because they are afraid of public scorn.  As the previous quote shows, different women choose different ways of showing their sexuality in public.  Most generally they choose to remain silent about their sexuality until after they have retired from the sport that they played.

     There are many problems that women face when they are involved in professional sports.  If they are heterosexual, then they are questioned about their femininity from the public and may find it harder to find somebody to be with.  On the other hand, women in professional sports that are lesbians face a much different hardship.  Either they choose to hide their homosexuality from the public in order to avoid stereotyping, or they have to deal with the backlash and questions of people that do not approve of their sexuality or the scorn of other athletes that would not approve of being in the same dressing room if they are gay.

     I hope that one day our society is able to remove the stereotyping of homophobia in sports, both for women and for men.  I hope that one day people are allowed to be open with their feelings and sexuality without the worry that they will be criticized for how they choose to live their lives and how they see themselves as a person.  Maybe one day our society will evolve and we will not deal with these issues, but for now we need to continue to raise awareness and help our society move in the right direction.

--Andrew Novak

Works Cited

Cahn, Susan K. "From the "Muscle Moll" to the "Butch" Ballplayer: Mannishness, Lesbianism, and Homophobia in U.S. Women's Sport." Feminist Studies 19.2 (1993): 343-68. Print.

Griffin, Pat. "Changing the Game: Homophobia, Sexism, and Lesbians in Sport." Quest 44.2 (1992): 251-65. Web.