(Kirkstall Abbey Couch to 5k ladies smashing their first week!)
(Compulsory Ambassador selfie)
(Proud run leaders)
The age old saying, ‘girls can’t catch.’ What a load of rubbish. Let me tell you something about girls catching. Many women and girls struggle with catching a ball because they don’t often practise it. Why don’t they practise? Because traditionally in the UK, girls do not play the same sorts of ball games as boys. This means they don’t get to play cricket or rugby in school. They might play rounders but they have probably been told that they’re not very good at catching so then they didn’t really try very hard because they were embarrassed about not doing very well. Because they were told that it was scientific fact that they can’t catch very well. When these ladies left school they avoided catching balls like the plague because of their negative experiences in what used to be highly sexist system of school sports (fortunately things are changing now for the better). That’s why lots of women aren’t very good at catching. NOT because of their female anatomy.
You might think I sound angry and to be perfectly honest I am. I wish that all of my blog posts could be super happy and positive but that's not the reality of the world that we live in and it's important that we talk about the things that need changing too. Unfortunately, the belief that women are less able than men when it comes to sports is a huge factor preventing women from taking part in exercise and physical activity. After years of being told that we aren’t as good as the boys at sports we start to believe it. If I hear one more person tell me that I’m pretty strong “for a girl” I might scream in their face. Why has society always felt the need to belittle women in sports, making them believe that their gender makes them less able?
Anna Kessle’s amazing book Eat, Sweat, Play explores this in more detail. I found the chapter on female commentators very interesting. Anna looks at why women who commentate on traditionally male sports have such a hard time, is it their tone of voice or is it because they are female and believed to be less equipped for the job? It reminded me of when I saw a post on social media arguing that Sara Orchard should not be allowed to commentate on men’s rugby because she didn’t have the 'right voice' for it. This blew my mind (in a bad way.) The right voice for it?! This person was essentially saying that because she had a female voice, she wasn’t qualified to commentate on rugby. In reality Sara Orchard is a very knowledgeable and informative commentator and very good at her job. Just because she is a woman does not make her less able to engage with rugby.
Some women believe that they just aren’t sporty. I just ‘can’t run’ they tell me. Yes you can run, just because you can’t run 10km straight away doesn’t matter. Our ladies who are currently completing their Couch to 5k programs are living proof that ability is something that we gain as our fitness journey progresses. It's not dictated by our gender. A few weeks ago they were worried about running for one minute, now they can run for five minutes without stopping, soon it will be ten and then it will be twenty. These ladies have jumped the hurdle of ‘I can’t do it because I’m a woman’ and then they jumped the next hurdle of ‘I shouldn’t do it because I won’t be very good.’ They know that it doesn’t matter! It’s getting out there and giving it your best effort that is the most important thing. Leeds Girls Can welcomes women and girls of all abilities, we don't care if you get out of breath rushing for the bus or if you feel like your Zumba style is definitely 'Dad dancing.' We want to get as many women involved in physical activity as possible, regardless of ability, we're all about having fun, making friends and being active.
I mentioned Eat, Sweat, Play – it’s now my favourite book. If you’re interested in why and how women have traditionally been treated a certain way in the sports and fitness industry then you would really enjoy it. Whilst it highlights the problems, it is at the same time a really empowering and inspiring read. Leeds Girls Can are very lucky to have been gifted three copies of Eat, Sweat, Play by Pan Macmillan. Keep your eyes peeled for my final blog post in this ‘Fear of Judgement’ trilogy to find out how you could be in with the chance of winning a copy!
Until then, happy exercising and if somebody tells you that you can’t do something or you're not as good because you’re a woman, just tell them ‘This Girl Can.’
Em x
Facebook: Emily Ankers – Leeds Girls Can Ambassador
Instagram: @active.em.blog
Twitter: @active_em_blog
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