You play softball? In college? Do you get an athletic scholarship? These are the types of questions I get very often from people who do not quite understand my way of living. I am a female athlete, and through out my entire career of playing the sport I love, I have dealt with the many stereotypes that go with the sport. I know that many other female athletes have received the same types of questions, and have been given many different stereotypes, and I am here to put these stereotypes to rest.
1. Guy: "Wanna go one-on-one? I'll go easy on you."
Guys love to show their "superiority" in their sport. Even though guys are built to be bigger, stronger, and faster that does not always make them better. Too bad for the guy who tries to take on the girl in a basketball shoot around and loses, or the boy who thinks he can hit a home run off of the softball pitcher. Us girls don't want to have to show you guys up, but we can and we will.
2. "Wait, you're in Honors classes?"
As surprising as it is, us girls are actually kind of smart. Whether it be book smart, street smart, or common sense, us girls usually can take care of ourselves.
3. "Y'all don't practice as hard as guys do."
Because girls are not constantly drinking protein shakes, or lifting weights everyday, it is determined that we do not practice as hard as guys do. Some of us girls go and work out after or before our practices. You want to see us at the gym at 6am? We'll be there.
4. "Do you own anything besides sweat pants?"
Many female athletes have fallen to criticism for their style of clothing. It's not that we don't own any pairs of jeans, or dresses, but sweats are so much more comfortable. Wearing sweats does not make us any less feminine than the girl who wears dresses and skirts.
5. Our ideal date is not at a sports bar
Just because we play a sport does not mean that our lives revolve around ESPN. If you are taking us on a date, take us somewhere, where we can have meaningful conversation, not a bar where everyone is yelling at the TV.
6. No bow-lesbo
Every female athletic team has experienced the questions of "Are you a lesbian?", "How many lesbians do you have on your team?" Fun fact for everyone, there are lesbians that play sports, and there are straight people who play sports too! Being athletic does not determine how we identify our sexuality, and no one sport has more lesbians than another.
7. We are friendly
Even though we usually hangout with our sporting team, we do like having friends besides the people we spend every waking moment with. Having other friends gives us an outlet from always having to talk about our sport, and gives us a chance to talk about normal girl things.
8. We like to do other things besides our sport
Between the games, practices, and school work we do like to partake in other activities besides our sports. We like to shop, hike, go see movies, and many more. We don't just sit around waiting for the next event, we do try to have lives.
9. Just because we're athletes does not mean we know everything about sports
It has come to the point where in order for a girl to say she likes sports, she has to know the blood type, the birth date, and the family history of athletes in order to allow a guy to believe that she is a true sports fan. I am sorry, I did not realize that I had to know the intense family history of a famous athlete in order to be a fan of them.
10. We don't wear the pants in the relationship
Yes us female athletes are strong and independent women, but that does not mean we want to be the man in the relationship. We have our opinions, and we are going to say what we feel, but at the same time we want a man who is going to take charge and not be intimidated by us because we are athletic.
