The sports scene in America has predominantly been a testosterone-dominated arena. With the word "athlete" came the stereotypical image of a thirty-something male with a "manly" persona--buff arms, a passion for "boyish" hobbies, and an intimidating snarl that boasts of strength. But this year, the ESPY Awards proved that athleticism is a trait that can be found universally despite age, gender, or sexual orientation. Specifically, the ESPY Awards defied age and gender identity prejudices, bestowing 14-year-old Mo'ne Davis and transgender Caitlyn Jenner with prestigious awards.

Let's start with Mo'ne, the Little League Baseball star. She is both young--not even in high school yet--and a female. Over her past year's ascent to fame, she has received quite the dosage of hate. In March, a Bloomsburg University baseball player shared his disdain for Mo'ne's popularity in a vulgar tweet where he deemed the young girl a "slut." And even worse is his reasoning for his inappropriate name-calling: Mo'ne is going to be the subject of a Disney movie. In response to the hate-tweet, the Bloomsburg athlete was kicked off of his college team. Mo'ne, as graceful as she is strong, responded by saying that she wanted the player back on the Bloomsburg team.

Despite the prejudices Mo'ne faces as both a child and a girl, she proves to be a strong contender in all of her endeavors. As an eighth grader, she played on the varsity high school soccer and basketball teams, becoming a breakthrough athlete as both a student and a national phenom. ESPN rightfully awarded her for her accomplishments with the Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award. Her contenders included an all-male ballot including professional football and golf players. As a culmination to her accomplishments over the past year, her hardware from the ESPYs marks her homerun for feminism. She thrives at what America deems to be a man's sport, and her ESPY achievement helps to shatter the gender-specific qualification for baseball.

Now onto Caitlyn Jenner, whose multifaceted personality gleams like a diamond. Her win represents acceptance. Her win represents being true to oneself. Her win represents the confidence, happiness, and beauty of each individual.

Caitlyn Jenner proved herself as an athlete long before she introduced herself to the world. She dominated in the 1976 Summer Olympics Men's Decathlon. However, when she--then known as Bruce Jenner--received the gold medal, she wasn't receiving it as herself. Jenner struggled with her gender identity up until this spring when she transitioned from Bruce to Caitlyn. Nearly 30 years later, she is finally accepting her rightful honors for her extensive achievements as her true self: the fierce, the beautiful, the courageous Caitlyn Jenner.

By receiving the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2015 ESPYs, Caitlyn Jenner showed the world that when you accept yourself, others will, too. However, Jenner and the transgender community still face tremendous strife. But Jenner isn't only fighting for herself or solely for the transgender movement, but she is fighting for acceptance regardless of any differences. We should all follow Jenner's lead--as she advocates for universal acceptance--and submit to our true selves while encouraging our family, friends, and strangers to commit to being themselves, as well. And let's all just take a moment to admire not only the inner beauty of Caitlyn Jenner, but also the outer beauty--I mean, come on, look at how she kills it in that dress!

So, I'd say that this year, the award goes to acceptance. The ESPY Awards showed the progress our nation has made in spurning stereotypes, as award winners didn't let what was expected of them as a woman, a child, or a transgender hold them back from achieving their dreams.

Also, a special shoutout to the Women's U.S. Soccer Team for scoring many goals for feminism at the ESPY awards by taking home the Best Team award.