Sports have been the most continuous aspect of my life, besides my family, of course. My first words were "Michael Jordan," and it's pretty clear that sports and Liz are synonymous. Growing up I was playing soccer, basketball, or softball, or watching college and professional football, basketball, baseball, and soccer with my brothers and dad. I love sports. I love being an athlete. And I love being a girl.
As much as I love sports, I hate being labeled as a tomboy. For some reason the tomboy label immediately makes people think you’re less girly. In high school, I played varsity basketball and some of my guy friends asked me how it felt playing with a bunch of lesbians and openly questioned the sexuality of many of my teammates. Besides being extremely offended, I was shocked. Some of my teammates were gay or bisexual, but most of them were not. We wore basketball shorts or sweatpants, listened to Drake over Selena Gomez, and never wore our hair down. I still don’t understand how being a serious female athlete erases the fact that we are in fact female. Saying that a sports-loving girl is not feminine is like saying that a sports-hating guy is not masculine: offensive, judgmental, and totally inaccurate.
Don’t get me wrong, I would watch a rivalry UNC-Duke basketball game over a chick flick any day, but that doesn’t mean I’ve lost all femininity. I drink beer over mixed drinks, watch TNF (Thursday Night Football) over HTGWM ("How To Get Away With Murder"), play fantasy, prefer sweatpants and t-shirts over boots and sweaters, and most of my friends are guys. I can talk and spit facts about the basketball and football greats for hours with my guy friends, and can't keep quiet when a sports game is on. But being a tomboy has its drawbacks.
As a tomboy, I am constantly seen as the girl who “doesn’t care.” Maybe its because I don’t wear nice clothes to class every day. Maybe its because I have absolutely no idea what the Kardashians are up to lately. Maybe its because I like my coffee black over my triple pump caramel latte. Or maybe its because I absolutely hate Pinterest, loathe Bride Day Friday, and HGTV actually puts me to sleep faster than the most boring physics lecture I’ve ever sat through. Whatever it is, society sees me as not “girly” enough, and frankly it's an unjustified label.
To all who, at this point, think I despise everything girly and mainstream, get ready. My favorite TV-show of all time is "Gilmore Girls," and I’ve seen every Nicholas Sparks movie and cry every time I watch one. I love shopping; my favorite store (besides Dicks Sporting Goods) is H&M. I actually almost never leave my apartment without makeup, even when I wear sweats. I have as many pairs of heels as I have Nikes, which, trust me, is a lot. And if my nails are unpainted, chipped, or short at all, I have a panic attack.
Guys see me as one of the guys. Girls see me as one of the guys. But I am not one of the guys! Just because I spend my weekends watching football and check my ESPN app more than my Instagram likes, does not mean I want to be labeled. I love being able to bash Urban Meyer and praise Wilt Chamberlain, and I will probably wear a sports t-shirt every day. But like also am extremely self-conscious about my weight. I absolutely love pumpkin. I overthink everything, whether it’s about romantic relationships or how the girl across the dining hall looked at me funny. I religiously keep a journal, multiple journals of writings and drawings actually, containing my innermost thoughts and secrets. I’m pretty sure if I ever lost one of them I’d die. I’ve spent hours crying over boys. And I jump at the opportunity to take cute pictures with my girlfriends.
I love sports, probably more than anything else. I am still a girl. And I hate being labeled a tomboy.
