My house is filled with superheroes and Star Wars figures. We are constantly dressing up as Darth Vader or the Flash and being "good guys and bad guys." Our home is also a sports house - we don our Baltimore Ravens colors, our Chicago Blackhawks jerseys and all three of us are feverishly praying for a Chicago Cubs World Series.
My husband and I always watch the Olympics, and this is the first year that my son has been old enough to really take notice and be able to follow along. What I have discovered, much to the credit of NBC, is the almost equal coverage of men's sports and women's sports. It's really fantastic to see not only men's shot put, but women's shot put as well! This year, more than other years, equal coverage has been well thought out, and my son has noticed - in a big way.
He wants to be Katie Ledecky.
And he wants to flip and do the vault with Simone Biles.
He is enamored with women in sports - and I assure you that it is not because he is sexualizing these women. He is genuinely excited and recognizes the elite skill these women possess as they display their athletic ability. He is cheering and yelling at the TV with us and jumps up and down with a clear win. He asks us questions about their training and their background. Never once has there been any reference to small volleyball bikinis, or sparkling gymnastics uniforms, or any other superficial question that the media asks. He is interested in these women as competitive athletes.
This is not to say that we haven't been giving men's Olympic coverage the same viewing time - because we have been. But when we see Michael Phelps with his 104th gold, right after women's 200 meter Fly, my son is still talking about our women being excellent swimmers.
I'm not sure if this excitement is from his own self discovery of how amazing women athletes are, or if it is because my husband and I have made a very conscientious effort to point out female athletes and their gold medal abilities, but either way, I'm happy.
I'm happy that my son is comfortable enough in his sense of personhood to cheer for the opposite sex. That he can recognize skill and talent in someone with different genitalia then himself. Women are well versed in this - growing up rarely seeing other women's talent displayed in the media. We grow up with our sports figures always being men, and it may be the first time we ever see a publicly televised women's event during the Olympics. If we, as women, can grow in a society that gives us men as sports role models, yet still be extraordinary athletes, why can't boys do the same?
I believe my son can. I also believe that the women in sports will do a wonderful job showing him how to be an excellent team player. How to be a graceful loser and a confident winner. Women in sports can also teach my son that he can have a family and still be fierce (thank you Kerri Walsh Jennings)! Women in sports will not emasculate my son. These women are brilliantly rounding out his physical and emotional sports abilities.
