Sports, mullets and Olympics

Watching the Olympics has been really great. It is one of my favorite things to watch - especially weightlifting and rugby. Two sports I've participated in. When softball comes back, I'll gleefully watch that as well. (Though I'm not all that impressed with all the ribbons in all the women's hair.) Ok actually I'm not going to let this go... I was watching rugby in the Olympics and there are strong ladies - gay and straight alike. There are ladies with short and long hair, and muscles. These are the women that play rugby.

I was just curious about an old acquaintance who was a softball player. Actually, I thought she was pretty hot. (I even named a dog after her.) In any case, I was taken back to the first few weeks of college. I wanted to play softball for a division I team and thought I was good enough. Let me cut to the chase - I wasn't good enough. But that isn't what this is about. It's about women and how they are being asked to present themselves.

I plain old had a mullet when I went to college. For some reason, in 1992, I thought they were attractive. It was a symbol of who I was. A major "Fuck You" to the place I grew up. Short sides and a party in the back. My hair was a symbol. I had always been an athlete and it was where I found peace and security to be myself - mullet and all. So when I went to college and my first roommate opened the door, looked at me, sighed and turned her back on me... I got a dose of reality. This is the same attitude that the coach of the KU team at the time had about women. There was no place for mullets or short hair on the softball field. (I know this wasn't the only reason I was cut, so I acknowledge that, but that attitude was real.)

It was around this time that I started noticing women in sports and their appearances more globally. They had long hair with ribbons. They were soft. Perhaps they even wore lipstick during games. When softball went pro and was televised, this became even more the norm. Then when it went to the Olympics in 1996...it was like I was looking at women so very different from myself. Even though, I knew (you always know) some of these women sold themselves. They were probably asked to grow their hair long and put on make up in order to maintain the public's standards of femininity.

So again. I was watching the Olympics today in 2016 and was very happy to see the butch, rugged women on the pitch playing rugby. I was happy to see the long and short haired muscular women on the lifting platform. Then, I flipped to a college softball game and once again - "who are these women??" Long hair and ribbons. As a culture, we've come a long way, but not really.

There is so much hate out there and putting each other down. We are all human beings, with unique identities and desires of how to project ourselves in the world. We need to build each other up and celebrate. Butch women. Straight women. Strong women. Large and small women. Mothers, daughters. Athletes and artists. Wear your mullet. Be strong and be proud.