 |
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
|
|
|
Fighting an image
Female athletes must
face lesbian stereotype in so-called masculine sports
 |
|
Jennifer
drader/daily bruin senior staff |
| Sophomore Alaina Sudeith is a straight
club women’s water polo player at UCLA who feels that
her status as an athlete causes others to perceive her
as a lesbian. Coming out is consequently more common in
female sports because of this endemic reputation. |
| |
| By
Adam
de Jong
DAILY BRUIN
CONTRIBUTOR
adejong@media.ucla.edu
The day that Alaina
Sudeith began playing water polo, the way her peers perceived her
changed.
Before the UCLA sophomore joined the water polo
team at University High School in Irvine, her classmates knew her as
a tomboy. Afterward, many wrongly assumed she was a lesbian.
"There's a double-standard for men and women in sports
because men are encouraged to be strong and competitive, but if a
woman expresses any interest in sports, she's labeled as butch,"
said Sudeith, a member of UCLA's club women's water polo team.
"There is a homophobic backlash against straight female athletes,
and I find it to be pretty ridiculous."
Sudeith, like many
female athletes, has felt pressure from men to conform to
traditional stereotypes and stop playing sports. It's a predicament
that some female athletes have encountered both at UCLA and other
schools, especially on teams like softball, basketball and water
polo, which are commonly associated with lesbians.
"There
are two types of female student-athletes: those who are lesbian but
don't want anyone to know, and those who are straight and feel like
they have to prove they aren't homosexual," said Ronni Sanlo,
director of UCLA's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center.
"The perception is that they are all lesbian."
Since
enrolling at UCLA and joining the club water polo team, Sudeith said
that the perception that she is a lesbian has become more
pronounced. Fellow students have told her that she will lose her
femininity, become too muscular, and no longer fulfill society's
concept of the ideal woman.
"I've been told from guys on
campus that I shouldn't play sports because everybody would think I
was a lesbian, and no guys would be interested in me," Sudeith said.
"This was even from gay guys."
Such an unfavorable
environment forces many straight female athletes to try to prove
their heterosexuality, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
sociology Professor Jay Coakley said.
This phenomenon,
dubbed by Coakley as the "female apologetic," refers to the explicit
attempts of women to manage their appearance so that they look more
feminine and consequently more straight. Coakley said straight
female athletes will consciously put on makeup, don a skirt and high
heels and tie their hair in a ponytail to fight the perception that
they are lesbian.
"Historically, women's athletics has been
stereotyped as an area for lesbian women," said UCLA Associate
Athletic Director Petrina Long, who oversees life skills and spoke
on behalf of the athletic department. "That's a stereotype that has
been problematic for all women to deal with."
Sudeith said
that she has not consciously changed her own lifestyle to appear
more feminine and neither have some of the other UCLA female
athletes interviewed for this article.
"Our team is going to
bust our butts on the basketball court, not dress a certain way to
dispel perceptions," UCLA women's basketball coach Kathy Olivier
said. "That's what is sad about elite female athletes. People will
look at them and assume."
An easier way out
The
perception that many female athletes in some sports are lesbian has
been advantageous in at least one way.
It appears to have
made it easier for the female athletes who actually are lesbian to
come out.
While no current male professional athlete in any
of the four major sports is known to be openly gay, a slew of
high-profile lesbian female athletes have revealed their sexual
orientation. That list includes former world No. 1 tennis player
Amelie Mauresmo and the WNBA's Michelle Van Gorp. Tennis legends
Martina Navratilova and Billy Jean King were among the first lesbian
athletes to come out.
"For gay men, it's a little more risky
(to come out)," said Pat Griffin, an openly lesbian professor of
social justice education at the University of Massachusetts and the
author of the book, "Strong Women, Deep Closets: Lesbians and
Homophobia in Sport."
"Part of that is that team sports is
the last bastion of heterosexuality and male masculinity. For
lesbians, there are different issues."
One lesbian athlete
on a UCLA club sport agreed with Griffin, indicating that she did
not believe homophobia was nearly as prevalent in women's sports as
it is in men's athletics. Though she herself has not told any of her
teammates that she is a lesbian, she said it is because she prefers
to keep her sexual orientation a private matter so it does not
distract the team.
"Straight players are not taking their
coaches or teammates aside and telling them they are heterosexual,"
said the athlete, who spoke on a condition of anonymity. "I honestly
don't think there should be a difference, and I want to be treated
the same."
The athlete, echoing the sentiments of most UCLA
female athletes who were interviewed for this article, indicated
that openly lesbian athletes are not victimized by homophobia nearly
as much as their male counterparts. In fact, none of the lesbian
athletes interviewed said they were victims of homophobia – a far
cry from the several male athletes who already voiced their
concerns.
"If I were to come out, it would not be a big
deal, and I would most likely be treated the same," the anonymous
lesbian club-sport athlete said.
"I am not really afraid of
being ostracized by my teammates. I know that girls (at UCLA) have
come out to their teammates or coaches, and it was nice for them to
get it off their chests."
An open atmosphere
Lesbian
athletes at other schools haven't always enjoyed the support that
they seem to receive at UCLA.
At the University of Florida
in 2003, former softball player Andrea Zimbardi was allegedly
dropped from the team in her senior season because she is a lesbian.
More than one decade earlier, Penn State women's basketball coach
Rene Portland admitted to having a team rule, banning all lesbians.
But at UCLA, lesbian athletes don't seem to have too many
complaints.
"Every girl I know that's a lesbian out on a
team has had no issues," said a straight female athlete at UCLA, who
wished to remain anonymous.
The athlete said she knew of a
varsity team at UCLA with a considerable number of lesbian members,
most of whom have come out and none of whom have experienced any
problems. The explanation for this, she said, is that women's teams
are more tight-knit.
"For girls, we're a family," she said.
"We make everyone a birthday cake and take care of one-another when
we're sick. Guys teams', it's manifested a bit differently."
Since there is no specific policy related to homophobia at
UCLA, the best way to handle issues of sexual orientation is left up
to the coaches themselves.
Olivier said she will only
intervene if her team comes to her with a problem. UCLA softball
coach Sue Enquist said she prefers to stay out of her players'
private lives.
"I've instilled a foundation of respect in my
team, and I've told everybody to understand the differences they
have between each other, whether it be sexual preference, religion
or race," Enquist said.
"Hypothetically, if I ever came
across a case of homophobia, I'd speak individually to both parties,
figure out what the perceptions were, try to come to an
understanding, and direct them to the appropriate resources."
With reports from Jeff Eisenberg, Gilbert Quińonez, Andrew Finley
and Seth Fast Glass, Bruin sports senior staff
Correction: The print edition of this article mistakenly
referenced Cat Reddick, a U.S. women's soccer player, as a lesbian
athlete. Reddick was not contacted for the article and has not
identified herself as gay. A reporter unintentionally included her
name, and the error was not corrected during the editing
process.
| |
|
|
| Printable
Version |
| Click
here for a printable version of this
article. |
A D V E
R T I S E M E N T
|
|
|
|
|
|
