In most setups, corporate and otherwise, probably since the beginning of time, there’s always been debate about the appearance of women. How we present our hair, what shoes we’re in, what we have or haven’t tucked in. As you may have guessed it, it is no different in Sport. I imagine it is the case for Administrators, Coaches, Players off the pitch, Referees, Commentators and Analysts. There is that uncommunicated but clearly communicated directive to try our very best to find a way to leave our femininity by the stadium gate or by the studio door.
You can already see us sporting our version of the penguin attire, ever so elegantly; the 2 piece suite, complemented by a shirt that isn’t too loud or distracting, particularly by the bust area. Hair that is both beautiful and unassuming and just the lapel microphone as one’s only accessory if you’re a broadcaster. Why do you think this is? Why must we check our femininity at the door before we can fix our lips to utter anything sport? How is the way I choose to present myself a hindrance to the job? Why is it part of respectability politics? As I write this I realize just how unhealthy and absurd this is for all genders.
Now I’m no Psychologist, no Behavioural Specialist – I’m hardly a fully baked Sportscaster. But one thing I have been for all of my existence is a woman and as of circa 2012, a woman in sport, so this very quiet conundrum has been part of my preparation for years: “Note book? Check. Headphones? Check. Now what do I wear so as to look like I know how do that which I have proven I can do for years?”
Like most oppressed groups, one of the ways up the oppressor-built ladder is assimilation. If I can find a way to hide my very obvious Blackness or in this case my very obvious womaness, maybe my credibility will not be constantly on the chopping block – a strategy that obviously hasn’t worked for both the aforementioned groups. If I dress like them, not stand out with my lipstick and large earrings and maybe add another bonus of entertaining and being a part of the very androcentric conversations and banter, maybe I’ll be “one of the boys”.
One of the boys: a state that some women have to slip into in order to have at least half of the floor.
Some of it is rooted in prejudicial attitudes to sexuality. She cannot look too feminine, lest all her sporting knowledge disappears, wiped off as she applies her foundation. Another may have to show up feminine when she actually isn’t or does not want to because they might be discriminated against. All these accommodations we have to make are to ensure that the man is comfortable; he doesn’t feel too distracted or even aroused by your chosen presentation. On the other hand, just in case Mr-Power-That-Be is homophobic (which is mostly very likely), she has to look as feminine as acceptable. On top of the woman’s respective profession being inherently challenging to begin with, there are also these inhumane hurdles that she has to jump, hurdles that are literally tied within her hormonal composition. It is unfair at best, at worst pathetic.
A luta continua, a very familiar Mozambican-coined Portuguese phrase that represents resilience and the dedication to gaining/regaining whatever human or civil rights one is being robbed of. I am beyond impressed that that is the stance we as ladies take when faced with the various, sometimes very insidious prejudices.
I am nothing short of inspired by my sisters who have taken the collective stance of showing up as they are. In heels or in flats, face-beat or not, glammed up or not. We walk into these studios and stadiums as professionals, to work with professionals no matter my “levels of femininity” and certainly no matter what a grown, competent woman decided to wear.
The lives we live, like our forebears before us, we live for ourselves but our lives also inevitably contribute to the study of the human condition. When the study of how women navigated this unnecessary complication comes up, I’m proud to state that the future will be impressed by how myself, Lonwabo and you, woke up put on whatever level of womanhood and went to contribute to your profession with all the required competence and then some.
Some battles are won by simply demanding a win.
(0 rating, 0 votes, rated)
Loading...
