Run Like A Girl

By: Zoey Goldstein

 

The year was 2018. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins and my hands were trembling as I placed my fingers behind the line and adjusted my feet in the blocks. In the seconds before the gun went off, my body was poised, like a slingshot pulled back and stretched to its capacity, ready to be released. This was the biggest crowd I’d ever raced in front of, the highest stakes I’d ever competed under. The gun sounded and it was though my legs were moving on autopilot. I was in lane 8, running blindly the first leg of the fastest heat of the women’s 4×4 at New Balance Nationals. Knowing I was racing some of the fastest quarter-mile runners in the country, my coach’s words repeated in my head, “They are going to pass you. When they do, don’t freak out, just stay as close to them as you can.” As I neared the 200 meter mark without yet being overtaken, I started to second guess myself and wonder whether or not the gun had been fired twice, indicating a false start and for the runners to return to the starting line. How else could I possibly still be ahead? As I rounded the final turn, one of my competitors finally came into view. It was a lactic acid induced battle as we hurdled ourselves down the final straightaway, neck and neck. It was hard to tell who handed off the baton first, but I later discovered that we both ran 54-second splits, the fastest split of my entire track career. When our anchor leg crossed the finish line, we became All-Americans; running the third fastest 4×4 time in the nation. It was a surreal experience, one of the proudest moments of my life, and one that, if it were 100 years prior, likely never could have occurred. My name is Zoey Goldstein and I am currently a member of the Penn State track and field team. My sport is my passion and a huge part of my identity. If I had been born in the early 20th century, however, my identity would have been entirely different.

 

The year is 1918. For most women, the only running allowed was running a load of laundry. None of my track experiences would have been possible for me had I been alive back then.. During this time period, women’s role in society was mainly to be a good wife, have children, be a good mother, and cook and clean. Women were thought of as the “weaker sex”, both in terms of physical strength and in terms of intelligence. As a result, it was thought that the woman’s place was in the home, not in the workplace. If they did work outside of the home, it was often in clerical and teaching positions or in factories and clothing mills. Their choice of work was limited by misconceptions about their strength. For example, they were prohibited from working in jobs that involved lifting anything that weighed as little as 15 pounds (WIC 2020). This attitude transferred into the sports arena too. A stigma existed. Telling a boy, “you run like a girl” was an insult, implying that they could not run fast, that they ran like “sissies”. In addition, there was a concern that participating in athletics would compromise a woman’s ability to have children and, therefore, make her less attractive to men (Schwarb Summer 2019). So, while there were some women in sports during this time frame, it was not the norm. 

 

As women fought for and then won the right to vote in 1920, women started to pursue new job opportunities typically reserved for men (WIC 2020). The world began to open up for women in America and that world included competitive sports. As more women participated in sports, perception began to change, but it was slow. Mildred Ella Didrikson, who became known as Babe Didrikson, excelled in golf, basketball, baseball, and track and field. At the 1932 Olympics, she won gold medals in both the hurdles and the javelin, and a silver medal for the high jump. She continued her athletic career focusing on golf and helped establish the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) in 1950, and won 14 consecutive golf tournaments at the height of her career. These amazing accomplishments were overshadowed, though, by public criticism that she was not feminine enough. This prompted Babe to take classes to learn how to be more lady-like, wear make-up, style her hair, and dress like a lady to try and fit the societal mold (KNBR 2020).

 

When did things begin to improve for women in sports? June 23, 1972. On that day, President Nixon signed Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 into law. Title IX stated that, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” (History.com 2020). This legislation required elementary, secondary, and post-secondary schools to offer equal access for both males and females to all educational programs, from career and technical education programs to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education to athletics to help all students succeed in school and beyond (NCWGE 2012). Required changes specific to athletics include allocating the same resources, such as practice times, sports equipment, and coaching to women’s programs as to men’s programs. In addition, scholarship money had to be equitable so that the percentage of the scholarship budget awarded to men matched the percentage of scholarship budget awarded to women (History.com 2020). 

 

Title IX was extremely influential and significant in influencing the number of women in sports. In terms of high school athletics, during the 1971-72 school year, only seven percent of high school athletes (fewer than 300,000) were female. This increased to 41 percent (nearly 3.2 million) in the 2010-11 school year. Similar improvements have been seen in collegiate athletics.  In 1971–1972, less than 30,000 women participated in college sports. This number increased to over 190,000 by 2010–2011. The amount of school athletic budgets allocated to women has also improved significantly.  In 1972, only two percent of schools’ athletic budgets were applied to women’s sports. This increased to 40 percent in 2009–2010. Before Title IX,  athletic scholarships for women did not exist. By 2009-2010, women received nearly half (48 percent) of the total athletic scholarship funds at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I schools (NCWGE 2012).  Division I schools are also getting closer to reaching gender equity. As of 2019, 47 percent of student athletes are women and 53 percent are men. In addition, women’s NCAA teams now outnumber men’s teams, with 53.6 percent of the teams being in women’s sports (Schwarb Nov. 2019). 

 

One of the early beneficiaries of Title IX was Jackie Joyner Kersee. Jackie was born in 1962 and started high school shortly after this legislation was implemented. During high school, she excelled in numerous sports, including track and field, basketball and volleyball. Due to her success, Jackie received a full scholarship to attend the University of California, Los Angeles. She went on to become one of the greatest track and field athletes in American history, competing in four different Olympic Games and winning two gold, one silver, and two bronze medals (Biography.com 2020). 

 

Mant other advances in women’s sports have taken place since the implementation of Title IX. Perhaps most notably, in 1975, just three years after Title IX was enacted, Brown University funded what is considered the first women’s varsity soccer team in the United States. Over the next decade, other colleges followed suit and soon there were enough teams to support a national women’s soccer championship. The sport’s success led to international competitions with the U.S. women’s soccer team winning the Women’s World Cup in 1991. Women’s soccer was then added as an Olympic sport in 1996, during which the U.S. women’s soccer team won the gold medal. In 1999, they won the Women’s World Cup again. It was at that game when one of the players, Brandi Chastain, took off her jersey in celebration, revealing her sports bra. This was considered by many to be inappropriate and highlighted that bias against women in sports still persisted. Despite this, the success of the U.S. women’s soccer team continued with countless more World Cup and Olympic victories (Schwarb Summer 2019). 

 

Other success stories in women’s sports include the following:

 

• Not too long ago, in 1990, there were just over 6,000 registered female hockey players in the U.S. and only approximately 15 collegiate programs. Now, 20 years later, there are nearly 60,000 registered females, 37 collegiate programs, 86 NCAA Division I and III programs, and numerous international competitions, such as the Olympics. The U.S. women’s ice hockey team earned its claim to fame winning their first Olympic gold medal in 1998, and an additional two silver medals and one bronze since then. This is a massive accomplishment for women in this sport, considering that back in the early 1990s, even a youth women’s ice hockey team was a rarity (Amidon 2010-12).
• In 1996, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) was created with eight teams of 12 players each. The first season started in 1997 and continues to this day. The WNBA is now comprised of 12 teams (WNBA 2020).
• Additionally, the NFL now has a female coach, Jen Welter, and a female official, Sarah Thomas. The Arizona Cardinals hired Jen Welter in 2015 as a part-time coach with a focus on inside linebackers, making her the first female NFL coach in history. That same year, Sarah Thomas was hired as the first female full-time on-field official (Kern 2020).

 

Thanks to countless female athletes and one unlikely man, President Richard Nixon, “run like a girl” is now closer to meaning running with speed, agility, and fierceness. Despite this progress, many barriers still exist. For example, in addition to having fewer participation opportunities, girls often experience inferior equipment, facilities, coaching, and publicity to boys. Additionally, at NCAA Division I schools, only 42 percent of the total athletic scholarship funding, 31 percent of the dollars spent to recruit new athletes, and 28 percent of the total money spent on athletics was allocated to female student-athletes (NCGWE 2012). Perhaps the hardest barriers to overcome, though, are those related to individual attitudes. Sadly, there are still people who oppose Title IX. These individuals try to reduce the effectiveness of the legislation through media attacks, legal challenges, and governmental appeals. They maintain that females are less interested in sports than are males, and that providing females with equal opportunities discriminates against males (NCGWE 2012). Change happens one person at a time. So next time, when someone tells you that you run like a girl, say thank you and ask them which one.

 

References 

 

Amidon, Michael. “Opportunities for Females in Ice Hockey.” USA Hockey Magazine, 2010-12.

https://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2010-12/opportunities-females-ice-hockey. Accessed 22 Nov. 2020.

 

Biography.com Editors. “Jackie Joyner-Kersee Biography.” Biography, 30 Jan. 2020. https://www.biography.com/athlete/jackie-joyner-kersee. Accessed 22 Nov. 2020.

 

History.com Editors. “Title IX Enacted.” History, 20 Jun. 2020. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/title-ix-enacted. Accessed 22 Nov. 2020.

 

Kern, Mason. “Jen Welter and the Backstory on the NFL’s Female Coach Pioneer.” SI, 19 May 2020. https://www.si.com/nfl/cardinals/news/jen-welter-coaching-intern-first-female-coach. Accessed 22 Nov. 2020.

 

KNBR. “The ‘Greatest All-Sport Athlete’ Who Helped Revolutionize Women’s Golf.” KNBR, 2020, www.knbr.com/news/the-greatest-all-sport-athlete-who-helped-revolutionize-womens-golf. Accessed 22 Nov. 2020.

 

National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education (NCWGE). “Title IX at 40: Working to Ensure Gender Equity in Education”. NCWGE, 2012. https://www.ncwge.org/PDF/TitleIXat40.pdf. Accessed 22 Nov. 2020.

 

Schwarb, Amy Wimmer. “How Women Got a Foot in the Game.” NCAA Champion Magazine, Summer 2019. http://www.ncaa.org/static/champion/how-women-got-a-foot-in-the-game/. Accessed 22 Nov. 2020.

 

Schwarb, Amy Wimmer. “More College Students than Ever Before are Student-Athletes.” NCAA, 19 Nov. 2019. http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/more-college-students-ever-are-student-athletes. Accessed 22 Nov. 2020.

 

WNBA. “Frequently Asked Questions: WNBA.” WNBA, https://www.wnba.com/faq/. Accessed 22 Nov. 2020.

 

Women’s International Center (WIC). “Women’s History in America.” WIC, http://www.wic.org/misc/history.htm. Accessed 22 Nov. 2020. 

 

I really enjoyed this assignment because it allowed me to intertwine my own personal experiences into the paradigm shift of my choice. I chose to do my TED Talk on the history of women in sports and the shift brought about by Title IX. One thing I will say about the assignment is that I would definitely have preferred to do this presentation in person, of course, because I am such a perfectionist and I spent way too much time redoing the voice thread! However, overall, I think it went well and I thought it was a refreshing break from all my other generic assignments.

On another note, one idea I had for the History of a Public Controversy Project was the controversy behind climate change. Although there is evidence to show that climate change is occurring, many people still refuse to believe it. This could be an interesting topic to explore, due to its kairos and the impact it will have on our planet if not reversed or at least slowed down.

 

Paradigm Shift Presentation-2

Failure: Bad or Good?

The road to success looks different for each person who travels it. We don’t all have the same destination so we can’t possibly have the same journey. Sometimes your road to success can begin with failure. It’s a common misconception when we see someone successful that we idolize, we tend to put them on a pedestal, and believe that they can never make mistakes. We assume that their road to success was a straightforward highway drive in cruise control. In reality, however, in many cases it wasn’t with luck or natural born talent that they ended up where they are today, it was with persistence, even in the face of failure. So, perhaps failure is not always bad. My two artifacts both use failure to inspire success, but in different ways. One artifact is a Gatorade advertisement that uses the negative feelings associated with failure as motivation to work harder. The other artifact is the “You Failed” scene from the Disney movie, Meet the Robinsons, which celebrates failures as learning opportunities.  The Gatorade ad explicitly uses the commonplace that failure can lead to success with the slogan: “The Secret to Victory is Failure” while the Disney movie supports this commonplace with the motto: “Keep Moving Forward”. Both utilize pathos, kairos, ethos, and logos as well as other persuasive techniques to affect the behavior of the audience and convince them that failure is good, to keep trying, and, in the case of the Gatorade ad, of course, to buy Gatorade.

The Gatorade commercial provides examples of various acclaimed athletes and their roads to success and how they used previous failures to motivate them. For example, at the beginning of his road, Michael Jordan did not make his high school varsity basketball team. However, when you think of Michael Jordan, this is most definitely not the first thing that comes to mind. Instead, you might think of how he won six NBA championships for the Bulls, was named NBA most valuable player five times (Basketball Stats and History), signed a billion-dollar contract with Nike (Badenhausen), and became one of the greatest NBA players of all time. Serena Williams, who was ranked #1 in the world, lost to Roberta Vinci, who was ranked #43 in the world. It was the biggest upset in tennis (Bialik), but it didn’t stop her from achieving many more accomplishments. She won 23 Grand Slam titles, which is more than any other woman or man in modern tennis history. She became a four-time Olympic gold medalist. She won $93 million dollars in career prize money, which is more than any other female athlete (CNN Editorial Research). Finally, after starting his rookie season three and 13, Peyton Manning then went on to win two Super Bowls, hold five NFL MVP awards, make 14 Pro Bowl appearances, and have 14 4,000 yard passing seasons (Pro Football Reference).

The failures of these superstars legitimize the audience’s failures and compel the viewer to work as hard as these role models. The ad uses the commonplace of these familiar faces, which helps the watchers to relate to them. People think they know these athletes, simply from seeing their faces and hearing of their accomplishments, so the ad uses that as a starting point to begin to persuade them to do as they do. Although these athletes’ accomplishments and their rocky roads to success most likely have nothing at all to do with an energy drink, the commercial ends with clips of the athletes drinking Gatorade, with the caption: “Make Defeat Your Fuel…Gatorade: Win from Within”. This is a clever advertising tactic to make the audience feel as though something that all of these athletes have in common is the fact that they drink Gatorade. Therefore, if you, the watcher, drink Gatorade, you can be just like them.

Why is watching this commercial so moving? What feelings does it evoke in the audience? What about it persuades the audience to go stock up on Gatorade? The ad uses pathos to appeal to the emotions of its watchers. It’s inspiring to see how far these athletes have come and it gives the viewers reassurance that just because you fail now, it doesn’t mean you should give up. What if Michael Jordan quit basketball in high school? He would have had no idea what he could have accomplished had he stuck with it. The advertisement makes us think about a talent or passion that we have, and makes us feel as though we could be the next Michael Jordan! This artifact is unusual in that its kairos is unique to each viewer. Everyone has failed at some point in their lives, and each person connects this ad with their own individual moments. Even though Gatorade’s primary focus is on athletics, the theme of failure extends into everyday life, and, therefore, expands its audience. This ad uses ethos with some of the greatest athletes in US history, which gives it substantial credibility. The ad uses logos when connecting failure with working hard, working hard with success, and success with drinking Gatorade. It also connects the desire to be like these celebrities with drinking Gatorade. If Michael Jordan drinks Gatorade, it subsequently makes the viewer choose Gatorade over other sports drinks. Finally, the ad intrigues the audience through visual appeal, dramatic music, and catchy, inspirational quotes.

The “You Failed” scene from the Disney movie, Meet the Robinsons, displays a similar message to the Gatorade ad, but with a twist. Lewis, the main character, tries to fix a machine that distributes the proper mixture of peanut butter and jelly for a perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and fails miserably, spraying peanut butter and jelly all over the Robinson family. Rather than scold him, the Robinsons encourage his failure, stating: “From failure you learn, success not so much.” Various members of the family then talk about how, if they had given up every time they failed, they would not have created countless wonderful inventions. They share the family motto, which is “Keep Moving Forward” and then propose, “a toast to Lewis and his brilliant failure. May it lead to success in the future”. After the movie ends, right before the credits roll, a quote from Walt Disney is displayed and reads, “Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths” (Disney).

Although the Disney scene is not an advertisement, it uses the rhetorical proofs of ethos, pathos, and logos in ways that are similar to the Gatorade ad to promote acceptance of failures as inspiration to keep trying until you find success along with a familiar kairos and the well-known visual appeal of Disney animation. The ethos of Walt Disney gives significant credit to the theme as he is perhaps even more famous than Michael Jordan and the other athletes in the Gatorade ad. The pathos of the movie is established through the development of an emotional attachment to Lewis. The audience roots for Lewis and feels his pain in failure just as they do for the athletes. This scene uses logos to connect failure with celebration, and celebration with trying again. Contrary to the negative connotation of failure that the Gatorade ad presents, Meet the Robinsons advocates for a more positive approach to failure. Finally, similar to the Gatorade ad, the kairos of the movie scene is unique to the viewer. Everyone identifies with the various moments in their lives when they have failed.

The desire to be “perfect” has been a societal norm for eons. We strive to be something that doesn’t exist! It’s a system doomed to fail, which is ironic, because failure is discouraged. Despite what these norms tell us, failure isn’t the main concern; it’s how you pick yourself back up and what you do to fix it that matters. In the wise words of Gatorade and Walt Disney, “Make Defeat Your Fuel” and “Keep Moving Forward”.

Works Cited

The Secret to Victory. Gatorade. 2017. YouTube, uploaded by tv commercials, 15 Aug 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfYrPdC9JM0.

Meet the Robinsons. Walt Disney Animation Studios. 2007. YouTube, uploaded by Frith Sykes, 30 Nov 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3UqEps1r5E.

“Basketball Stats and History.” Sports Reference LLC.  https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jordami01.html. Accessed 18 Oct. 2020.

Badenhausen, Kurt. “The Inside Story of How Michael Jordan Became the World’s Richest Athlete.” Forbes, 3 May 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2020/04/17/the-inside-story-of-how-michael-jordan-became-the-worlds-richest-athlete/#428e95bf5276.

CNN Editorial Research. “Serena Williams Fast Facts.” CNN. 30 Sept. 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/13/us/serena-williams-fast-facts/index.html.

Bialik, Carl, and Benjamin Morris. “Roberta Vinci’s Upset of Serena Williams is the Biggest in Modern Women’s Tennis History.” 11 Sept. 2015, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/roberta-vincis-upset-of-serena-williams-is-the-biggest-in-modern-womens-tennis-history/.

“Pro Football Reference.” Sports Reference LLC. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MannPe00.htm. Accessed 18 Oct. 2020.

The road to success looks different for each person who travels it. We don’t all have the same destination so we can’t possibly have the same journey. Sometimes your road to success can begin with failure. It’s a common misconception when we see someone successful that we idolize, we tend to put them on a pedestal, and believe that they can never make mistakes. We assume that their road to success was a straightforward highway drive in cruise control. In reality, however, in many cases it wasn’t by luck or natural born talent that they ended up where they are today, it was with persistence, even in the face of failure. My artifact is a Gatorade advertisement that advocates for this message, using the commonplace that failure can lead to success with the slogan: “The Secret to Victory is Failure”. This ad utilizes pathos, kairos, ethos, and logos as well as other persuasive techniques to affect the behavior of the audience and convince them to buy Gatorade.

The commercial provides examples of various acclaimed athletes and their roads to success and how they used previous failures to motivate them. For example, at the beginning of his road, Michael Jordan did not make his High School varsity basketball team. However, when you think of Michael Jordan, this is most definitely not the first thing that comes to mind. Instead, you might think of how he won six NBA championships for the Bulls, was named NBA most valuable player five times, signed a billion-dollar contract with Nike, and he became one of the greatest NBA players of all time. Serena Williams, who was ranked #1 in the world, lost to Roberta Vinci, who was ranked #43 in the world. It was the biggest upset in tennis, but it didn’t stop her from achieving many more accomplishments. She won 23 Grand Slam titles, which is more than any other woman or man in modern tennis history. She became a four-time Olympic gold medalist. She won $93 million dollars in career prize money, which is more than any other female athlete. After starting his rookie season 3 and 13, Peyton Manning then went on to win two Super Bowls, hold 5 NFL MVP awards, make 14 Pro Bowl appearances, and have fourteen 4,000 yard passing seasons.

The failures of these superstars legitimize the audience’s failures and compel the viewer to work as hard as these role models. The ad uses the commonplace of these familiar faces, which helps the watchers to relate to them. People think they know these athletes, simply from seeing their faces and hearing of their accomplishments, so the ad uses that as a starting point to begin to persuade them to do as they do. Although these athletes’ accomplishments and their rocky roads to success most likely have nothing at all to do with an energy drink, the commercial ends with clips of the athletes drinking Gatorade, with the caption: “Make Defeat Your Fuel…Gatorade: Win from Within”. This is a clever advertising tactic to make the audience feel as though something that all of these athletes have in common is the fact that they drink Gatorade. Therefore, if you, the watcher, drink Gatorade, you can be just like them.

Why is watching this commercial so moving? What feelings does it evoke in the audience? What about it persuades the audience to go stock up on Gatorade? The ad uses pathos to appeal to the emotions of its watchers. It’s inspiring to see how far these athletes have come and it gives the viewers reassurance that just because you fail now, it doesn’t mean you should give up. What if Michael Jordan quit basketball in high school? He would’ve had no idea what he could’ve accomplished had he stuck with it. The advertisement makes us think about a talent or passion that we have, and makes us feel as though we could be the next Michael Jordan! This artifact is unusual in that its kairos is unique to each viewer. Everyone has failed at some point in their lives, and each person connects this ad with their own individual moments. Even though Gatorade’s primary focus is on athletics, the theme of failure extends into everyday life, and, therefore, expands its audience. This ad uses ethos with some of the greatest athletes in US history, which gives it substantial credibility. The ad uses logos when connecting failure with working hard, working hard with success, and success with drinking Gatorade. It also connects the desire to be like these celebrities with drinking Gatorade. If Michael Jordan drinks Gatorade, it subsequently makes the viewer choose Gatorade over other sports drinks. Finally, the ad intrigues the audience through visual appeal, dramatic music, and catchy, inspirational quotes.

The desire to be “perfect” has been a societal norm for eons. Despite what these norms tell us, failure isn’t the main concern: it’s how you pick yourself back up and what you do to fix it that matters. In the wise words of Gatorade, “Make Defeat Your Fuel”.