Mo'ne Davis: Player of the Month

If you happen to follow the Little League World Series, then you couldn't miss all the hype around Mo'ne Davis and her opening game shutout in the Mid-Atlantic Regional championship. Sporty Girl Books has long been a supporter of girls playing baseball and is happy for the media attention surrounding the IDEA of girls playing all sports equally. Unfortunately, that also means that Mo'ne had to endure reporters from FOX news. Take a look at this clip.

More female friendly sport? 

Really?

REALLY?!?

The amazing thing about all of this attention was this 13 year old eighth grader's grace under pressure. Her focus on the game and on her team. She throws a 70 mile an hour fastball and can hit. She was on the Sports Illustrated! I love how she tells it like it is. "Just throw strikes. That's all you've gotta do. Just throw strikes." She cuts through the grown-up, sports industry, BS. She is clear, mature, and generous in this interview with ESPN. I hope you'll follow the link. (It wouldn't embed here on the blog.)

There's been a social media explosion around her performance. It's great to see sports celebs and other supporting her. I hope that she's able to navigate the hype and social media support without having to deal with the ever-present negativity, racism, and misogyny.

Congrat, Mo'ne!

Like a Girl

According to Better Than Ezra, "There are six and three quarter billion people in this world
And 51 percent of them are girls. You roll your eyes like I'm full of it, But I Googled that sh**" (Crazy Lucky). 

Have you heard this song? I love it. But that's another story.

I *did* Google it and they are pretty accurate.

So if half the population are girls, then how did "you throw (or run, or whatever) like a girl" become an insult? Why is it that the most insulting thing you can yell at a boy is that he does anything "like a girl."

I'm even guilty of it myself. I recently revised a sentence in my own manuscript where the main character (a girl) was disparaging herself for "whining like a girl." (I revised it to whining like a baby.)

Why do we do this?

Have you seen this video from Always? It's fabulous. Basically, volunteers were asked to demonstrate running or throwing "like a girl." Older volunteers (of both gender) demonstrate "like a girl" by using exaggerated movements, or floppy arms. Girls under the age of 10 just did the activity like themselves. 

The video brings tears to my eyes. As the mother of a tween girl, I'm very aware of the barrage of messages that she sees everyday. And while it might be subtle--the very real message is that "like a girl" is less than/not as good as the alternative.

We *should* run like girls, or boys, or whatever we happen to be. And do whatever it is (run or walk or throw or sing) to the very best of our ability. 

I can't get the video to embed, but here's the link. Watch it!

http://youtu.be/XjJQBjWYDTs