By Donna Lopiano
Published: December 1, 2000
Submitted for publication in the Sports Business Journal - December, 2000
Time for a recount that has nothing to do with Florida and everything to do about girls and women. Numbers are important! Girls drop out of sports at a rate that is six times greater than boys by the age of 14. If a girl doesn't play sports by the time she is 10 years old, there is less than 10% chance she will be playing when she is 25. One to three hours of exercise a week over a woman's reproductive lifetime (the teens to about age 40) can bring a 20-30 percent reduction in the risk of breast cancer, and four or more hours of exercise a week can reduce the risk almost 60 percent. One out of every two women over the age of 60 are suffering from osteoporosis and we know that a lifetime of weight-bearing exercise can reduce this risk. In a 1989 study of female executives at Fortune 500 companies, 80% self-identified as having been "tomboys". Bottom line, we want all girls and women to be on the right side of these numbers.
In speaking engagements around the country, I encourage parents to start early in sending messages to girls that they can play sports. Whenever I suggest buying a young girl a ball and a glove, I hear new parents tell me about the differences between boys and girls…from a male inclination to climbing trees and shooting guns to a female preference for pink, Barbie and dancing. I still hear that boys "really do" embrace physical activity more so than girls. No doubt testosterone and estrogen are at play, but things like energy level, coordination, success, size and preference influence the kinds of physical activity we like, rather than make us inclined not to play at all. Bipedal living things like us and our children are meant to move. The question is whether we design environments which encourage our children to move and experiences which motivate them to move because it's fun and enjoyable. There are over 100 sport choices out there. The key is helping every girl and boy find one that's just right for them; one in which they can experience success, have fun and participate in for a lifetime. Love of sport and exercise knows no gender. Synchronized swimming and gymnastics are as important as football and baseball and if girls want to wrestle and boys want to dance, so be it. What is important is that girls get the same encouragement and messages about their ability to play sports and participate in exercise as we send to our sons and those messages begin earlier than you can imagine.
True story. On the occasion of the first birthday of my brother's first child, I went over to his house a few hours early to help with the party. I walked into the den and there was my brother Tom, sitting in front of the television set with his Giants jersey on, watching a Giants v. Redskins game. On his lap was his son, Matthew, in his identical Giants jersey with a Giants nurf football on his lap. On the occasion of every Giants first down, dad would bounce Mike up with his knees, raise both his arms into the air and issue a resounding yell, "Go Giants!" There was no doubt in my mind that by the age of three, Michael's room would be a palace of athletics privilege, chock full of every sports implement available. Before he could walk or talk, Mike's world would be full of images of men excelling in sports on television and throwing balls in picture books. One of Mike's favorite activities already was to hang on to his father's neck as he did push-ups every morning while watching SportsCenter. It wasn't long before he was happily buckled into the seat on his dad's bike. At age two he was swinging a plastic bat at a tossed whiffle ball in the back yard. There was never any doubt that Mike was going to play sports. No one asked whether he was interested. He wasn't ever given a choice. It was simply assumed and everyone acted as if this assumption was a given.
Before they talk, before they understand language, boys and girls get powerful messages about what we think they can do. These messages are self-fulfilling or self-defeating prophecies. Just picture a sister and brother, both aged three, are sitting on the floor next to each other opening presents; a scene soon to be repeated many times over during the upcoming holiday season. The boy receives a ball and a glove and the girl receives a toy stove. They look at their own and each other's gifts. It doesn't take much of an imagination to analyze the messages they are interpreting. The boy thinks to himself, "Boys have gloves. Boys play sports. My parents gave me a glove so I can play sports. My parents think I can play sports. Girls have stoves. Girls cook. Boys don't have stoves. Boys don't cook. Girls don't play sports." The girl thinks, "Girls have stoves. Girls cook. My parents gave me a stove so I can cook. My parents think I can cook. Boys have gloves. Boys play sports. Girls don't have gloves. Girls don't play sports."
Watch a Walt Disney movie. What messages do you see in how girls' and women's bodies are depicted? How are girls and women dressed? How do they move? And we all know how many times we are going to have to watch replays of Hiawatha on our home VCRs. For every 20 television shows on men's sports, there will be one on women's sports. When's the last time you saw a movie about women playing sports? Try buying a poster of a female athlete for your daughter's room -- bet you'll have trouble finding one! (Call the Women's Sports Foundation at 1-800-227-3988!)
The answer is simple -- make sure that the gifts we give our sons and daughters are not based on gender stereotyping of their interests or abilities. Our children are more likely to grow up being physically active (and therefore more healthy) if we do three things: (1) expose them to enjoyable, fun and successful movement experiences early, (2) make them see their parents participating in and enjoying sports and fitness, and (3) provide them with opportunities to watch others of their own gender having fun playing. And even if we do all of the above, we can't forget that the number one reason why kids play sports is because it is fun. It's no fun to strike out three times in a row or to try to kick a ball and miss. So, learning sport skills is as important as having the opportunity to play. Don't fall into the gender stereotypical trap of insisting that your son be highly skilled while telling your daughter that she should play "to be with her friends and have fun". For both, being skilled will dictate how much fun they will have playing sports with their friends. It is fun to be good at something -- to get hits, catch a pass or score a goal.
Now that the holidays are upon us, we get to dust off our shopping skills, and cast ballots which influence the future health and well being of our children -- even their business success. A very small investment now can pay off big later on. Boys get all the right kinds of messages about sports all of the time, from sports gifts to what they see on television. Girls are less exposed to gifts of sport implements and images of active, sports playing women. So, when you are checking out the toy store shelves this holiday season, pull off those items that tell that special girl in your life that she can play sports. Nowadays, finding a Barbie or Get Real Girl doll that is an athlete is just as easy as finding Suzie homemaker. Bats and balls won't hurt either. And don't forget the stove for your son!