International Women’s Day is a chance to celebrate the achievements of any woman, regardless of their background. It was a chance for us to reflect on and reminisce about the greatest achievements in women’s sports, from Billie Jean King in tennis to Kathrine Switzer in the Boston Marathon. However, many of the achievements that maybe haven’t gotten the recognition that they deserve are the achievements of women who are mothers in sport.
Being a mother and having a career are two separate things. Often, women are expected to juggle both. But when one affects the other it is inevitable that a woman will receive backlash. This is proven by the reception that mothers in sport receive, who are seen to either focus too much on their careers, or too much on their kids.
Traditional ideas lead women to feel like they should only be a mother, or only be an athlete, because otherwise they will be expected to do a bad job at both. However, recent stories have arisen to prove that a woman can be a successful mother, as well as a successful athlete. Many athletes have brought home Olympic medals, or even broken world records while their young children watch them, from home or in the stands. Some have even reached the peak of their career, after experiencing pregnancy and birth. They prove that women can pursue the traditional route of motherhood, but can also keep their career dreams alive.
Over the course of history, women have been perceived to have one use and one use only: childbearing. However, in recent times, women have been able to prove that they are so much more than that, pursuing careers that other women may have dreamed of for centuries. Thanks to the continuous fight that women took part in for decades, women’s rights have expanded to a position where they are almost equal with men’s. Almost.
In sports, women’s rights have been neglected up until around the 1970s-1980s. In previous history, women have tried to participate in elite-level sports, with attempts of inclusion in ancient Greek chariot racing [1], later lawn tennis, croquet, golf and sailing [2].
However these attempts were all highly condemned by men, even those in charge. For example, the founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre De Coubertin, a.k.a the man who is honoured at every Olympics opening ceremony, was highly against the inclusion of women in sports. He said “An Olympiad with females would be impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic, and improper.” And if you think that’s bad, he goes on to say “...no matter how toughened a sportswoman may be, her organism is not cut out to sustain certain shocks.” [3]
This idea that women’s inclusion in sports would be a negative thing for not only the spectators but also the women themselves had no evidence to back it up. However, a misogynistic comment in a powerful man’s mouth is a powerful comment. He didn’t need evidence, as he made all of the decisions. He could choose to exclude people based on his personal preference.
And other men started to get onside. It wasn’t a new opinion, that women shouldn’t be exerting themselves in any other way but doing the house chores, but it grew in prominence during the first feminist wave. The main concern around women’s sport, particularly to men, was how it could be of danger to their reproductive organs, because apparently that is all that a woman is worth.
Myths started to spread that “women could harm their reproductive organs if they participated in sports, which would make them unattractive to men, and that they only had a finite amount of energy in their bodies, and wasting that energy on sports or higher education would lead to weak offspring.” [1] And so, with these ideas spreading around society at a time of great reform for women, it was almost impossible to break this barrier in sports.
However, after women continued to fight for their rights and try and make their way into the sporting world, more research was conducted, and it was found that these rumours weren’t true. In fact we now know that is essentially the opposite. Women can benefit from physical activity, especially when they are pregnant: “People who have been athletes, or who have a routine prior to pregnancy should continue to exercise moderately,” says assistant professor of maternal foetal medicine Karen Florio of the University of Missouri- Kansas City. “Studies have shown that women who exercise in pregnancy have better outcomes.” [4]
But this led to more concerns from people (particularly men) around how these women would continue their careers while being mothers. In 1948 Fanny Blanker-Koen, a Dutch mother of two, was able to win four gold medals at the London Olympic Games. Despite the fact that she gloriously dominated the track in every event that she competed in, all that the public could focus on was the fact that she was a mother. “I got very many bad letters,” she said, “people writing that I must stay home with my children.” [5]
And it was this mindset that has kept so many women today from being athletes at the same time as being mothers. It has forced women into fear over doubts of whether to end their careers or just delay starting a family. It’s not a nice position to be in, as both things can be very important to women in the 21st century. Our very own Valerie Adams has even made comments on the subject, as a mother of two: “It definitely goes through athletes’ minds that they put off having kids because they don’t want to disappoint people,”
“However, they get to the end of their career and the regret of not having done it is more detrimental to them.” [5]
And it’s not just the mindset of the public that works against women wanting to become mothers. Many have the fear of losing sponsorships and their jobs if they have children, even if they plan on returning to the sport later. For many athletes, sponsorships are their sole source of income. But Nike didn’t care about that when US long-distance runner Kara Goucher was pregnant. In order for an athlete to be paid by sponsorships, they have to keep racing. And so, Goucher started scheduling races for as soon as three months after giving birth, preventing her from being able to be with her son when he got sick. [6]
It’s hard to balance it all when it seems like the world is against you. And that’s the thing, it doesn’t have to be. Had Nike continued sponsoring Goucher while she was on maternity leave from her sport, she would have been able to spend time in hospital with her child, and also had time to fully recover herself. This unfair partnership could lead to serious effects for mothers, physical and mental, if they are forced to return to their careers too soon.
Pregnancy and childbirth have various impacts on the body that are certain to decrease athletic performance, with recovery taking anywhere from several weeks to several months. This formed the general perception that women would stop playing competitive sport after they started to have children. However, some athletes actually managed to reach the peak of their careers after they had already had children. Fanny Blanker-Koen and Valerie Adams (who won a Commonwealth Games silver six months after giving birth via c-section) are just a few examples.
Another is Allyson Felix, a US sprinter who has now accumulated 11 Olympic medals, 7 of those being gold. Like Goucher, her partnership with Nike was also reduced when it was announced that she was having a baby. She dropped Nike’s new pathetic offer, and signed with a different company. Nike’s loss, because she then went on to win two gold medals in the Doha World Championships. [7]
These women have proven that it is possible to be the best in the world, even while being a mother. They show the incredible determination that it takes to do both, and therefore have every right as individuals to choose to continue their careers while also taking care of their children.
However, the unfair barriers that we put up for women in sport that want to (or already have) become mothers need to come down. It’s just a simple part of life that a woman may want to have a child. It’s another simple part of life that a woman may want to continue her career. There are so many examples that prove that women can do both, and people of power limit these because of how it will affect their major corporations such as Nike or the Olympics. We need to make sure that athletes are protected so that they can still have a family life while participating in their sports. Sorry to the men who thought they couldn’t, but women can actually take care of new life while also continuing to live theirs.
References:
Comments