Le Tennis!!!

This week is the second week of the Australian Open Tennis grand slam. I've been keeping up with one of my favorite players, Serena Williams, and while watching one night one of the commentators made a reference to her physique, and it just got me thinking about the sport and its players. Men and women do not play each other in singles, and only in mixed doubles - this already suggests a view of unequality among men and women. I must say, however, that I agree that men are physically different from women and ultimately, can play harder, longer, and better. What struck me as interesting though was Serena Williams herself. Many commentators and others thought that she, a very atheletically built woman, was too "beefy." They felt that she had too much muscle mass. I really don't understand why they would feel this, when Serena is currently ranked 2nd in the world in women's tennis and could possibly be 1st by the weekend. The funny thing is, the same amount of muscle on a man is...expected. So why is it a problem on a woman's body? I will admit, that I personally wouldn't want to be that cut but as a professional tennis player I would love it. Also with tennis and gender, there is a definite increase use of power on both the women and men's side. Yet, women and men are starting to play more and more like each other - almost as if the rise of women in society trickled over to the atheletic world too. Though there are significant differences among women and men, women are steadily able to do everything that men do.

1/23/09 - WODU

Last week and earlier this week WODU has been talking about various topics concering relationships and gender. The first was more like an argument or discussion about what girls really want from guys. The second was about sex, and the third about issues in relationships. The first and the third discussions were really interesting to me. When I tuned in to the third discussion, the DJ was saying that he felt that he was not obligated as a man to tell his girlfriend if he was going to the movies with another female friend. So, his female co-host and the female caller said that women would then start to do what they wanted to with no explanation, and he didn't like that idea. I think that this confrontation stemmed from two things: men think that women are naturally insecure; and women think that men are more likely than themselves to be unfaithful in a relationship. It was interesting to me because when you sit down and think about it, we all have the chance to be insecure or unfaithful - so why is it that we believe these stereotypes? Maybe women aren't insecure, they just (unfortunately) derive their security from others, rather than themselves. Thus, if you are in a relationship with a woman, you have to understand that there is a very good chance that more of how she feels about herself comes from how you treat her than you think, so you have to be careful. So, when your attention deviates from her to anyone else, even if your heart is with her, she becomes concerned. In this case, women need to get their empowerment from within - men must be born with it or something (save this topic for another blog). Men, on the other hand, probably are more likely to cheat because they naturally think about sex more often than women and because they can get immediate gratification, thanks to some women (yet another blog). All in all, we are wrapped up in each others mess I guess.