Women Olympic athletes represent the most talented females in the nation at the highest athletic competition in the world. Their life is spent perfecting their athletic ability to compete on the world stage. As if that wasn’t enough, they are subjected to stereotypical societal norms of femininity that dictate how they should look and act. Women athletes’ displays of aggression, competition, and possibly violence in their sport are counter to what the traditional norms of femininity are. When they challenge these traditional gender norms, they may be seen as “too masculine” or labeled a lesbian for being aggressive and competitive, stereotypically masculine qualities. Many women athletes have to defend their heterosexuality off the field, to “apologize” for their masculine performance on the field. They overcompensate for their athletic prowess by emphasizing their femininity, thus creating the female apologetic.
“Night to His Day”:
The Social Construction of Gender by Judith Lorber
“Men with long hair may be addressed as ‘miss,’ and women
with short hair are often taken for men unless they offset the potential
ambiguity with deliberate gender markers.”
The female apologetic is a way for female athletes to emphasize their heterosexuality off the field, so that they can continue to perform on the field without scrutiny of their sexual orientation. This idea has been accepted and rejected by Team USA’s Women’s Soccer team. Abby Wambach rejects this notion by being completely comfortable with her sexuality and not conforming to the typical signifiers of femininity. Megan Rapinoe announced her sexuality in a lesbian magazine saying,“for the record: I am gay.” She’s proud of her sexuality and doesn’t take measures to cover it up. Homophobia is a widespread part of sport, so to announce her homosexuality and have the support of her team is a huge step in ridding sport of homophobia.
"No excuses, no apologies"
Hope Solo, one of the world’s top goalkeepers, spends much of her time off the field promoting her sex appeal. She has done many modeling deals and even had an appearance on Dancing With the Stars. With her hair and makeup done, and her costume a little revealing, she received one of the highest scores of the night, but it came with criticism:
