Saturday, April 26, 2008
At least he mentioned the fathers
I wish Lindsay Davenport--hell, I wish all women--would stop giving interviews about how women balance parenthood and career. No one ever asks men how they do that because the presumption is that they do not have to. The latest is ESPN's Greg Garber's "Davenport finding perfect balance between motherhood and competition." Same old thing. But at least Garber thinks to refer to the ATP fathers' attitudes about competing and having children; that's more than most journalists do.
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4 comments:
women had to give birth, ofcourse it's a lot harder for them physically. unless the men gave birth i dont think you should be judging
I'm aware that women give birth, which has nothing at all to do with what I'm talking about.
The dreary "How do they balance career and motherhood?" question is applied not because a woman has just given birth, but because she is a parent. Her children can be 12 and 14, and the woman--whether she is an athlete, executive, scientist, bus driver, or elected official--is still asked this ridiculous question over and over. But no one ever questions whether men can "balance" career and parenthood.
the questions themselves put pressure on women to claim to be superwomen who can not only balance kid and career, but can get their figures back by snapping a finger. which is all so unfair. but women don't have to keep playing along either.
You said it. When women agree to do such stories, they sadly prove how much internalized sexism exists. In the past, Davenport has stood up to certain types of sexism on the tour (most notably to Justin Gimelstob's sympathy for the sweaty WTA players in the locker room who must "compete" with glamorous ATP girlfriends), but she became part of it this time.
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