Athletic Women Blog

"A word about the title of this book. The British traveler Richard F. Burton called Dahomey 'this small Black Sparta' for its militarism and subordination of the individual to the state. Its amazons resembled the women of Sparta in one respect: their bodies were hardened from childhood by physical exercise. Footracing, wrestling and spear-throwing were sports they probably shared; the Greek girls also threw the discus. (The African girls were more demure: they did not compete naked in public.) Spartan women kept in shape to breed male warriors, Dahomean amazons to kill them.
  Here, then, is the amazons' story."

(Amazons of Black Sparta : The Women Warriors of Dahomey, from the Introduction.)


Amazons of Black Sparta is an utterly fascinating book, certainly a must-read for anyone who frequents this blog. In this well-written, erudite account, Stanley Alpern takes us to a time (not that long ago) and place where traditional notions about gender are turned completely on their head and exposed for the sham that they are. Here you will learn about women who were the elite soldiers of a kingdom's army, and among the most feared soldiers on an entire continent. These women warriors were indeed formidable, and the professional soldiers who fought against them didn't hesitate to make that clear in their reports.

This book is a gold mine of gender-stereotype-demolishing facts. Perhaps chief among these, and spotlighted in the excerpt above, is how the Dahomey warrior women built their bodies, starting from a young age, into lethal weapons through intense physical training; observers frequently noted the Amazons' solidly muscled frames and superior strength, and even conceded that the women warriors of Dahomey were more powerful than their male counterparts. That translated to the battlefield—the ultimate test—where the Dahomey warrior women consistently showed themselves to be superb fighters, easily the equals of the men they fought alongside and against.

Moreover, the stories of the Amazons' skill, bravery, and perseverance in the face of often insurmountable odds will amaze you. They truly were remarkable women. It will be good for more people to learn about them, and Amazons of Black Sparta serves that purpose well.

But there's a dark side to this book too, though it's no fault of the author's. Life isn't always pretty, and the world of the Dahomey warrior women starkly reminds us of that. Dahomey was, in fact, a totalitarian, war-making state with ties to slavery and human sacrifice. We see also throughout the book European colonialism for what it was: a horrible, corrupting influence on the African continent. And it should come as no surprise that racism sometimes rears its ugly head in the comments of white observers.

The Amazons, of course, had their faults as well. The book doesn't gloss those over either. Yet you never lose the feeling that these women were special. Often expected to do the impossible, they marched proudly off into battle when certain death awaited many of them. It's hard not to admire the Dahomey Amazons, even knowing they could be ruthless at times.

The book comes with ample notes, bibliography, and index. It would be a worthwhile read for anyone interested in African history, military history, gender studies, or Amazon feminism. I can safely say that you won't find many books that are as eye-opening as this one, or as well-written.

If you haven't seen UConn's star freshman forward in action yet, you're in for a treat. Maya's phenomenal athleticism (she can leap 26" with a single step, higher still with a running start) is already daunting opponents and allowing her to post huge numbers. (You get an idea of how powerful Maya is just from looking at this picture.)

A running theme of this blog has been that women are gaining ground in strength and athletic ability, a trend that shows signs it's accelerating. If this trend is allowed to continue its natural course (i.e., it isn't stunted by a backlash from reactionaries), women will eventually match, and actually exceed, men in many measurements of strength and athletic performance. Maya Moore is a prime example of how fast that day is approaching.

It was recently announced that Laila Ali will host a new reality show on the N network, and what is even bigger news, she has also signed on to co-host American Gladiators.

I'm thrilled that we'll get to see more of Laila. (But then, she is # 1 on my list of favorite athletes.) There is, however, one drawback: chances are fading that we'll catch her in the ring again, much less with Mary Jo Sanders or Ann Wolfe, which is unfortunate—both deserve a big payday and would give Laila a tough fight.

It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge Justine Henin's amazing season, consummated yesterday, in Madrid, with a huge win over Maria Sharapova. You can read about her battle with Maria, and much more, over at Justine's official site.

Evidently, that would be the folks in charge of casting the upcoming JLA movie; that is, if you put stock in the latest round of casting rumors. The actress now said to have a lock on the role—Teresa Palmer—is a dainty 5'5" blonde. I don't know about you, but that's not quite how I picture Wonder Woman.

Let's be clear about this: There are physically powerful women. Most of us accept and appreciate that fact now. But we also know that these women are typically athletic looking with substantial builds, not delicate types. Thus a wispy Wonder Woman is no better than a spindly Superman; each is just as farcical as the other.

Despite the discouraging rumors, I continue to hope that WB and Jeff Robinov will live up to their words and really get behind strong female characters. And they could get off to a good start by putting an actress who exhibits physical strength in the Wonder Woman role.