Female Athletes

This clip is from an exhibition match between two experienced wrestlers: Lauren, aka roguexkitty6, then 18 years old and 115 lb, and a 140 lb 28-year-old male. It lasts about four minutes:



You'll notice that Lauren used not only skill to defeat her opponent, she outmuscled him as well. She was the better, stronger athlete that day. This is not something we're used to seeing. Of course, competition between male and female athletes is still rare, too rare according to Playing With the Boys: Why Separate is Not Equal in Sports.

Intra-gender athletic competition and strength training are making a huge difference: female athletes are getting bigger, faster, stronger by the day. Moreover, I see no reason right now to think there is an identifiable limit to what women can achieve relative to men. Eventually, though, inter-gender athletic competition will become necessary. Competition is a potent mechanism for development, one that can't be ignored.

More so now than at any other time in history, women are able to explore their physical potential unfettered by simplistic notions about gender roles. Thus, it's perfectly reasonable to expect that we'll soon be seeing even more instances of women competing successfully against men on the wrestling mat.

The women continue to impress on American Gladiators. Last night, Monica Carlson finished the Eliminator with the fastest time so far this season, two minutes flat, besting all other contenders, male and female alike. Interesting that given the exact same test of quickness, upper-body strength, and muscular endurance, a woman comes out on top. I see in this more evidence of the emerging superiority of female muscle.

After getting off to a good start on Sunday night, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was even better last night. Lena Headey lacks the physicality that Linda Hamilton brought to the role—thus her Sarah Connor will never be as impressive as Linda's—but she does manage a fierce, resolute, street-smart Sarah, albeit a somewhat scrawny one. Summer Glau, on the other hand, has been interesting to watch as a Terminator. I like her take on the cyborg thing. And so far at least, surprisingly, her comparatively small size hasn't been much of a drawback, though her fight scenes with other Terminators (usually portrayed by substantial, menacing-looking male actors) do look a bit awkward at times.

American Gladiators continues to make for fun viewing, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles has lived up to some of its hype. I'll be looking forward to Monday nights for the next several weeks.

Watching Laila Ali tell one of the male contenders not to get her wet, warning him that he probably didn't want to tangle with her, was one of the more memorable moments of the two-hour premiere last night of American Gladiators. (Laila was just being honest, too; she could have dispatched him, or any of the other male contenders, without much difficulty.)

Overall, the new show is pretty good. The new events are fun. I also like the changes they've made to the old events. The Eliminator is spectacular now (though I'm sure brutal for the contenders), and adding water to many of the events was a great idea.

Of course, the new female Gladiators are awesome. And judging by last night's show, we'll be seeing extremely athletic contenders as well; the Gladiator women are going to have some competition.

Be sure to watch American Gladiators again tonight when it airs in what will be its regular time slot.

The new incarnation of American Gladiators debuts tonight—just a reminder, in case you've been living in a cave or something. This marks the return of physically powerful women to network television, a medium that typically shuns strong, athletic women and tries to pretend they don't exist. Whatever else you may think about it, American Gladiators is worthwhile for no other reason than it brings these magnificent women to light and breaks down useless stereotypes in the process.