Athletic Women Blog

I have many passions; but professional wrestling isn't one of them. Nonetheless, I respect its female practitioners and tune in occasionally to see what they are up to. Or better yet, I set the DVR to record and later skip to the women's matches, bypassing as much nonsense as possible. That was the case with the SmackDown airing Friday before last, where Melina put on a display of athleticism that left me awestruck. Don't miss her finishing maneuver at the end:

Dollhouse returns tonight at 9/8c. I'll leave you to visit FOX.com for promos and so forth. Instead, I want to focus here on the news that Summer Glau has joined the cast for this season. From what I gather she will guest star as a programmer in a recurring role. Although on the surface this doesn't look like a very action-oriented part for the athletic Glau, we can hope that Joss Whedon will make better use of her talents than we generally saw in Sarah Connor Chronicles (a hope soundly based on past experience, see video clip).

Before she became an actress, Glau was a ballet dancer—and a good one. I've talked before about how extensive ballet training seems to prepare an actress well for action roles. Besides Jennifer Garner and Glau, the two obvious cases in point, there are others as well, like Amelia Cooke, who has with good reason been suggested as a possible Wonder Woman, not as famous yet but perhaps soon.

The former ballerina turned action star embodies a rare combination of ethereal grace and potent athleticism. In the two videos that follow, Glau shows us both sides—two seemingly polar opposite modes of being manifested perfectly by the same person:

Retirement looms but Lisa Leslie isn't done quite yet: she leads her Los Angeles Sparks into the Western Conference Finals tomorrow night. A look back on a glorious career that might have one last highlight in the offing:

DC shakeup. No, not that DC. I refer here to DC Comics, which now has a new name—DC Entertainment—and a new president. This overhaul by parent company Warner Bros. bodes well for a forthcoming Wonder Woman film. Another sign that things are looking up for the Amazon: she now has her own forum at Comic Book Resources.

The ugly paradox. Caster Semenya's story, though regrettable, has at least given rise to worthwhile, occasionally enlightened, media commentary. Among the best I've seen is "Women in sports: The ugly paradox," a piece that throws into relief what is the nub of the story, and the bane of all female athletes: "They say the Semenya case shows that an old, ugly paradox is alive and well in women's sport: The same giant quadriceps and bulky shoulders that can clinch championships make athletes look 'unfeminine' in the eyes of the world. And that can be a difficult reality for many women."

Nasty as it was, Serena's tantrum at the US Open isn't as troubling as what she says about her arms in an interview for People: "I think they're too muscular. They're too thick," tennis champion Serena Williams said of her ripped arms in an Aug. 27 interview with People Magazine. "I know that toned arms are in now. Look at Michelle Obama. ... I'm like, 'keep wearing strapless dresses!' But I don't like mine."

Serena's is merely a representative case. The problem is in fact societal. That Serena sees her muscular physique as something better shunned isn't unusual. But when one of the world's most accomplished female athletes, ever, says as much in public, the fallacy is perpetuated—given life anew to burden the next generation of female athletes.

Sad it is to think that Serena apparently cannot reconcile her muscles with the women's fineries she sells on HSN; the same muscles, to continue the paradox theme, that helped make her a famous athlete, famous enough to have her own line of merchandise to peddle on a shopping network.

Despite the odd name, Ultimate Women Challenge, a new reality show starring female MMA fighters, should be worth setting time aside for its debut December 28 on NBC (check your local TV listings).

Fighters you may already be familiar with, like Julie Kedzie and Felice Herrig, are among the regular cast. In addition, Tara LaRosa and Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos—not a stretch to say two of the baddest women on the planet—are slated to guest star as coaches.

Now we only hope that the show proves better than its name, let alone this clumsy trailer:

We have been getting an education of late; a new understanding, for some at least, of gender's equivocalness. Unfortunately, this has all come at the expense of Caster Semenya: a woman who is guilty of nothing (unless you consider running too fast a crime) and whose life has now been altered, lastingly, and probably not to the better.

I'll make clear first that nothing has been confirmed. The reporting that Semenya is a "hermaphrodite" originates with two Australian papers quoting an unnamed source. Not all that convincing to my mind, a view seconded by an IAAF spokesperson: "Davies said the newspaper's report 'should be treated with caution.'"

Moreover, calling her a "hermaphrodite," even if the report is true, is neither appropriate nor correct. (Intersexed is the generally accepted term.) Assuming the report is accurate, again a leap right now, Semenya most likely has androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS). Perhaps a report, like the AP's, written without a sensationalist bent might inform us better. The AP report instead gives an objective and fact-oriented, not to mention a rather more compassionate, outline of the condition Semenya might have. Also, a post at ScienceBlogs explains why the obsessive concern about "unfair" athletic advantage in such cases is a mere bugaboo.

Last, something else in the Daily Telegraph piece that is disturbing: "While the IAAF are treating the Semenya case as a health matter, with her eligibility to compete in women's athletics very much a secondary issue, the same South African politicians who denied AIDS was a problem in their country are now blindly standing behind their new queen of the track."

Really? All along the IAAF has been concerned solely with Semenya's health? That's the reason for the "gender verification" tests in the first place—her health? Never mind, too, that the IAAF could easily have better protected her privacy through all this.

And while I do not normally defend politicians, in this instance, i.e. Semenya's rights and privacy, I would say the South African politicians have it about right. That they are guilty of past wrongs—as all politicians are, apparently even the Australian variety—I have no doubt, but in this matter they have taken the high ground. (Albeit, of course, that ground which is also most politically advantageous for them.)

A dash of fame comes with winning eleven Olympic medals, but even that might not be enough to prepare an athlete for what happens when she is cast in a popular prime-time television show.

I have argued that Natalie Coughlin deserves far greater recognition for her Olympic achievements. I should have, I see now, remembered the old warning to be careful what you wish for.

Welcome, Natalie, to that loony world celebrities inevitably find themselves captives in!

Another "help wanted" post seemed fitting right before Labor Day weekend; this one instigated by Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi's return to the headlines. Besides the many horrid things one inevitably associates with such a despot, his return to the spotlight also brings to mind his elite female corps of bodyguards.

I do not regard the man they protect, but I do admire these women greatly. Anyone thinking his female bodyguards are mere ornaments for the dictator thinks incorrectly. They have saved their charge's paltry hide more than once, sometimes sacrificing their life to do so.

I haven't yet seen Rania Ajami's documentary Shadows of a Leader: Qaddafi's Female Bodyguards, but I plan to do so soon. Meanwhile, we can expect glimpses of these exceptional women when they accompany Qaddafi on his trip to New York later this month.