Athletic Women Blog

I was more than a little disappointed to learn that Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) will be the only female Avenger to appear in the forthcoming movie. Moreover, Whedon's "but she will not be the only female character" is something of a cop-out, since any additional female characters will most likely be nothing more than love interests for the movie's male Avengers.

Nor can the excuse that there aren't enough extant female Avengers be used. The Avengers team has had a number of potent and interesting heroines associated with it over the years, including one of the strongest characters to be found in any superhero team: She-Hulk.

What a missed opportunity.

When Caster Semenya races, people talk. Sometimes in support of her, but very often it's the opposite, sadly enough. Lately, this latter sort (or something very close to it) has been coming from her sister athletes, that is, her competitors, many of whom think it unfair that they should have to race against her.

But let's forget, for a moment, Semenya. Rather, let's focus on the ignorant, gender-abasing obsession with a "male biology" that supposedly confers unfair, insuperable athletic advantage, here in particular the hormone testosterone:

"We have levels that we are not allowed to test over, so even if she’s a female, she’s on the very fringe of the normal female athlete biological composition from what I understand in terms of hormone testing," Cummins [Diane Cummins, who finished eighth in Berlin] said. "So from that perspective I think most of us sort of just feel like literally we are running against a man because what we know to be female is a certain testosterone level. And if that isn't the case, they need to change everything."

The first and most obvious problem with such thinking: There is no certain (precisely defined) testosterone level for females! Testosterone, the so-called male hormone which nearly all women have in their bodies, can be found in widely varying amounts among women, with some women having levels well into the range generally considered "male".

What is more, even a baseline testosterone level for individuals is hard to come by. Monitor someone's testosterone and you'll find that it changes constantly, responding to all manner of environmental factors, some seemingly random, others quite predictable. Strength training, for instance, increases testosterone naturally, only women have to work just a little harder and longer to get the benefit. Sex (# 8), too, raises testosterone levels. (Should female track athletes with already "high" levels abstain from sex before meets?)

Research the subjects of steroid-, hormone-, and gender-testing for a time and you see how silly and hurtful the effort to make sport perfectly "fair" has become. Anything beyond the most basic of tests is in fact pointless and counterproductive. The witch-hunt has to end sometime.

Another gymnastics standout making the transition to acting and stunt work. Only Ariana Berlin has a story that could fairly be judged miraculous, and a demo reel more rhythmic than any previously featured here:

You probably wouldn't as a rule expect to find photographic portraits of female bodybuilders featured in a dignified art exhibition, much less their carrying the name of a celebrated artist whose work is part of the Permanent Collection of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. But that is exactly what you will find at Hasted Hunt Kraeutler, which is hosting Martin Schoeller's "Female Bodybuilders" through August 27. (Location: 537 West 24th St, Ground Floor; Chelsea, New York City 10011.)

Judging by not only his work but also his words, Schoeller's appreciation of female bodybuilders is paired with a keen awareness of what they can teach the rest of us.

Already happily enjoying Covert Affairs, I could almost be convinced that halcyon days have returned to television looking at the fall lineup. Perhaps you are as encouraged as I am:

Kelli Giddish plays Deputy U.S. Marshal Annie Frost in Chase. Right now, I'd have to say that Chase has most piqued my interest:



La Femme Nikita gets a reboot of sorts with Nikita starring Maggie Q:



Not strictly a female action series—think instead Mr. & Mrs. Smith—Undercovers looks somewhat promising as well:

Drags on a little, but worth sticking around to see who wins:

Seven-time Olympic medalist Amanda Beard returns to competitive swimming this week, and along with that naturally comes a return to celebrity life, in not entirely predictable ways, as it turns out.

For instance, the New York Times recently ran a profile of Beard, one especially noteworthy because in it she reveals a past struggle with self-injury (i.e., deliberately cutting herself). It's good Beard draws attention to what is a serious, often shrouded problem, though likely better without so much attendant pop psychology—self-injury is rather more complicated and physiological than that.

And something else caught my attention, this time more by accident. Looking as I often do at the news ticker to the left, I saw a headline titled "The 20 Skankiest Women in Sports." More fine Internet "journalism," no doubt, but intriguing enough that I took the bait. I found nothing that was terribly surprising—mostly women who date or have dated one or more male athletes—that is, until I got to the list's headliner: Amanda Beard. And why is Beard there? Because she posed in Playboy, awful crime that it is, and for the "wrong" reason.

More evidence that female athletes, like most women really, seldom get a break. Always there is someone—be it prude or misogynist—waiting to pass harsh judgment.