Athletic Women Blog

A group of young women encounter their first Marine drill instructor. Her job: start preparing these raw recruits to be warriors:

Had she retired ten years ago, Merlene Ottey would have ended what was already then a remarkably long and productive career as a sprinter. But she didn't. Today, she is still running strong at 50. And judging by this recent interview, I don't expect that the "Queen of the Track" will relinquish her throne anytime soon:

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.

This isn't the first time that Kaatie Akstinat has appeared on this blog, and I expect it won't be the last. Akstinat weaves a spell when she performs, leaving the viewer (supposing he or she isn't abiotic) dreamy-souled. Bask anew in her artistry and athleticism:

In what can fairly be described as one of the more exciting finishes in recent MMA history, Strikeforce 135-pound champion Sarah Kaufman knocked out Roxanne Modafferi with a "power bomb" Friday night—that is to say, she lifted Modafferi high off the canvas and slammed her back down with such force that Modafferi was effectively knocked unconscious.

The happy champion explains post-fight how she got the TKO:




There is, moreover, an object lesson here. The following clip has Kaufman's coach telling us that he's never seen a fighter with better strength and conditioning, and Kaufman's performance Friday certainly gave no reason to doubt him, for it showed once more that, all else being equal, strength is often the difference in athletic competition:

A review of Salt calls attention to it, and Hollywood Life made the very same observation at the Salt premiere in L.A. earlier this week (just ignore the recommended "toning" exercises—weak!). Moreover, both are right. We don't generally see spindly action heroes, with good reason. And those rules do not change, nor should they, for action heroines.

I guess we'll know tomorrow after Angelina Jolie's Salt opens in theaters. But then, you've probably heard about Salt already, for the film and its star have not been without plenty of press lately—some of it better called hype. Not to begrudge Jolie her rightful due, but a company of women—Weaver, Hamilton, Goldstein, Yeoh, et al.—paved the way for today's female action stars, and Jolie is as much a beneficiary of that progress as a contributor to it.

That said, Jolie's performance in Salt has a lot riding on it. The chances that we'll see more female action films will be greatly improved if Salt does well at the box office; let's wish her luck!—

The other day, I brought Covert Affairs to your notice (only shortly after having learned of it myself). Today's post serves as a brief follow-up and a reminder that Covert Affairs continues tonight.

My first impressions of Covert Affairs, now having watched the premiere myself, are good overall. I like this new heroine Annie Walker. She is sharp, gutsy, strong, athletic—everything you expect from an action heroine. And Piper Perabo, the actress who plays her, does it all proficiently. One sees that Perabo has given herself fully to preparation for the role; that is to say, she is putting in the hard work required to be an authentic action star.

Not that I couldn't find something to nitpick. That being I don't care for the romantic backstory. It's tolerable thus far but hackneyed. I fear it will but hope it doesn't come to overwhelm all the good and original stuff.

Still, the good does outweigh the bad, by no little quantity either, and Covert Affairs shows promise to be the best female action piece to air on television in a long while.

So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.¹

I'm guessing that some of you, maybe even most of you, don't know that Adam had a wife before Eve. Her name is Lilith. Unlike Eve, though, Lilith was created the same time Adam was, and in the same fashion.

Except there was a problem; matchmaking can be a dicey business, even for a god. Lilith refused to give up equal status, refused to subdue herself to Adam. She said to Adam, "I will not lie below," and he said, "I will not lie beneath you, but only on top. For you are fit only to be in the bottom position, while I am to be the superior one." Lilith responded, "We are equal to each other inasmuch as we were both created from the earth."

They couldn't reach agreement in this, and so Lilith went away to live alone. But as has happened to many a strong woman since then, Lilith was demonized in the press, so to speak, except quite literally in her case. Myth and folklore since that time, often refracted through patriarchal eyes, has made her into an arch-demon responsible for infant deaths. But isn't she in fact the first heroine?

Lilith's story continues to be a cultural presence down to present-day. Now it is re-imagined in a new web series called Soul Fire Rising. My interest in Soul Fire Rising stirred when I learned that Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, often mentioned to play Wonder Woman (practically a no-brainer if you ask me), would be starring. I had been keeping an eye on the series since, but no O'Keefe and it seemed rather aimless at times. But that all changed recently with Episode 5. The star takes the stage, and it now looks as though things will be picking up—if not outright rocking.

¹ From the TNIV Bible; anyone wanting to scrutinize translations should visit here and here.