Thursday, March 23, 2006

The rebound after Candace's dunk

Tennessee player Candace Parker was a headliner in sports news last week when she dunked twice in an NCAA tournament game. One reason the women's game has been considered "inferior" to the men's game is that it lacks the powerful individual displays such as dunks. Now, enter Parker.
But if anyone thought Parker's dunk would elevate the women's game in the eyes of journalists and fans, think again. Almost immediately after the initial hype over Parker was over, criticism set in. They were "weak dunks"that couldn't stand up to the men's game.
And all too predictable in a world where sports is defined as male.
Here's the problem: women aren't men. As long as male standards are used to judge sports, women will be judged inferior. We must rethink the way we think about sports themselves before women will be valued and covered as equals.

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