The stronger women get, the more men love football

by Mariah Burton Nelson

Women's freedom and their freedom of movement have always advanced in tandem; early in this century, a suffragette's most potent symbol was her bicycle. Sports are central to American culture and the socialization of children, yet the "manly" sports world rarely offers women a level playing field. Despite laws to the contrary, all-male teams routinely garner a vastly disproportionate share of college athletic budgets; despite two decades of "sensitivity," men's sports are still a fertile breeding ground for Neanderthal attitudes about women; and despite increased awareness of sexual harassment, affairs between male coaches and underage female players are commonplace and gang rape of college women by male athletes has almost become a cliche. As women have become increasingly involved in sports, those "manly" American sports - football, basketball, hockey - have seen an enormous explosion in popularity, at least partly because they are seen as an inviolably male domain. Many women are fi