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Where Have the Women Gone?
As National Women’s Health Week (May 10th thru May 16th) approaches, I’ve been wondering where the women have gone. It’s not that I’m in the market for new girlfriends. (I’m very happily married, and excited to be a daddy in three months.) My concern, however, is that, whenever I play sports or walk through parks, I see far fewer women participating in physical activities than in the past … and certainly far fewer women than men. Out of 30-50 players, only two or three may be women, if that many.
Ten years ago, 35-40% of all players in the parks were women – playing tennis, basketball, soccer, or even handball. Nowadays, it’s less than .05%. On the other hand, I do see many young women on my way to and from the courts, carrying shopping bags or coming out of cafes, sipping high-fat coffees or lapping up ice cream or frozen yogurt (scoops of empty calories that lead to malnourished bodies).
Two Sundays ago, of the 33 people playing handball, tennis, or basketball, there were a total of 5 women. One was my 77 year-old mom, who continues to play handball. Another was an athletic young woman playing basketball. The other three were young, over-fat women in their 20s who were nicely dressed (dresses and fancy shoes), simply watching as everyone else had fun, being in motion, burning calories, and releasing stress.
I recall the mid 1960s when women first started wearing sneakers as a fashion, and when they started becoming more physically active. It was a part of the added freedoms resulting from the women’s lib movement. My own mom recounts times, during the 1940s and 50s, when her love for playing sports was met with condemnation by her parents, along with criticisms of her being “a man;” she was also shunned by her male counterparts because she was so good at competing with – and, often beating – them.
It’s such an irony, now, to see young women willingly forgo such an exhilarating part of life – the beauty of movement. Instead of moving, young women are sitting, fattening up on sweets as they watch others be active; they don’t seem to realize – or care – that they are weakening/aging their bodies at earlier stages in life than prior generations. (Sorry ladies, café-hopping, sun bathing, and shopping don’t qualify as physical activities.)
Whereas women of yesteryear tended to be slimmer and more body-conscious than their male counterparts, the opposite is now true. Women’s girths have gotten wider than those of men, even though men, by design, have thicker frames. Never before were there so many young women whose waistlines are as wide as, or wider than, their breast lines. Such proportions are contributing to the rapid rise in diabetes, cancer and many other health challenges.
This is a critical issue not to be confused with mere aesthetics, nor the foolish notion of blindly “accepting one’s body as it is.” Women need to take their health more seriously and become more physically active. The first two suggestions offered on the website of National Women’s Health Week are on target:
Take heed – Start moving ladies. The women’s lib movement fought hard and did a wonderful thing for all women for all time, creating the freedom to play and compete in sports, to experience the joys of movement, and thereby live with vitality, strength and health. Don’t throw it all away by minimizing your activities to sitting in cafes and on park benches, snacking as your girths widen. Take advantage of the parks, the sports, and most importantly, your freedom to move.
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