National Domestic Violence Awareness Project

profeminist:

“In the field of world-class competition, you can be literally one of the greatest athletes of all time and still have fans who’d argue your achievements are second-rate. If you want to get on the cover of Sports Illustrated, your odds are better if you’re a swimsuit model than an actual record-crushing hero. And then there’s the way that female athletes are repeatedly commented on in the media — either as objects of desire or grudging “plays like a guy” admiration, and always, the need to comment on their status as wives and moms.

When Corey Cogdell-Unrein took the trap shooting bronze over the weekend, eight years after earning her first medal in Beijing and four years after competing in London, the headlines noted her achievement by placing her in context. The Chicago Sun-Times announced, “Corey Cogdell-Unrein, wife of Bears DE Mitch, wins bronze.” This is the entire second paragraph of the report: “Her husband, Bears defensive end Mitch Unrein, cheered her from his home near Chicago. They have been married for two years.” Last month, the paper similarly declared that “Bears lineman Mitch Unrein’s wife takes aim at gold in Rio.”  The Sporting News, meanwhile, reported that“Corey Cogdell, wife of Bears lineman, wins bronze in shooting.”

For further evidence of this confusion, observe how, after Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszú took the gold, NBC’s Dan Hicks pointed out her husband and coach Shane Tusup as “the guy responsible” for her performance, adding later that “It is impossible to tell Katinka’s story accurately without giving appropriate credit to Shane, and that’s what I was trying to do.” I wonder if there’s any way possible to comment on a woman’s achievement without immediately saying that a man is responsible for it? I wonder!

I likewise wonder if it would possible — I’m looking at you, Washington Post — to talk about American swimming phenomenon Katie Ledecky without including former 2012 Olympian Connor Jaeger’s faint praise that “Her stroke is like a man’s stroke. I mean that in a positive way. She swims like a man.” Here’s a radical thought — she swims like Katie Ledecky, and she is destroying it out there.”

Read the full piece here