I love that this letter was written by a male-identified person; it really speaks to the experience I've had playing ultimate in different parts of the world.
One of the main reasons I stopped playing ultimate (in Sacramento) was because it stopped being fun..because of men.
I'm good enough to get open often, my throws are accurate most of the time, and my height and stride give me huge advantages when I'm being defended by lots of other women. But I was STILL consistently looked off by dudes just wanting to huck to other dudes (badly, which often resulted in a turn)/handler-dudes/any other dude. I appreciate the spirit of the game and the radical idea that mixed-gender play can work in sport. But the truth is, the sexism happening within the game across the board makes it consistently not work.
I like to imagine a world of ultimate that has waiting lists for women, that isn't usually desperate to place women on league and tournament teams.
But that won't happen until men decide to become allies for women on the field, and until they stop oppressing able-bodied athletes simply because of the self-perpetuating beliefs they hold about our general lack of athletic abilities.
Thank you, Kenny Wiley, for bringing attention to the interpersonal sexism occurring in this game. I think these ideas can be applied to many other situations in LIFE, as well
I want to play ultimate with you!
One of the main reasons I stopped playing ultimate (in Sacramento) was because it stopped being fun..because of men.
I'm good enough to get open often, my throws are accurate most of the time, and my height and stride give me huge advantages when I'm being defended by lots of other women. But I was STILL consistently looked off by dudes just wanting to huck to other dudes (badly, which often resulted in a turn)/handler-dudes/any other dude. I appreciate the spirit of the game and the radical idea that mixed-gender play can work in sport. But the truth is, the sexism happening within the game across the board makes it consistently not work.
I like to imagine a world of ultimate that has waiting lists for women, that isn't usually desperate to place women on league and tournament teams.
But that won't happen until men decide to become allies for women on the field, and until they stop oppressing able-bodied athletes simply because of the self-perpetuating beliefs they hold about our general lack of athletic abilities.
Thank you, Kenny Wiley, for bringing attention to the interpersonal sexism occurring in this game. I think these ideas can be applied to many other situations in LIFE, as well
I want to play ultimate with you!