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62
CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIESILES CAHIERS DE
LA
FEMME
Dorothy
Kidd
Un film comme "Personal Best" a
de'clanche' un de'bat anime' sur le r61e
de la nouvelle femme physiquement
active et les relations entre femmes.
Les femmes ont gagne' peu
a
peu une
place autonome dans le sport, mais la
lutte contre l'identite' feminine
traditionnelle continue.
L'he'te'rosexualite' obligatoire, qui fait
partie de cette identite', a jet6 un tabou
sur le sujet du lesbianisme; un tel
tabou renforce la division entre
femmes et les empzche de s'organiser
pour que les choses changent. Au lieu
de ce silence auto-impose' sur ce sujet,
il devrait y avoir discussion,
compre'hension et acceptation.
$
GETTING
PHYSICAL:
COMPULSORY
HETEROSEXUALITY
AND
SPORT
As a very conservative in-
stitution, sport has often been a
bellwether of women's emanci-
pation, and the release of the film
Personal Best was no exception. I
was struck by the film not because
of its cinematic value but because
of the very heated response to it. I
realized that Personal Best had
struck a chord
-
or perhaps a dis-
chord
-
in many people, especially
among runners, feminists, lesbians,
and the sports community.
The response was to much more
than the lives of two elite track ath-
letes and their relations with their
coach. The film also sparked dis-
cussions about controversial sub-
jects seldom captured on screen: the
role of the new physically active
woman; bonding between women;
and perhaps the greatest taboo
-
lesbianism in and outside sport.
While these themes are new for
Hollywood, they make up the daily
existence of many women. Women
in sport challenge the traditional
myths about female physical ca-
pacity. Women in all walks of life
are redefining their social, political,
and sexual identities.
In this article I would like to ask
some questions about these issues
and pose a way of linking them.
What does it mean for women to be
physically active? How does it af-
fect the way they relate to other
women and to men? How does
women's involvement in sport re-
late to their sexuality, and especial-
ly to heterosexuality and les-
bianism?
I would like to explore how these
questions relate to the institution of
"compulsory heterosexuality,
"
a
term used by Adrienne Rich. I will
look at how women are challenging
the assumption that their sport in-
volvement and everything else they
do is for the purpose of servicing
men physically, sexually, and
emotionally.
Some of this discussion may be
new to many people. Very little
writing about sport addresses sex-
uality, while much of mainstream
feminist writing has little to say
about sport. I've been informed by
both schools of thought and by dis-
cussions with women from all lev-
els of physical activity and inactiv-
ity across the country.
Just to make a film about women
in sport was to alter women's tra-
ditional invisibility in that male do-
main. Very little has been recorded
about the female athletes and vol-
unteers who have contributed to
our sport heritage. Personal Best re-
flected a greater public acceptance
of women in sport. The film showed
two heroines who were proud of
their bodies and serious about their
achievements. They were role mod-
els for hundreds of thousands of
women taking up physical activity,
perhaps for the first time. Many
girls and women have commented
that it was inspiring to see strong
and powerful women athletes on
the screen.
Strong and powerful are two ad-
jectives that are seldom used to de-
scribe women in sport. Together
with aggressive, compentent, and self-
sufficient, these words are most
often used to describe the male ath-
lete. So synonymous is sport with
the traditional male role that physi-
cally active girls are still called tom-
boys, and the greatest respect ac-
corded any female is to say that she
performs like a male.
The character traits necessary for
sport are so incongruent with the
stereotypical female role that
sportswomen have had to counter
numerous attacks on their sexual
identity. Women at many inter-
national Olympic events still have
to submit to the notorious sex tests,
tests given only to women to affirm
their biological sex.
This model of femininity under-
went some subtle changes in
Person-
al
Best.
The two stars, noticeably
more muscular than the typical Hol-
lywood heroine, are both very
competent and aggressive in com-
petition. But the director takes care
to inform the audience of the limits
of this new feminine physicality by
continually using a larger black
woman as a foil. An image more
muscular and active, the definition
continues to include desirability by
men. Linda Williams, a reviewer of
the film, wrote, "where once wom-
en (were consigned) to a passive
voluptuousness, it now represents
them as so many trained seals flex-
ing their muscles to male awe and
approval"
(Jump Cut,
July, 1982,
P 11.
Other feminist critics and some
mainstream writers have taken
Robert Towne, the director of
Per-
sonal Best,
to task for his "sexploi-
tation" of women's bodies. But the
conflict over what constitutes the
new role for women in sport is
much more widespread. In the Jan-
uary, 1983, issue of
Women's Sports,
women and men reacted strongly to
a commentary on women's body-
building. One reader wrote, "Con-
trary to what Bill Mandel seems to
think, many women do not lift
weights, run, figure skate, dance or
whatever for the sole purpose of
making
ourselves
sexy
and appeal-
ing to a bunch of slavering males.
1
We exercise to get in shape, to make
our bodies strong and healthy, to
seek and realize the potential that
lies within our bodies." Another
concluded her letter with "the mes-
sage is not muscles, it is develop-
ment of every aspect of ourselves to
reach our potential as human
beings."
The writers underscore the sen-
timent of the thousands of women
who have newly taken up sport and
physical activity of all kinds. This
popular movement has gone a long
way to claiming an autonomous
place for women in sport and de-
fining a new concept of physical fit-
ness appropriate to one's physical
needs and aptitudes. But there is
still a long way to go to guarantee
the ground that has been won. Let
me illustrate this with a few
examples.
"R,"
aged twenty-four, went to a
private gym for fitness and strength,
only to be immediately sized up as
a "hip" problem and told that they
would have her "looking good" in
no time at a special rate. Women
constantly have to fight the assump-
tion that they are exercising to lose
weight and be attractive to men.
While that may be a part of it, they
usually continue because of other
benefits they have found for them-
selves. Women constantly have to
resist the pressure to mould them-
selves to cultural notions of beauty
and to avoid the self-hatred and
alienation from one's body that
comes with this pressure.
"E,"
aged thirty-three, was re-
acting to a change in the compo-
sition of her exercise class. "The
older, larger women aren't there
any more. And even
I
sometimes
feel out of place next to all those
fashionably dressed younger ones.
Now it's a mixed class too, with
guys standing all around watching,
and
I
feel a little vulnerable and ex-
posed doing some of the more sex-
ual exercises on the floors." She
was not opposed to mixed classes
per se,
but she was concerned that
the centre's attempts to balance
their books with a larger mixed
class meant she was forced into an
uncomfortable situation.
"I
went to
that class partly to relax
. . .
and
I
wonder where all the older women
have gone.
"
''S,'' agedtwenty-nine, teachesfit-
,
ness classes. She described a concern
about a teaching approach that is all
too prevalent. "The women in a
'
class I've just started with call it the
,
'Barbie Doll.' Their last instructor
used to stand in front of the class and
go through her routine, expecting
everyone else just to model her.
There was no opportunity for feed-
back and no attempt to modify the
routine to people's problems or spe-
cial needs. They hadn't talked about
it as a group before, and once
I
took
over they all realized how each of
them had felt terrible about not
matching the instructor's standard of
fitness and of looks."
The "Barbie Doll" is a fitting de-
scription of women's traditional
role in sport. "Expressive," in-
dividual activities were encouraged
to train women for future roles as
wife and mother. Women were not
encouraged to work together but to
compare and compete with one an-
other. The myth that women cannot
work together is reinforced by the
few opportunities to do so. While
I
am not uncritical of the male sport
tradition, it has provided many men
with training in teamwork, leader-
ship, and the value and seriousness
of their contributions. Many
women have joined teams and de-
veloped co-operative recreational
VOLUME
4,
NUMBER
3,
SPRING
1983
64
CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIESILES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME
programs, but credit for this recent
growth must go to the largely
volunteer efforts of some women
and men.
The fight by women for a new ap-
proach to their own physical develop-
ment and to sport was one of the
strongest themes of Personal Best.
Linda Williarns, in the review quoted
earlier, also wrote, "that women ath-
letes can be both tough and compas-
sionate, that the 'killer instinct' that
WHAT
EXISTS
IS
ISOLATED
RESISTANCE
TO
COMPULSORY
HETERO-
SEXUALITY
AND
A SUPPORT
NETWORK
OF
LESBIANS AND
FRIENDS.
cussion and no opportunity for re-
course. Another spoke of watching a
lesbian friend sit quietly listening to
homophobic remarks, both of them
feeling powerless to interject. An-
other told of how she had stopped
seeing her old friends when she came
out as a lesbian, only to find out
years later that they had known
about her sexuality all along and
were hurt by the separation. Each
of their experiences showed the iso-
motivates male competition, and
which is advocated by their coach,
can be tempered with a female ethic
of support and co-operation that is
not only good for the soul but wins
in the end.
In
other words, the film
asserts on the level of its sports theme
what it is afraid to assert on the level
of its sexual theme."
In
Personal
Best
we saw two wom-
en working together and challenging
the traditional male authority on the
track. But that was as far as the di-
rector was prepared to go. Off the
track, their relationship posed little
threat, whether or not they slept to-
gether. It was the bonding and com-
mon purpose on the track that posed
a threat, not their sexual relation-
ship.
We have seen how the traditional
female identity in sport has been tied
closely to compulsory heterosexual-
ity. Women's involvement in sport is
often not for their own human de-
velopment but for the moulding of a
fashionable body and a set of skills
for their future roles as wife and
mother. Lesbianism is a strong taboo
because of the threat of women
bonding together socially and politi-
cally, not sexually. It is a taboo
against all women who step out of
the boundaries of women's tradi-
tional role in the patriarchy.
We have seen how women in sport
have had to endure questions about
their sexual identity. Because they
challenge so much of the traditional
definition of womanhood, they also
have to endure badgering about their
sexual orientation. Whether or not
they have had sexual relations with
other women, the whisper campaign
has usually been enough to terrify
them into silence. The label might
mean isolation from tearnmates,
coaches, friends, and family, and po-
tentially loss of jobs, scholarships, or
children.
Women who have stepped across
the boundary have had to endure
some or all of the above. In Canada,
protection against discrimination on
the basis of sexual preference exists
only in Quebec, although conver-
sations with sportswomen reveal
many instances of this kind of dis-
crimination. Athletes have spoken of
dismissals, of parents and friends
turning against them, of male coaches
trying to turn athletes against female
coaches by inferring the women were
"after little girls." The taboo hurts all
women who participate because of
the way it reinforces division and
ads against bonding and the organ-
ization of women for change.
In
a recent discussion, several
women spoke of the way that this
division has operated in their sport
experience. One heterosexual woman
spoke of the way a lesbian was
ostracized on her team, with no dis-
lation that leaves women fighting
alone against compulsory hetero-
sexuality.
The silence has also led to some
very damaging myths about the na-
ture of differences between sports-
women. One of the greatest differ-
ences in the volunteer world of ama-
teur sport is over who has time and
money to devote to participation.
This sometimes appears as
a
split
between women with the respon-
sibilities of children and a husband
and women who are supporting
themselves on their own. The stereo-
type suggests that the more tradition-
al
option is synonymous with hetero-
sexuality and the other with les-
bianism. This has sometimes led to
misunderstanding and hostility, both
in
women's sports and other wom-
en's groups. Until all of the discus-
sion comes out into the open, the
greater problem of finding more time,
money, and support will continue.
I have tried to point out some of
the reasons why there is no organized
resistance to compulsory heterosexu-
ality in sport. What exists instead is a
lot of isolated resistance and a sup-
portive network of lesbians and
friends. Extending across gener-
ations, across sports, across social
classes, and across the country, it in-
cludes women from many levels of
sport
-
athletes, former athletes,
coaches, and sport administrators. As
a group, this collection of individuals
represents, as Adrienne Rich de-
scribes, "a breaking of a taboo, a re-
jection of a compulsory way of life,
and a direct and an indirect attack on
the male right of access to women."
Because of the severity of the dis-
cipline of the taboo, this group also
includes a "high degree of self-
censorship, role-playing, self-
hatred
. .
."
For it is not a public
group with any political mandate,
but only a loose collection of in-
dividuals.
Just as Tory and Chris seldom dis-
cuss their relationship in
Personal Best
and never mention the words
lesbian
or
gay,
many lesbian sportswomen
never discuss their relationships in
public or describe themselves as les-
bian or gay. This self-censorship is
not because their lives are unimpor-
tant, but because of the threat of
disclosure to their lives. With little
public validation, the self-hatred
sometimes means that lesbians as
well as heterosexual women police
strong women-identified women by
ridiculing them. They also do so to
protect their vulnerable security in
the very conservative sport estab-
lishment.
The group that has made a strong
critique and attack against compul-
sory heterosexuality has of course
been the lesbian-feminist commu-
nity, with some support from the fem-
inist movement. While many similar-
ities exist between these two com-
munities, there has not always been a
lot of support and mutual respect.
Women from the organized-sport
tradition have learned to respect of-
ten contradictory values: authority,
teamwork, competence, competition,
and hard work oriented to winning at
all costs. These values are very dif-
ferent from the sometimes rigid set
of ethics established by the feminist
community.
In
their reaction against
submission to the patriarchy, femi-
nists have sometimes rejected respon.
sible leadership. In response to the
harshness of competition, they have
questioned the pursuit of excellence.
In
response to the exploitation of
women's bodies, they have some-
times denied the sensual and aes-
thetic pleasure of physical move-
ment.
The image of women in
Personal
Best
differed only in degree from the
traditional representation. But the
movie afforded us a mirror of wom-
en's progress in sport and opened up
a public debate about issues that had
only smouldered before. The dis-
cussions allow us to see that the
movement for women to reclaim con-
trol of our physical selves is only just
beginning. They allow us a way to
tease out the links among women's
physicality, bonding, and sexuality.
They let us see the commonality be-
tween women organizing around
sport issues and women develop-
ing a strong social and political iden-
tity in other areas.
Some of these mutual interests
have led to women coming together
around common sport interests.
Women from organized sport, recre-
ation, and fitness and women from
the women's health network are
forging more connections, some of
them through the Canadian Associ-
ation for the Advancement of Women
and Sport. What lund of new sport
ethic can women establish to guaran-
tee
an
autonomous physicality for
every woman?
Women and men can continue to
promote sport as a legitimate female
activity in which women can safely
develop strength, aggressiveness, ex-
cellence, flexibility, endurance, bal-
ance, and grace. Promoting this new
definition would widen the param-
eters for participation of women
of all backgrounds, as well as aiding
the many males who do not fit the
gender role for their sex. It would
also force those with patriarchal in-
terests to come out strongly against
strong and powerful women rather
than hiding behind public acceptance
of homophobia.
Encouraging women to work to-
gether to plan, participate, and lead
sport of all kinds will assist women
and girls to develop skills for use in
other parts of society. Other articles
in this collection have spoken of the
potential contribution women can
make to help remove some of the
worst excesses of patriarchal sport
and develop a more co-operative
model that makes it possible for all
to participate and enjoy themselves
at their own levels of fitness and com-
mitment.
Making visible the lesbian network
in sport may prevent further division
among women. Heightened visibility
does not mean an exclusion of hetero-
sexual~ and a glorification of lesbian-
ism, but a greater acceptance of the
risks that lesbians have taken to de-
fine their lives without men and
an
acknowledgment of the fight lesbian
and heterosexual women make
against compulsory heterosexuality.
If the fears of closeness and possible
difference were not there, it might
lead to much stronger bonds on both
the individual and organizational
level. Or as one heterosexual woman
said at a recent discussion group,
"Once you understand something,
you're not afraid of it any more, and
it's harder to use it against you."
Further Reading:
Adrienne Rich, "Compulsory Hetero-
sexuality and Lesbian Existence," in
Women, Sex, and Sexuality,
ed. C.
Simpson and
E.
Person, University
of Chicago Press,
1980.
Dorothy Kidd is a recreational
sportswoman who especialiy loves
running, ice hockey, and skiing. She is
also active in the women's movement.
VOLUME
5,
NUMBER
3,
SPKING
1983