Female athletes are subjected to more injuries due to male-dominated organizations demanding to see more skin.
It is pretty much a given that in Baseball or Fastpitch, players are going to obtain some scratches here and there, especially when it’s bottom of the ninth and my team only needs one more run to win, your damn right; I’m going to be stealing that home plate. But what’s not a given is the number of cuts I’ll receive as a woman compared to most men.
Globally, women athletes are constantly being policied with what they can and cannot wear. Whether it’s the Norwegian women’s beach handball team at Toyko’s 2021 Summer Olympics or Serena Williams at the 2018 French Open, they are repeatedly sexualized and dehumanized.
Serenna Williams at the 2018 French Open Clive Brunskill/Getty Images 
Norwegian Women’s handball team Credit: Norwegian Handball Federation
And when athletes protest these sexiest and patriarchal rules, they are penalized with fines or disqualifications. The Norwegian women’s beach handball team received a $1,764 US fine, and Serena Williams’s outfit was banned.
These policies not only make a lot of women self-conscious when playing the sport they love, but they also can lead to severe injuries. Some minor league women’s Fastpitch organizations within Canada still enforce a shorts-only dress code or will only supply players with shorts, which either does not allow women the option to wear pants or the ability to have access to them.
On the bench, many of these young women can be seen picking the pebbles out of their freshly gouged legs, or if it’s really bad, laying on the bleachers waiting for their parents to grab the first aid kit to patch them up.
When players and concerned parents question these organizations, remarks like “But what the big deal, girl’s in soccer wear shorts” get tossed around. Not noting that there is a big difference between sliding on the grass and sliding on dirt, and let’s be honest, it’s more like gravel in most places.
Women bear the brunt of these remarks, as many are put in a position where they have to outweigh the risks and benefits of playing the sport they love. All because organizations like these want girls to remain, girls or whatever that means.
