Elizabeth Riggio
\n
\n
\nTomboy.
\n
\nI haven\u2019t thought much about this word since I was 11 years old and it was practically my middle name.
\n
\nAnd I have history with my middle name.
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\nWhen I was younger, people thought I was good at soccer and that I was athletic. This was a source of pride for me. I thought it a compliment. I felt empowered to prove I could play with the boys.
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\nWhen I got a little older, my feelings changed. When I played on a boys’ team, the other teams would laugh that we had a girl on our team. I was the tomboy at school because I played soccer with the boys at recess.
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\nSometimes I wore it like a badge, proudly displaying that I wasn’t afraid of the boys. But sometimes it made me feel like I was less feminine; like I was less of a girl because of it. As if femininity and masculinity could be categorized so easily. There were days I would sit and talk with my girl friends or play hopscotch because I wanted to seem like a normal girl.
\n
\nToday, when people comment on my athleticism, it sounds like what they\u2019re really saying is: “Wow, I didn’t expect a woman to be any good but you’re actually okay!” A man would never seem as surprised at another man\u2019s athletic ability in the way men are surprised at a woman\u2019s athletic ability.
\n
\nSo I have a letter to all these men.
\n
\n
\nTo the Soccer-Playing Men of the World:
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\n Yes, I can kick a ball.<\/p>\n
No, it\u2019s not that amazing.<\/p>\n
Yeah, I might kick your ass in a game.<\/p>\n
Please don\u2019t get annoyed and frustrated with me.<\/p>\n
Or deterred.<\/p>\n
Or think there must be something wrong with you that you can\u2019t beat a girl.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re both athletes, right?
\n
\n Yes, I am a woman.<\/p>\n
No, you don\u2019t need to go easy on me.<\/p>\n
I certainly won\u2019t go easy on you.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m too competitive.<\/p>\n
And I wouldn\u2019t insult you like that.
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\n The word tomboy continues to sound like:<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not feminine.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not normal.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a boy.
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\n You can roll your eyes when I ask to play.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll just roll the ball through your legs.<\/p>\n
I hope you\u2019re secure enough in yourself<\/p>\n
To handle that.
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\n You can say \u201cno one cares about women\u2019s soccer\u201d<\/p>\n
But maybe you will<\/p>\n
When a woman scores on you.
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\n \u201cI\u2019ll do it better. Know why?<\/p>\n
Because I\u2019m a boy.\u201d<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve never played soccer.<\/p>\n
But you already know you will be better.
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\nWell then I guess I already know I\u2019ll be better at cooking and cleaning.
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\n Yeah, sometimes I cry.<\/p>\n
At least I\u2019m brave enough.<\/p>\n
And sometimes I bleed.<\/p>\n
But I don\u2019t fake injury.<\/p>\n
Or blame the ref.<\/p>\n
Or stop playing.<\/p>\n
I take it like a woman.
\n
\n
\nI\u2019m not that good.
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\n When a man says he\u2019s better than any woman,<\/p>\n
A fury unleashes inside me.<\/p>\n
And then I hate myself<\/p>\n
When he\u2019s better than me too.
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\n I couldn\u2019t be the woman<\/p>\n
Who shut him up.
\n
\n The one who could tell him<\/p>\n
Women are here
\n
\nWe are strong.\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Elizabeth Riggio Tomboy. I haven\u2019t thought much about this word since I was 11 years old and it was practically my middle name. And I have history with my middle name. When I was younger, people thought I was good at soccer and that I was athletic. This was a source of pride […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":540,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-written-by"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":6}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/nightowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/nightowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/nightowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/nightowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/540"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/nightowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/nightowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":474,"href":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/nightowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462\/revisions\/474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/nightowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/nightowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/nightowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}