My granddaughter has decided that this is the last year she is going to play football. She started the season on a new team. The first day the boys teased her about her ability to play. I asked her how she responded to this and her answer was, "It's ok grandma, they don't know me yet!" Her team finished undefeated. I like to think that her blocking abilities helped her team along and that her efforts were recognized by her all male team mates.
At the end of the season, she tells me she is sad because she is not going to play next year, she is going to try out for cheerleading instead. So here I am, wondering....how does she arrive at this decision? Are the boys really getting too strong physically for her to compete with (not that I can see, yet), or is it that as she approaches womanhood she is starting to identify with that sterotype? Whatever the reason, I hope that she understands something that I didn't for a long time. That is: she gets to choose! She shouldn't let the boys decide, she shouldn't let society decide, she shouldn't let me decide. She has the power to choose for herself. You go girl!
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