You play ball like a girl!-Gus B

There are many “disses” in this world in regards to sexuality and gender. Put downs and derogatory names have been a norm in society forever and won’t stop any time soon. Amongst the vast range of disses in modern society, there are a few that have been around for quite a while but have actually lost their edge in recent decades. For this blog, I’m going to highlight the use of the word “girl” in the way that boys, and girls alike, use it against one another. More specifically how it plays in sports.

Though some girls use the term “girl” against each other, it is most often found that boys use it amongst each other. Around the mid to late 20th century, calling another boy a girl was among the worst things you could say to somebody. We all remember the Ham in the movie The Sandlot saying, “You play ball like a girl!” Following that, viewers see about a half dozen jaws drop the ground and pure silence amongst the boys. Though a great line in an equally great movie, this line says a lot about the veracity of the accusation. Though society has come a long ways since those times, the term still exists today, only less severe. Back then, there was little female participation in professional sports and thus made a little bit of sense.

It has gotten to the point where boys throw it around loosely and not many take offence to it anymore (as far as I can tell). I should back up and say that to call another guy a girl is essentially saying that they are bad at something or do something poorly. Along with that, to say somebody is being a girl it suggests that they are acting dramatically or that they are lacking courage. For example, if a guy opts out of doing something dangerous and risky, peers would say something like, “don’t be such a girl.”

Despite all of these accusations, these have been disproved throughout the years. In the second half of the 20th century, for example, there was no WNBA(Women’s National Basketball Association) and to WPS(Women’s Professional Soccer), thus possibly making the assumption true that women are less athletic and calling a boy a girl almost makes sense in an athletic context. But now that these leagues, amongst others, have been established, to call a boy a girl does not make sense and is not valid in any way.