Sports
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In 2004, Celaya FC, a second-division men’s soccer team in Mexico, attempted to sign striker Maribel Domínguez to a contract. Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport’s international governing organization, stepped in with an official prohibition and the assertion, “There must be a clear separation between men’s and women’s football” (Tuckman 2005). The memo prohibited Domínguez, who captained the women’s national team, from playing in even exhibition games with the men’s squad. Domínguez is hardly alone. Although Calgary Foothill team management felt she had earned her place on the squad, in 2017, the Canadian goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé was barred from playing with the men’s team for the same reason (Turk 2018). In recent years, the fight for equity in sports has been in the spotlight: tennis players have fought for equal prize money, soccer players for equal playing conditions, and basketball players for media coverage. Stories of women fighting to compete with and against men pop into our headlines as anomalies. In 2017, in advance of a downhill World Cup event, for example, ski racer Lindsey Vonn fought to be allowed to compete in the men’s event (Pennington 2017). In this sport, men and women rarely race the same...
This essay may be found on page 221 of the printed volume.