Women in the Olympics: summing up today's news

During an international celebration of athletic accomplishment, a close look at women competitors in the Olympics is due. Title IX passed in 1972, granting women access to high school and college sports, and was revisited last week in the New York Times. Decades later, we still have not achieved equality in sports.

Awearness enumerates many of the sexist concerns with the Olympics, including the absence of women's ski jumping.The International Olympic Committee maintained that women's jumping has no place in the 2010 games, as reported by NPR. Mother Jones digs deeper into the apparent sexism, noting an archaic protectionist sensibility:

"Two years after the first, male-only Winter Olympics in 1924, one German doctor wrote, 'Because of the unanswered medical question as to whether ski jumping agrees with the female organism, this would be a very daring experiment and should be strongly advised against.' In an interview with NPR in 2005, Gian Franco Kasper echoed the sentiment. 'Don't forget, it's like jumping down from, let's say, about two meters on the ground about a thousand times a year, which seems not to be appropriate for ladies from a medical point of view,' the International Ski Federation (FIS) president said."

Gold medalist Lindsey Vonn has figured hugely in the news. USA Today wrote that "women's sports have been looking for an heir-apparent to Mia Hamm for some time now: a well-behaved, dominant, eminently likeable, crossover superstar. Vonn is that person, if she wants to be, something Hamm never really wanted." The sentiment to empower is there, perhaps, but the stereotypes persist. Are most women athletes not feminine enough? Not dominant enough? Not likeable? Not pretty? Feministing evaluates coverage of Vonn here. Vonn's victory is worth celebration, but the way we talk about her and select cover photos need attention.

A Canadian curler who is five months pregnant has not been deterred from competing in the 2010 games. Kristie Moore told The Times, "So far, so good. I’m feeling great. No problems." Women are thrilled to watch a pregnant woman compete at this level. Momversation celebrates here.

For the most up to date news on women's sports, check out the Women's Sports Foundation. Women Talk Sports has great coverage of the Olympics, and is keeping tabs on evidence of sexism. -TLF