We Are Women!
Jul 15, 2022
Well, here I am again!! I got this little message from Marie, "This is your friendly reminder that the 15th is coming up… Blog post๐."
"๐ค Oh, dear ..." Why can I talk or think all the time, but when Marie says it's time for a Blog, there are no words in my head or out of my mouth! Well, ok, here we go.
Most of you probably agree with me when I say women of my generation were raised to be "ladies." We wore dresses or skirts, our feet were in constant pain from the high-heeled, pointed-toed shoes we wore, and we could barely breathe due to wearing tight girdles (Thankfully, I missed the corset generation!) from our thighs to our underwire support bra! Our mothers and grandmothers would almost faint ("get the vapors") if we so much as mentioned our "slip, undergarments, or panties. It was a "man's world."
I remember one day as a college freshman, I was standing and chatting with a classmate before class. I don't remember our conversation, but a cute young guy standing nearby said, "You are nothing but a dumb blonde!" My immediate response was, "I AM NOT BLONDE!" Shocked at the retaliation that came out my mouth, I didn't want to believe he might be right! Men at that time played many sports: basketball, baseball, football, tennis, soccer, ice hockey, track and field, competitive swimming, archery, bowling, badminton. Men were professional athletes, jockeys, pilots, race car drivers, actors, ministers (preachers), politicians, soldiers, doctors, and scientists. Gentlemen opened the door for the ladies while we put on that gentile smile and blushed! As the pursuit for equal opportunities and rights for women evolved, the movement now known as Title IX, I was READY! I was READY to STOP BEING A "LADY" and start FIGHTING LIKE A WOMAN!!!
I learned that if I wanted to play on the tennis team at my college, I had to stop being a lady and fight for a position on the "men's" team! I had to fight or compete against the men for that position. I had to fight with the perseverance of the strong woman I am!
In 1884, a women's tennis championship was introduced at Wimbledon, and the national men's doubles was transferred there from Oxford. Mixed doubles and women's doubles were inaugurated in 1913.
Maud Edith Eleanor Watson was a British tennis player and the first female Wimbledon champion in 1884.
I remember when Wimbledon FINALLY allowed women to wear shorts rather than tennis dresses!
I remember the days of Billie Jean King and her famous tennis challenge, "Battle of the Sexes," against Bobby Riggs. Legendary sportscaster Howard Cosell called the match, in which King beat Riggs 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. King's achievement not only helped legitimize women's professional tennis and female athletes but was also seen as a victory for women's rights.
I had the honor to play fast-pitch softball against Joan Joyce, who will always be known as the unbeatable pitcher for the Raybestos Brakettes and the Connecticut Falcons, whose numerous career records--including an incredible 150 no-hitters and 50 perfect games--made her the best in the game.
Captain Rosemary Mariner was a pioneer female naval aviator. She was born in Harlingen, TX, on April 2, 1953, and was raised in San Diego, CA. She graduated from Purdue University at 19 as the first woman to earn a degree in aeronautics. She was already a licensed pilot when she joined the Navy in 1973. I met Rosemary a year before her death on January 24, 2019, in Knoxville, Tennessee, at the age of 65, following a five-year battle with ovarian Cancer. I will share Rosemary's Story in a special feature post soon. Mariner's funeral was held on February 2, 2019, during which the United States Navy conducted an all-female pilot flyover for the first time, performing a four F/A-18F aircraft Missing Man Flyover over New Loyston Cemetery in Maynardville, Tennessee.
Dr. Sylvia Earle is a pioneer in using modern self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) gear and developing deep-sea submersibles. Earle also held the world record for the deepest untethered dive.
The list goes on and on of amazing women who made an impact in so many ways. I am proud to have been part of the Title IX "fight" for equality and equal opportunity, not ONLY in sports but as entrepreneurs, professionals, politicians, doctors, and lawyers ... the fight for equal pay for equal jobs, equal opportunity, the right to make choices ... our bodies, OUR choices. My point, and I do have one, is that whether it be our Title IX quest for equal Rights as Women or our fight against abuse, abortion, religious belief, or our fight against Cancer, we must STOP being "ladies" and with uncompromising belief fight like WOMEN! We are STRONG! We are WOMEN ... hear us, ROAR!
We must do our P.A.R.T. P = Persevere - Never quit when you want to stop. Step by step. Just keep moving! A = Attitude - A positive attitude is the most powerful "tool" you can carry in your gear bag. Believe YOU can! HUMOR is an attitude. Laughter follows me and YOU. It is all around you. Learn to laugh at yourself. I keep myself entertained by laughing at ME! R = Resilience - Know and BELIEVE you can "come back" from a devastating injury or illness ... T = Triumph - YOU are a winner! YOU always were!
Now, what does the attached photograph have to do with this conversation??๐ค Truthfully, not one thing, but it got your attention.๐
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