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No room for antiquated views on girls wrestling
Anchorage Daily News,1/30/05
It's ironic that Anchorage Christian School and Grace Christian are teaching their children sexist values. For years, women have fought to gain equality, and these schools continue to perpetuate an antiquated dual standards philosophy. While chivalry is great, they appear to be saying double standards are OK also. ACS athletic director Jason Hofacker stated, "girls are to be respected." ACS doesn't teach boys to respect each other? Mr. Hofacker also stated, they don't want their boys to "...go and beat them (girls) up." Sounds like someone forgot to tell Michaela Hutchison.
These boys are allowed to wrestle against a girl, only if they have their parents' permission. At the state championships last year, their boys wrestled everyone, regardless of sex. Their parents must have felt it was OK. Seems hypocritical to me.
If a girl wanted to wrestle, they would "shut down" the program? They are willing to punish all of these children, just because a girl wanted to play and have fun. Is this fair? WWJD (what would Jesus do)?
In retrospect, I applaud them for adhering to this antiquated, sexist mind-set. It allowed my daughter to take first place in her class at a wrestling meet this past weekend, due to her pairing against an ACS and Grace opponent in the semi-finals and finals. Keep up the good work, guys.
-- Mike Nuernberg
Palmer
Girls wrestling is here to stay; get ready, boys
As the father of a middle-school wrestler (and a former high school wrestler myself), I was pleased to read a fine article by Eric Smith ("Mat Respect," Jan. 20).
Coddling fragile male egos probably ranks fairly low on a scale of subjects we want our children to learn in school. If a boy losing to a girl truly seems by some to be "a no-win situation for the boy," as expressed by Coach Ritchie in the article (and by one wrestling coach to my own "girl wrestler"), it simply means we are still in the throes of the sexual revolution. A better response might be "wrestle better next time, son!" And if some boy wrestlers drop out of the sport simply for being pinned by a girl, I say wrestling is the better for it.
Boys who learn to keep girls up on a china-doll shelf (as Jason Hofacker of ACS seems to imply is preferable) will miss an important lesson about the toughness, strength and capability of girls -- and girls will have one less avenue in which to express themselves assertively. As long as we maintain the fiction that boys are intrinsically better than girls at physical endeavor, we disrespect both and make all of their lives smaller and meaner than they need be. Wrestle on, girls -- and boys.
-- Bob Curtis-Johnson
Anchorage
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By: A Mid Day Correspondent
January 31, 2005
Yesterday afternoon, the Shiv Sena organised an All India Wrestling Championship. The star attraction was the wrestling match between a boy, Babloo Yadav, and a girl, Kausalya Wagh.
After a tough 25-minute encounter, the boy won, much to the relief of the largely male spectators.
Thousands had gathered to watch the unusual spectacle.
The event organiser, Sanjay Nirupam, had said earlier that the contest would be the prime attraction in the championship — and it was.
As actor Salman Khan flagged off the match, the 14-year-old duo parried each other. Initially, the audience was a bit biased towards the boy, but as the match progressed, they cheered wildly for Kausalya.
According to the rules of the game, whoever scored first, would be the winner. So both contestants were a bit hesitant in the beginning. Kausalya made some confident moves, but in the end she was done in by Babloo.
That she was disappointed was obvious, but she shrugged it off as the crowd applauded her effort and cheered her.
There were many who felt that the match should’ve been allowed a fuller version for a fairer opportunity to both players.
Who: Kausalya Wagh
Age: 14
Weight: 46 kilos
Claim to fame: Won the National sub-junior gold medal last year
Coached by: Jagmal Singh at Kandivli and represents the Sai Sports Club
In the beginning it was going well, I thought I would win, but it was not to be. I lost the match but have learnt from it. I shall take the experience back with me and it will surely help me in my preparation for a forthcoming tournament in Iran. I used this match not as competition, but as practice.
— Kausalya Wagh
Who: Babloo Yadav
Age: 14
Weight: 46 kilos
Claim to fame: Babloo, practicing at a local akhada in Jogeshwari, is yet to win a major event.
Coached by: Bharat Yadav who trains his disciples at Jogeshwari Sarvajanik Vyayamshala
When the match began, I thought this was going to be a really tough encounter. We were told early on that whoever scored a clean point first, would emerge the winner. I had wrestled Kausalya before too, in a local encounter at Kandivli, so I knew her strengths and weaknesses. Overall, though it was a tough encounter, I am happy to have won.
— Babloo Yadav
It was a fantastic match and I’m sure those who saw it got more than their money’s worth. The Shiv Sena will do everything possible to encourage Kausalya and will offer her every possible support.
— Sanjay Nirupam, event organiser
It was an amazing experience. The girl certainly has talent and that she held her own for almost half an hour shows she has stamina too. I am sure she will go a long way in holding the torch for India.
— Uddhav Thackeray, Sena executive president