I just settled in my seat on the second night of UndivALED 1-on-1 championship In February, when I suddenly felt that the wind washed away from the room. I looked at the entrance, my curiosity to find out if any other person had suffered from the same feeling, and achieved a golden gold medal four times and twice Wnba The hero Lisa Leslie, who was attending as an official at TNT analyst, had just entered the gym.
Saying that Leslie requires the attention of any room that it enters is not overlooked; It is almost impossible not to notice a magnetic person in nature. Lesley told me the influence she spoke to people, and this comes from feeling satisfied with herself. “I was always comfortable in my skin,” I made it clear, “which means being feminine, thanks to my mother.”
Leslie descends from a long series of “smart, beautiful and modern women” – added “Women with Minds, Beauty and Brawn”. The idea of not mixing basketball with her beauty, is one of the proud style of athletes who have ever made themselves similarly, as Cameron Brink, Ricky Jackson, Skydar Degins Smith, Cheney Oujoomic, and Ozura Stevens.
“I liked to be a role model throughout my career,” Leslie also said. “I will never stop being an audio defender for women and girls. God has given me this platform to make a positive impact on our societies while leaving its light shining – I do not bear this responsibility lightly.”
But just because she is ready to carry this weight does not mean Leslie and her athletes WNBA – including the players who It will be formulated in 2025 It was always easy, and things were often more accurate for black players. One just needs to look at the comments about any post that includes Angel Rais or Britney Grener Two very different athletes excite controversial regardless of what they do – to understand racism and sexual discrimination in good health in the United States. The stereotypes that were always present around professional sports are still widespread – to say something about what they were (especially black mathematics) who entered in the nineties and early first decade of the twentieth century.
The former work of Bill Simons, the former Espn analyst and the founder of Ringer, may summarize more precisely the prevailing positions: “Well, the vast majority of WNBA players lack the sexual call of the intersection. This is completely the case,” Credit for the result SimMons with writing in 2006. In the same column, he added that “some are tall and brief, while others lack the required qualities, UM, to enhance male families between 18 and 35. The loose uniform does not help. No it is difficult for anyone to look attractive at the end of the basketball game for two hours.”
Then again, these facts may not be important as much It is still available for reading online – Serving more the same.
Meanwhile, Bird – married now from Megan Rabino – and many athletes in Wnba were Beware over and over again Do not go out like homosexuals.
(It should be noted in February 2024 Podcast episodeIt seems that Simons reflected a two -decade path, saying that he was “more interested” in the NCAA game for women more than men, adding, “There is continuity – the gameplay is good. It has become a lot of the basic things that you used with a haven and kicking in the fault.
But still, things were not much better than 2006, at least according to the American Professional League legend Karim Abdul Jabbar, who noticed in a Time That “outside the world of fans Zina: Princess Warorer and WonderThe muscular woman, not in general, is the ideal … I think our ideal wife is still unable to defend herself against a man. “
Unfortunately, it did not improve much in 2025, as women of all races who play sports at all levels are likely to face a kind of discrimination and hate. Cameron Brink I learned the difficult way After having hated comments on a post by Los Angeles Sparks, who called for male practice players, and People criticized it online To express her ideas. Tennis star Emma Radocano has a gold chase to the point of appearing in matches, a Stir that I fear it In stopping the match before removing it (Radokano dropped against the man after that A message signed Promise to keep a distance to him).
As WNBA fans know, one only needs to search in the names of Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark on any social media platform to find thousands of terrible comments and posts.
But still, there are bright points. Women who play professional basketball flourish on the field and run, and they were not allowed to many different women from many different persuasion to embrace those they are. The days when the players were stuck in the cabinet, fearing that they would bother the fans; If there is anything, WNBA fans are calling for more details about Diwana Boner and Alyssa Thomas relationship And their spa days, and Britney and Coriel Grener were met Wealth of online support Since welcome their son, Bash in July 2024.
Ricky Jackson, a graduate of Tennessee University who enters her second year with Los Angeles Sparks in May, agrees that things are easier in many ways for younger players in the league. “I really didn’t face much,” she said about the least positive situations about women who play basketball. “Especially in the situation I am now.”
In fact, Jackson added that she does not personally face a lot of harassment. Instead, she says that her generation of players is improving in ignoring what exists (to some extent) And focus on their gains, whether they are personal, on the field or in the weight room. “Whatever your game – you don’t have to be the most powerful person in the world. If you are a bucket, you are just a bucket.”
“I’m just happy to be here, frankly,” she also told me. “When I was a child, I was in the ballet – I was not in basketball and sports – I was in nails and hair. Until I was a basketball player is a kind of madness.”
As for the young girls looking forward to, Jackson hopes to see her on the field and feel “they can [do] Whatever athlete, she added her career in basketball in a relatively late, Jackson said that she hopes that young girls understand that “everything you want, as you know, chase – everything she puts so that she can accomplish it.”
When it comes to how the families of these young girls can help their daughters grow to strong women who feel beauty from the inside out, the sports psychiatrist Dr. Wilsa Charles Malevio agrees with Leslie that he begins at home, and that parents like Leslie’s mother are necessary to suggest it in the young woman and how he holds herself. “Awareness is a huge piece of it,” she explained.
“If you do not realize that you can keep these unconscious biases, like your child’s messages about how they do their hair, or what is to leave at home, they can unintentionally enhance that other people who have negative intentions give them good enough,” Wilksa.
She said: “Sweat is a social building, but this does not mean that it does not affect your life.” Many of the conversations that families at home are holding about women, especially for women who resemble them, may end up. [young girls’] Wilksa explained:
Boner, the WnBA champion twice, is also one of The latest additions to Indiana fever This season, a lot of promise sees the current and future perceptions of players in WNBA by the fans, which is likely that families are increasingly helping for this sport and league together. She told me: “We have to express ourselves more now.” “We were offended for a long time – people did not necessarily know that we have a sense and style of fashion. We can express it more than ever.”
“I am a different person outside of basketball … We all have life outside the court.” Bonner stopped, then confirmed, “We are human beings.”
