Tennis

“Stop swinging like a girl.

You’re gonna have to learn to swing better than that if you ever wanna be any good at tennis. Plus, I’ve taught you better than to swing like a girl.”

Excuse me, Coach? I have a quick question:

You do realize you are teaching an all girls team...right?

So, let me ask you--

What makes you think it’s okay to use “swing like a girl” in that kind of negative, degrading context?

Because let me tell you...

We all--

Every single one of us on this very team--

Hit like a girl.

The beginners,

The experienced players;

The ones who play really well

And the ones who don’t play as well--

You know what we all have in common?

We all swing like girls.

We all hit like girls.

We all play like girls.

And guess what?

Every single one of us always will swing like a girl.

You wanna know why?

Because we are girls.

Because gender does not determine how well anyone plays a sport.

Because I refuse to be told the reason I missed that hit was because I was born with a vulva instead of a penis.

Because I am done hearing “like a girl” to mean “like someone who is weak and can’t do anything right.”

Because my assigned gender does not measure my level of strength or talent.

So, Coach--

How about instead of saying stupid, offensive comments like that,

You just do your job as a coach and

Teach us and treat us like human beings?

Because believe me--

I am done listening to all your sexist bullshit about how I swing.