East of Omaha

womenandsports:

Delaware’s Elena Delle Donne, right, hugs teammate Trumae Lucas while Lauren Carra watches after the team lost to Kentucky 69-62 for an NCAA women’s college regional semifinal basketball game in Bridgeport, Conn., Saturday, March 30, 2013. Delle Donne had 33 points. She ended as the fifth all-time leading scorer in NCAA history with 3,039 points; passing former stars Cheryl Miller, Chamique Holdsclaw and Maya Moore. Delle Donne finished short of Jackie Stiles’ all-time scoring mark of 3,393 set at Southwest Missouri State from 1998-2001. (AP Photo/The Wilmington News-Journal, Suchat Pederson) (via Yahoo! Sports Photos)

centuriespast:

Girls basket ball

Frances Benjamin Johnston (American, 1864–1952)

1899-1900. Platinum print

MoMA

More to the point, how is women’s basketball supposed to evolve, to become more athletic, if the bodies of the athletes playing the game don’t become, well … more athletic? It’s basic physiology. In order for a woman to jump higher and run faster, she must have higher muscle mass and lower body fat, both traits traditionally deemed masculine.

So, to recap: Women’s basketball is maligned for not being as athletic as the men’s game, but as women become more athletic, these players are often labeled unfeminine, and therefore unwatchable.

Feel free to pause here and scratch your head.

Essentially, the women’s game is in a Catch-22, because what these critics seemingly want is to watch female ballers who can athletically rival the men — but in the bodies of swimsuit models. In other words, the nonbelievers will never watch women’s hoops because they are waiting for a version of the game that, biologically speaking, will never exist.

Australia wins bronze, defeating Russia 83-74.

(Source: news.daylife.com)

France wins silver at the 2012 Olympics.

(Source: news.daylife.com)

The US wins the gold, defeating France 86-50.

(Source: news.daylife.com)

(Source: news.daylife.com)

France defeats Russia 81-64

(Source: news.daylife.com)

(Source: news.daylife.com)

The US defeats Australia 86-73.

(Source: news.daylife.com)