Memoir

Those who are opposed to the idea of men and women playing baseball together, often defend their argument with the belief that women are not physical capable of participating in sports. In addition they often entice the belief that women are more susceptible to injury than men. This is not a valid reason to exclude women and there is an abidance of research that refutes this claim. In addition to excluding women based on their sex, the sport of baseball is connected to racial segregation. It was believed that baseball was a white man's sport and only men who were white possessed the ability to play the sport. This ideology has filtered into present society, resulting in a few number of African Americans or people of color who participate in the sport. With that being said race is absolutely a factor in whether or not women can play baseball with men. Women who are not white are seen as inferior and they are not expected to be successful in playing baseball. There are great deal of stereotypes that surround race and a person's athletic ability. These stereotypes have been around since the "Americanization" of baseball and traces of them are still evident today. Physical size and strength, the possibility of injuries, and the color of one's skin have been used as strong reasons to prohibit women and girls from entering the world of baseball, all of these claims are absurd and false, these issues should not just be associated women due to their biological sex. Women regardless of race are just as capable as men to participate in the sport of baseball. We can alleviate and erase these myths surrounding the inferiority of women and the superiority of men in the arena of sports. To solve this problem we must start early, we must preparing girls early to have the ability and skill to play baseball amongst their male counterparts.
Girls are often shunned away from little league games due to the toughness, manliness, or the possibility of becoming a tomboy. In addition, it is argued that girls would get hurt playing baseball and boys would quit the team. (Ring, 2009, p. 121) The idea that girls and boys don't share the same physical abilities in conjunction with excluding girls for their protection are often used a tools to keep girls from playing boys. Girls are expected to play the feminine version of baseball, which was constructed to limit the physical capacities of women and girls and to prevent them from acting in a manly of masculine manner. It is commonly believed that boys are better suit for playing sports and girls are not regarding their physical capabilities.
There are minimal differences in the physical development of boys and girls. Boys and girls are commonly equal regarding their physical capabilities, except that boys have greater forearm strength and girls have a greater range of flexibility. With the proper training or practice these differences can be reduced. It is also argued that girls are more susceptible to injury than boys and that their bones are not as strong as boys. The claim is just as false as the others that are used to exclude girls or women from baseball. According to Dr. Joseph Trog, "any age disparity in bone strength was negligible between the ages of ages of eight and twelve, and if anything, girl's bones tend to be more resistant to breakage than boys."(Ring, 2009, p. 123) If girls are allowed to begin training at an early age there should not be any reason why girls and women should be prohibited from competing and playing amongst men. There are barely any developmental differences between young boys or girls and if there are they can be easily overcome with proper training. "The real difference in sizes and strength show up by the middle of high school, when boys and girls are fifteen or sixteen years old." (Ring, 2009, p. 149) This refutes the belief that young girls and boys cannot play sports together due the so called differences in their physical capabilities. If individuals who are opposed actually did research instead relying on false claims they would see that there is no legitimate reason to separate boys and girls regarding differences in physicality.