20 excellent sports blogs by women
Text: Karina Sembe
Can a woman really talk about sports? Someone still doubts it, but not us. True, women in sports journalism are not any easier than in big-time sports: now and then you have to prove that you are not good for a girl, but in general. As a result, some grow into emancipated professional women, while others do not dare to take up the challenge (in our interview with the sports reporters, women in this sense faced the old school and the younger generation). Girls more often work in sports publications of a wide profile - and quite successfully: Yulia Dorofeeva - Eurosport football commentator, and Jackie Outley - at the Olympic Games and the BBC, Veronica Gibadieva writes for R-Sport, and Elena Vaytsehovskaya - for Sport-Express . And while there are not so many autonomous platforms founded by women, there is still something to choose from. We share blogs in different formats in which girls talk about professional sports.
Muslim women in sports
The blog contains a lot of information about Muslim sportswomen around the world, which seriously expands their representation in online media. Such pages are rare, since far not many Muslim women today have won the right of independent voice or even access to the Internet. The blog is maintained by two women: one studies social anthropology at Cambridge, the second one is a social worker and a football player from Toronto. Here are articles about the double standards of international sports federations who do not want to lift the ban on wearing the hijab, and materials about the difficulties of preparing for the upcoming Islamic Games in Baku, and regular texts about glaring inequalities in Islamic countries: for example, few people know that women in Iran still not allowed to attend men's football games.
Women Can Talk Sports
One of the blogs in the girls power genre, which is what the "feminized" NBA logo and pink lip baseball say. The ideologist of the blog studied the sociology of sports and at some point considered it important to create a platform for women fans. The goal of the page is not so much a detailed analysis of the matches, as the empowerment of American girls, the creation of a kind of "club of interests" and the organization of thematic events: lectures, seminars, lunches. On the site you can follow the events in the world of American football, baseball and basketball and peep the basic rules of the game. If you have two minutes to understand what a penalty is awarded in basketball and what are the formations of an attack in American football, and Wikipedia articles are depressing, you are here. Those who like a higher immersion, can safely browse further.
The football girl
In the US, both men and women of different ages and social classes are equally interested in American football (as well as baseball) - after all, the fun of the people. On The Football Girl website, there are no lip-shaped balls or the “Hottest Footballer of the Week” category: nothing but the name itself reveals the identity of platform creator Melissa Jacobs, which once again proves the discrepancy between stereotypes of reality. The site is quite informative, the materials are written in a light syllable, and the formats are very different - from sketches and columns to seasonal forecasts and interviews. There are also male authors on the site - the rubric of one of them did not fail to ironically christen "The Wise Guy Explains". For those who want an American football with a conventional "female face", there is a good Chicks in the Huddle.
Soccer girl
In the Soccer Girl blog - not only the results of matches, ratings of women's teams and other news from the world of football, but also interviews with famous football players, sports uniforms, professional advice from famous female players and reflections on topics not always directly related to football. You can’t find women's football blogs in Russian during the day, but Elena Bulygina’s page is a good attempt to bring together information about women's football in Belarus. As a bonus - tips on training and diet.
The MotoLady
There are not so many worthy blogs about motor sport. More precisely, motorcycle blogs abound, but more often they are in the nature of consumer reviews, and very rarely they are women. Already in the 30s of the last century, emancipated ladies were rifled on motorcycles in leather jackets, jeans and flight helmets, but still for some reason this hobby is considered not quite "feminine." MotoLady website designed to destroy this prejudice. It is not about professional motocross - it’s a rich lifestyle blog for girls who are not indifferent to motorcycles. The author conducts test-drives of different models and makes reviews of equipment, writes about custom “horses” and news in the motor industry, publishes thematic photographs and dossiers on various motoledi - known and not very experienced and beginners. "Because the ladies were made to ride, and the motorcycles were made for riding."
Pro women cycling
With humor and not without hard words about professional competitions of various kinds among men and women - from classics like Tour de France and the Plouet Grand Prix to Paralympic cycling and bike trials. Author podcasts, reposts of interviews with world champions, geological characteristics of the area for cycling - publications are varied, regular and, despite the naive interface, the blog draws even the uninitiated. Those who are still more interested in the amateur side will like the Women Who Cycle platform. The authors in a non-trivial form talk about the emancipative power of cycling (which is worth material about the cycling club of Muslim women from Sydney), write thoughtful columns about empowerment, share tips on choosing a bike and sports form, publish the results of test drives.
Women's Tennis Blog
In a historical perspective, it can be said that for women, tennis turned out to be a more inclusive sport than, for example, football or motocross - either because of the “aristocratic” image of this discipline, or because of its recreational orientation, or simply because tennis players in white flying tissues, they visually correspond to traditional notions of femininity (not always to one's own joy and convenience). Anyway, women's blogs about tennis (and blogs about women's tennis) are much more than the rest. Qualitative tournament reviews are on the blog of Serbian Maria Zhivlak, who also writes for the site of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). About women's and men's fashion in the world of rackets can be read on the Tennis Identity. A pleasant discovery - Women Who Serve: c feeling, sensibly with the arrangement of women's tennis from a practicing psychotherapist Dien Elaine Dis.
Women's MMA Roundup
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is definitely a gender-colored sport: any kind of wrestling automatically falls into strange lists of "anti-women's" sports. Nevertheless, women's MMA tournaments are a pretty serious industry, and there are enough men among the fans, many of whom are guided by quite a sporting interest. Women's MMA Roundup platform closely monitors all the ups and downs of women's championships, and at times men's tournaments do not bypass. In addition, there are some interesting MMA blogs on the Web on personal experience, for example, My MMA Life with tips on how to perform techniques and field training reports or Rosie's Blog in the spirit of an online diary.
8LimbsUs
Great personal blog with unique content and extremely pleasant design. Its creator, a native of Colorado Sylvie von DuGlas-Ittu, has a long and close relationship with Muay Thai, and the blog was started as a motivation: Sylvie planned to hold 100 fights in Thailand. Now the amount is far over a hundred, and the next goal is 200 contests. But the blog is not about the competitive spirit: it has a very peculiar way of life of a Western woman in the East, technical details of Muay Thai, the problem of gender in martial arts, as well as a lot of information about Coach Sylvie, a certain Teacher K. In addition, the site has a rather active forum and even an online store.
Crickether
Strangely enough, there are a few more high-quality women's blogs about cricket than about football - apparently, the male monopoly has not reached here and there is where to turn. The CRICKETher blog is the case when the ironic statement on the subject of my own mastery of "I got a PhD in ..." can be taken literally: blog editor Raf Nicholson defended her dissertation on the history of women's cricket in the UK. There is also an Indian page Sneal Pradhan Grass on the Seam with extensive reasoning and Female Cricket with rare posts about Indian cricket, and Women's Cricket - literally relict site, it has existed since 1997. Once, long before 1997, the famous English cricket player Len Hutton called the possible presence of women in this sport "absurd - like, for example, if a man went in for knitting." Well, today, men are quite knit for themselves, and women are gaining world-wide recognition in big-time sports.
Photo: indigolotos - stock.adobe.com