Stand Up and Shout Out

February 10, 2020
Sports psychologist Steidinger (Sisterhood in Sports: How Female Athletes Collaborate and Compete) attempts to provide a useful introduction to the challenges women athletes still face but falters in this poorly organized volume. Steidinger presents anecdotes of disrespect towards women, such as a star NFL player’s demeaning comments to a female journalist (Steidinger lists many such incidents), along with statistics on the underrepresentation of women coaches, neither of which provide new information or arguments. The action steps at the end of each chapter are often superficial (“Teach girls to speak up and shout out for what they believe in”; LGBTQ athletes are encouraged to “Be proud of who you are!”). And having praised some male athletes for their sensitivity to the issue, Steidinger argues that those same athletes should be engaged “in endorsing the value of women’s sports,” which they are already doing. Steidinger is a passionate advocate for her cause, but even those in her camp will come away unenlightened and without a clear path forward.

February 15, 2020
In a follow-up to her Sisterhood in Sports (2014), lifelong athlete and sports psychologist Steidinger acknowledges the numerous positive changes in women' and girls' sports since the groundbreaking 1972 passage of Title IX. The focus of this book, however, is the need to address three areas that continue to block progress today: leadership (lack of women in decision-making roles), money (disparity in prize money and salaries), and media coverage (downright abysmal). Topics include the #MeToo movement plus the unequal treatment of women of color in sports and issues specific to the LGBTQ community. Each chapter concludes with a list of action steps that range from mentoring young female athletes to working to "understand and respect the cultural issues of women of color rather than criticize them. Steidinger also includes interviews with Wendy Hilliard, an Olympic rhythm gymnast and first African American to serve as president of the Women's Sports Foundation, and Carole Oglesby, an advocate for women's sports since the 1960s. Despite some repetition, this serves as a timely resource to those interested in mobilizing to fight gender and racial discrimination in sports.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)