In the News: Liz Wilkinson on the Social Impact of Women’s Sports

Dr. Liz Wilkinson, director of the Luann Dummer Center for Women, recently wrote an op-ed for Ms. magazine. She details the recent and historical social justice movements in women’s sports and the surge in popularity that has followed.

From the story:

On June 14, the players and coaching staff of Angel City Football Club, the women’s professional soccer team of Los Angeles, walked out of their locker room and onto the brilliant green pitch wearing black warmup shirts that read “Immigrant City FC” on the front and “Los Angeles is for everyone / Los Ángeles es para todos” on the back. ...

Women’s sports, especially these sorts of sports moments, don’t just entertain. They draw us into larger social movements. When 10,000 fans slip on “Immigrant City FC” shirts, and the rest of us begin searching for them, the pitch is transformed into a venue for solidarity, a season of collective resistance.

Such popularity is not new. In the 1870s and ’80s, competitive women walkers called pedestriennes drew crowds in the tens of thousands. Before 1900, women’s open water swimming competitions attracted thousands of fans along the shorelines. Women cyclists outdrew men’s events, leading the League of American Wheelmen to refuse to sanction women’s races out of apparent jealousy.

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