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History Maker
Simone Manuel, after winning the Gold Medal for the 100 meter freestyle race.
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I happened to catch this race, it was close and exciting and even more thrilling given the historic significance. I have a feeling many baby girls will be named Simone this year! I love how American women are absolutely crushing it at the Olympics.
Simone is a great name. I hope it starts trending.
Sally Jenkins in a recent Washington Post article writes:
Just before the Rio de Janeiro Games, a study out of Cambridge University analyzed more than 160 million words about female athletes from newspapers, tweets and blogs and found that men were three times more likely to be mentioned in their athletic context, while women were disproportionately talked about in terms of their marriages, age or appearance.
See the rest of the article at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/lets-discuss-women-olympians-in-athletic-terms-not-feminine-pejoratives/2016/08/11/41f9ad12-5fb8-11e6-8e45-477372e89d78_story.html
Progress comes in fits and starts, but these extraordinary Olympian women will help move us forward. (It also helps to have female sportswriters and commentators.)
Not to derail the comments section, but this gave me a chuckle. Seems like woman aren’t the only ones that have mothers with one-track minds 😉
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/08/13/usain-bolts-mom-wants-him-to-focus-on-finding-a-wife-after-the-olympics/
Usain: Mom, I’m about to be coronated as the fastest man alive!
Mom: You better run yourself to the alter then! What are you waiting for?!
Usain: *sigh*
I find this comforting, somehow.