It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to respond to Professor Stimpson’s paper entitled “The Atalanta Syndrome: Women, Sports, and Cultural Values.” Professor Stimpson touched upon many of the struggles women have historically faced and continue to face. I will respond to Professor Stimpson from my personal experience as a feminist physical educator and athletic administrator. The main point I would like to make, and I am sure Professor Stimpson would agree, is that women have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.
Yes, the Atalanta syndrome exists for women in sport, but it is not as bad as it used to be. For many women today, physical activity is an accepted part of their lifestyle, and they include fitness, sports, and outdoor activities into their daily lives. Women engage in physical activity to relieve stress, ward off disease, and improve mental, emotional, and physical health.
One of the joys in my life is that every day I see women’s lives enhanced through physical activity. We have long believed at Mount Holyoke College that physical education is an important part of the liberal arts curriculum. Even before it was in fashion for women to exercise we were encouraging and even expecting women to engage in daily physical activity. So highly did Mary Lyon, our founder, regard physical activity that she required all students to walk daily for exercise. Lyon’s 1839 and 1840 catalogue stated that “young Ladies do not study during regular hours of recreation and exercise. Those who enjoy bodily idleness, enjoy sin.” 1
Even today, we continue to offer a broad physical education program that includes over 45 different fitness, sports, and dance activities. We are one of the few higher education institutions that require three semesters of physical education as part of the core curriculum. While approximately 18 percent of our students are involved in intercollegiate athletics, we still have our own “Atalantas” arriving on campus each year. Even today, many of the women who attend Mount Holyoke lack basic bodily awareness, coordination, and fitness. Often our international students come from cultures where they are not encouraged (or in some cases, even allowed) to engage in sports or physical activity. Some students have not had the financial means or parental support to pursue active lifestyles or youth sport experiences. For these students, physical education often begins as a challenge and ends as a liberating experience, not only for their bodies but for their minds as well. These young women start off as uncoordinated and lacking fitness at the beginning of the term and depart at the end of the semester stronger and armed with skills that will enable them to be active for a lifetime. Over 50 percent of our students take physical education courses above and beyond the requirement, which is a clear indication that women understand and want the benefits of healthy, active lifestyles.
The world of intercollegiate athletics clearly continues to illustrate the Atalanta Syndrome. As Professor Stimpson notes, Title IX made new athletic opportunities available to girls and women at all levels, but we are still far from reaching equity in high school and college sports. Since the passage of Title IX 33 years ago, female interscholastic athletic participation has increased by 875 percent, and female college athletic participation has increased by 437 percent. This is great news, but high school females still have 1.17 million (41 percent) fewer participation opportunities than their male counterparts, and college females have 54,557 (34 percent) fewer participation opportunities than their male counterparts. 2
