Hope Solo, Dancing with the Stars, gender, and femininity

[feuervogel]

This is an interesting article, and it includes one of my favorite ads from the Women's World Cup this year (the one with Abby Wambach and the hallway diver. Makes me giggle every time.).

A few bloggers have already critiqued the big deal the program makes about Solo's strength and her struggle to get what reads as feminine grace into her movement. One judge couldn't help himself, and declared that Solo has "thighs that could crack a walnut." He basically called her a ball-breaker. Before we make a federal case of this, let's remember: This is Dancing with the Stars.

Everybody on that show is in drag. All contestants whose personae are at odds with ballroom comportment appear to be at sixes and sevens with their own bodies. This is especially true for certain kinds of athletes - those for whom appearing to float, for example, might go against everything they know about their bodies. Exit Metta (formerly known as Ron Artest).

Although this season features entertainment royalty transman Chaz Bono and the Queerest Eye for the Straight Guy Carson Kressley (whom we all hoped would be allowed to dance with a man), the most explicit gender panic has fallen on Hope Solo's magnificent shoulders.

Go read the rest.

(I need a generic football icon...)

Comments

[tiurin.livejournal.com]

I don't watch the show, but...thighs that could crack a walnut equals ball-breaker? Is that supposed to be metaphorical or literal? I'm not seeing how that's supposed to work.

Of course, I find Solo's thighs quite sexy, though I don't actually find her all that attractive. I prefer Megan Rapinoe's impish grin to the amount of makeup Solo seems to slather on. YMMV.

[feuervogel]

Nuts --> balls --> ball-breaker. That's a bit of a stretch, though, I agree.

I'm also not big on huge layers of makeup. I wonder if it's something she just likes to do, or if it's a response, conscious or not, to society's constant "be more feminine!" message.