My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Feminism: Sex & gender discussions

Women's Rugby - what reaction did you get when you told people you played?

1 reply

OccultGnu · 07/12/2012 18:39

Following on from a thread about girls rugby I realise there are a number of current and ex rugby players out there.

I retired from the game some time ago but well recall the mixed responses I got when I talked about playing. I was wondering what reactions people have had when telling friends, family or strangers that they play.

In my day (ahem) some people got it straight away and understood why I would want to do it (because it is a better more interesting game than any other I encountered).

However some were weirded out and others positively hostile. This was the 1990's and the sport was perhaps less mainstream then.

I was told on more than one occasion that I "shouldn't be playing that game" and given various reasons including it is a sport for men NOT women. That I would get breast cancer from the various bumps and bangs to my chest. And I was frequently asked if i was not worried about hurting myself, a question that I never heard any man being asked when he discussed his sport.

And of course let's not forget the inevitable hooker jokes, every time....

What were your experiences?

OP posts:
Report
peppapigpants · 08/12/2012 00:09

My 13yo DD plays but I hadn't thought about her being given a hard time about it. The girls team at the club is thriving whereas boys age groups are a bit thin. They have had visiting players from the England women's team (we are near Twickenham) and it's all very positive.

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.