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Photo from Bitten Bound
One thing that elite male athletes will never share with elite female athletes (well a bunch of stuff actually, but humour me here) is the question - where do I belong? Male athletes at the top of their sport are exactly where they belong, at the pinnacle of their respective sporting worlds. But where do the likes of Danica Patrick and Hailey Wickenheiser belong? Too good for the girls (or in Patrick's case, there is no girls league), not good enough (or whatever enough) for the boys. It is a liminal space that few will ever understand because a top female doctor/student/CEO/performer etc. will always have a place in a co-ed arena. Granted, discrimination and sexism exist in every space but there is no explicit med-school for men and med-school for women and only the best women can transfer schools. This is reserved for sports.

Danica Patrick made a name for herself at the Indianapolis 500 in 2005. First, it was prove that you belong with the big boys. At her first Indy 500 race she started fourth, the highest starting position ever achieved by a female racer. Her results since, although not outstanding, are certainly admirable and if she were a man I doubt anyone would question her membership as an Indy (or NASCAR) racer. This year, she was one of four female racers at Indy. 'Naturally', her success as an attractive female athlete has led to many magazine photo shoots, which then starts the conversation about "how dedicated is Patrick to racing?" How many times do we question the dedication of Rafael Nadal or Cristiano Ronaldo because they do Armani underwear ads or Tom Brady's dedication for hocking Stetson's cologne? When she had yet to prove herself we questioned her worth. She proves herself and we question her dedication. Awesome! Thanks for the support. And this reaction does not just come from the men folk, women dish it out pretty good too. I found one female blogger that refers to the racer in question as "Do Nothing Danica" and argues that

Are we not past the moment in history when a female generates headlines simply because she's a she? I'm all for girls playing with the boys, but if she's going to play with the boys shouldn't she actually have to beat the boys or, at the very least, give the boys a scare to become a headline story? (Patti Dawn Swansson)

We don't expect pity, but NO she shouldn't have to beat the boys to get a headline because, UNFORTUNATELY, everyday that she races with the boys IS a big deal. She's not receiving attention because she has a uterus (I assume), she's receiving attention because she is defying gender norms. Does she deserve more attention than the other three women that raced at Indy this year? Probably not, but until counting the number of women racing at Indy becomes an irrelevant statistic, Patrick's fight for space within an arena that was never designed for her (or any other woman's) presence is newsworthy.

Photo by Antonia Calanni/AP
On the flip side, we have Hailey Wickenheiser. Wickenheiser, arguably the greatest woman to ever play hockey, has four Olympic gold medals and is the only woman to ever score a goal in men's professional hockey. When she decided to join the European professional hockey league, Wickenheiser was originally slated to play in Italy, but then Italy decided that women were not supposed to play in the men's league. Luckily, a Finnish league picked her up and she went on to score 2 goals and 11 assists in 23 games with HC Salamat. She received a lukewarm reception in the European leagues, but what is truly shocking is the reaction she received when she returned to Canada and joined the University of Calgary Dinos CIS women's hockey team. Wickenheiser is enrolled at the University to finish her kinesiology degree and was recruited by the varsity coach (and her former Team Canada teammate) Danielle Goyette. Upon joining the team, she has had soft-drinks dumped on her head and been boo'ed and heckled by fans. One student created a poster which read "If you're in one of our textbooks, you shouldn't be in our league", to which Wickenheiser replied "Study hard". She was novel and controversial in the men's professional league, and now in her home country playing with women she is again novel and controversial. Furthermore, Wickenheiser, unlike Patrick, has no racy photos to her credit and for this she is labeled a lesbian (despite the fact that she has a son with her long-time boyfriend/partner). In an exhibition match between the Canadian women's national team and the junior national under 16 team, Dane Phaneuf (little brother of Dion Phaneuf) bodychecked Wickenheiser in a non-contact game. If a 15 year old boy hitting a 4-time Olympic medalist in a non-contact game doesn't spell disrespect, I don't know what does. Wickenheiser, who does not receive bullying well, responded by 'woman-handling' him (insert collective cheer from women here).

Annika Sorenstam - Photo from Golf Quips and Tips
From Annika Sorenstam playing in the Colonial, to Serena Williams' statement that she could flat out beat the guys (unfortunately untrue), women have been knocking on the men's room door for awhile now. Alas, this is another example of men as the norm and women as the aberration (oh please let me in your exclusive club!). You've dominated the side-show that is women's sport but you still have no place with the men. So where do elite female athletes go? Too good, too sexy, too small, too gay - elite female athletes are freaks of nature. At least, of the 'nature' that we have created where men's and women's sports are divided down the middle like East and West Germany. If 'playing like a girl' meant playing like Hailey Wickenheiser, I would accept it as the highest compliment, but unfortunately, we still get "you're pretty good, for a girl" OR my personal favourite "at times, I thought I was playing against a guy". Thanks? (I know plenty of guys that suck at all sorts of sports and I would really rather not be compared to them.)

I have no answers here. I don't know where elite female athletes belong but as I write this blog I remember a conversation I had with a man while at stick and puck at UBC. He caught me after the ice time was over and asked me where I played hockey, to which I replied "I just play recreational hockey". His response was "well ya, all girl's hockey is recreational."

First of all, I want to be there when this gentleman tells Hayley Wickenheiser that her hockey career has been "recreational"; and second of all, I rest my case.

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