Raising My Sons as WNBA Fans is An Act of Resistance
Plus, where I'll be the next couple weeks!
Welcome to My So-Called Feminist Life: Essays, interviews, and book reviews that wrestle with what it means to be a feminist today. This week, I have a few thoughts on why I feel like taking my sons to watch the WNBA regularly is a political act, and some catch-up on pieces I’ve published and places I’ll be in the next couple of weeks. Would love to meet if you’re headed to Female Athlete Conference or NonfictioNOW!
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Yesterday, my partner and I brought my two sons to the Seattle Storm game. They’ve been to several games in their lives (naturally). It was a last minute decision, because we’ve been busy. It’s coming up on summer, and I have work travel coming up and there’s always a reason not to do something, right? But after we decided to get the last minute tickets, I was explaining that Jewell Loyd, formerly our favorite player on the Storm, was now playing for the opposite team. We were seeing Storms vs Aces. My kids insisted on knowing who the current Storm players were. “Stewie?” my youngest asked, remembering a player who left the team before he turned two (but who we still follow). I pulled up some photos of the new starting lineup. They wanted names. They wanted to see faces. They practiced “LET’S GO STORM,” before we left. The game was, as usual, a thrill. Yes, I spent half of it trying to keep my almost-seven-year-old from invading the personal space of all the people in the rows around us, and the other half making sure my three-year-old wasn’t breaking down because Doppler (the team mascot) was in sight. (Mascot costumes really freak him out, which, fair.)
But still, it was an exciting game. The Storm shooting wasn’t great except for Gabby Williams who went off. And there was a last minute comeback where they almost pulled it out. We also literally ran into nearly ten people we knew at the game, just walking around the corridors. By the end the kids were tired and it’s never fun to lose. But this morning I was so glad we’d gone. Watching the Storm has really saved my sports fandom and maybe my sanity, in recent years. Games, whether it’s an on or off year, have brought me immense joy since I started going to them in 2007. So at breakfast, I thanked my kids for going with me. And I was about to launch into a whole thing about how when I was their age, the Storm didn’t even exist. There was no women’s sports team I could go see.
Then I wondered if I should tell them that at all. Sometimes I struggle with this as a parent. I normalize diversity. We talk about race and sexuality and gender in a way that is inclusive and welcoming. And then of course there’s always a moment of, when do you let them know that this is new? That this isn’t how everyone sees the world? Because I want them to think it’s absolutely normal to watch these women ball out and be treated like superstars, even though, a generation ago, it certainly was not. I tend to mostly let it go until I can’t. Until we read a story about the first gay Major League Baseball player (this is a fantastic picture book, btw), or a news story about a hate crime, or police violence on the radio pierces their consciousness and requires explanation.
In any case, I guess I’m writing this down here, now, because it’s been demoralizing of late to witness the rollback of society’s movement toward justice. But I’m still trying damn hard to not let my kids (and their entire generation) to be demoralized. I want them to know a wholly different world as normal and beautiful and good. And yes, I remind them from time to time why that progress matters so much. But I want to focus on the absolute beauty of where we are whenever I can.
I know, this is me just overthinking a basketball game, but I guess that’s sort of what I’ve based my entire career on. Speaking of my career, I’ve had some things going on and coming up! Read on for more on where to find some of my work, and where to find me in the coming weeks. (Yay!)
The Sports Illustrated annual Swimsuit issue came out and I am really honored to say I wrote a feature story based on the badass portfolio of 10 athletes they included in the print magazine this year. Yes, a whole ass print feature story in the print Swimsuit mag! Yes, I have feminist thoughts about this magazine and this entire experience and they are complicated and sometimes murky and that’s why I’ll write about it all another time, but for now, please enjoy gorgeous photos of these badass athletes and a story about why this generation is more proof that we aren’t going back.
I dug into the Title IX investigation launched by the federal government into Washington state because of the state’s gender equity laws including nondiscrimination based on gender identity, for Cascade PBS. I found that this use of Title IX is a huge departure from the ways its typically been deployed. Something I’m keeping an eye on…
I chatted with the lovely
and for their podcast On the Bleachers, which is my favorite kind of sports podcast, one that’s about culture, sports, and all the ways those things intersect. Give it a listen!I’m headed out to Boston this week for the Female Athlete Conference! If you’re in the Boston area, you don’t want to miss this amazing bookstore event with a powerhouse group of authors, please RSVP if you’ll be there! The brilliant
will be moderating.
Then, if you’re attending the Female Athlete Conference, come to our panel!
, , Lauren Fleshman, Katie Steele, and I will be chatting on how to translate research into writing through our books on women’s sports. Moderated by the legendary Dr. Sarah Lesko! Please reach out if you’ll be attending, I’m looking forward to connecting with folks here.
The following week I’ll be at NonfictioNOW at Notre Dame and cannot wait to mingle with other nonfiction folks at this time when writing nonfiction feels kinda surreal. And I have the honor of being on a panel with some of my best writer friends and heroes. Please come say hi if you’ll be here.
Thanks for reading! My So-Called Feminist Life is a newsletter wrestling with feminism in today’s world. I encourage conversation in the comments if you wish to share your own thoughts, feelings, memories, opinions. If you’d like to support this project financially, you can become a paid subscriber.
You can find me on Instagram: @maggiejmertens and on BlueSky @maggiemertens.bsky.social
You can order my book Better, Faster, Farther: How Running Changed Everything We Know About Women (Algonquin Books) from your favorite local bookstore, request it from your local library, or push this quick order button from Bookshop.org. If you’ve read it, I’d love if you’d leave it a glowing review at Amaz*n or Go*dReads.
This is all great! I’m bummed to miss you at NonfictioNow which is happening here in South Bend! But I’m teaching in Tennessee next week. Hope your events go well!