She can still recall the moments walking down these halls when she was judged. She remembers the way they only saw her muscles and clothes, and automatically sorted her into a stereotype before they even said “hello”. “I get judged all the time because I am a student athlete,” says former graduate Hailey Castleman who now attends Saint Louis University.
Castleman recalls the old days when in high school, people would call her “butch” simply because she wore “shorts and a t-shirt all the time or because I was a girl that would always play sports with the boys,” says Castleman.
Though she was always a “confident person” in high school, she does admit that “sometimes it hurts.” “It keeps people from getting to know me,” says Castleman.
Her pain is not a lone event though, these stereotypes on female student athletes are mirrored in the current student athetes as well.
One of these stereotypes on female athletes is felt by the athletes on the softball team like junior Kylie Buttram. It’s become a well known assumption made that all women on softball teams are lesbians. Though it is untrue, this issue is one that affects Buttram often.
Buttram says on the subject that “there are a few girls that play the sport we do that are lesbian or butch, and everyone just assumes the rest of us are too. Most of us are in shape or work out, but we’re not butch and definitely not manly.”
Many women believe that many of these stereotypes of female student athletes are rooted in the fact that a young woman enriched with strength and strong will seem to present competition to the toughness of men.
So how does that explain the stereotypes on the female athletes of the dance and cheer team? Often assumed as being the most popular and preppiest girls of the hall, they also experience the stereotype of being deemed fragile.
Junior and dance team member Dinah Benford sees this assumption of her and her team by others and is highly offended. “That is not me,” says Benford.
She says that the assumption “lingers above certain women and they take that with them everywhere.” In this case, Benford is referring to the dance team, who is always under the public eye.
Benford preaches that these words hurt and that people should think first even though it has become easier not to. “Since expressing your opinion is now freer than ever, people dont think then judge,” says Benford.
But Castleman preaches of a kinder home, free of criticism, that she find in the company of her teammates. “They go through everything that I do,” says Castleman. She knows that she can always find solice in the company of her team, because “they understand,” says Castleman.
