cover image The Quiet Storm: A Celebration of Women in Sports

The Quiet Storm: A Celebration of Women in Sports

Alexandra Powe-Allred, Alexandra Powe Allred. Masters Press, $15 (256pp) ISBN 978-1-57028-186-0

Both members of the U.S. women's bobsledding team, these sisters have interviewed many female American athletes and some of the few female sports executives in putting together a survey whose main purpose is to motivate women athletes to persevere. It's not news that women athletes have been discriminated against in the past, often very blatantly. But that these practices persist may come as a revelation to many. The authors point out the need for women to fight for empowerment, self-respect and positive self-images off the field. They discuss how motherhood--and perceptions of motherhood--affects a woman athlete's performance and perspective. Obviously, they keep stressing the need for girls to have role models, and they offer a bounty of them, ranging chronologically from Babe Didrickson-Zaharias to Mary Lou Retton and Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Acknowledging that women athletes still face stereotyping and more hurtful forms of institutional obstruction, they urge women to develop tougher hides and never to back down. What they face is encapsulated in this anecdote: needing tens of thousands of dollars for a project, women bobsledders approached a male executive of their sport about their financial bind. Sincerely eager to help, he said: ""Why don't you hold a bake sale?"" (Mar.)