When I would go to the park, maybe initially they would be like, ‘She's a girl, she can't play.’ But then the next time, they were picking me first for their team. Let your actions speak for themselves. Don't worry about what everybody else is saying. Just concentrate on playing basketball and embrace being a woman and being in sports.” (TIME)
Parker is a great role model for women who aspire to take part in women athletics. She’s broken glass ceilings in athletics and proved many, including Gallico, wrong. Towards the end of her response, she mentions to “embrace being a woman and being in sports.” This is meaningful, because while women’s basketball is trailing in popularity behind men’s, she reminds women to be proud of themselves in being in sports even as traditionalists attempt to tear them down.
Gallico’s way of thinking also suggests that women are weak and that when they fail, they don’t face it with poise and composure. If anything, women are quite the opposite. They’ve fought years for women suffrage and are more empowered than ever. Our nation’s recent presidential election included a women candidate. And although Hillary Clinton lost, her concession speech was hopeful and instilled confidence in women. Clinton said, “And to all the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams”