Sitting breathless in front of the TV watching Billie Jean King trounce what's-his-name (and who remembers the jerk?) is a treasured memory. There are others. Here are a few:
Nine women who competed in men's sports:
https://www.totalprosports.com/2011/10/28/9-female-athletes-who-competed-against-men/
Professional hockey goalie, Manon Rheaume:
https://www.nhl.com/news/part-1-manon-rheaume-shatters-the-gender-barrier/c-642005
Ila Borders,
pitching in professional baseball:
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ila-borders-pitches-in-minor-league-game
Not quite to the NFL:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_American_football_players
When I was a child, girls aspired to be secretaries, teachers or nurses, if we thought about careers at all. I went to college and became a teacher, a worthy profession. But later, I got a Ph.D. and I've been a psychologist for 32 years. It had
never occurred to me that I could do something like that. Not because of my personality, or lack of ambition. Mostly, it simply wasn't done.
When I was in high school, we started a girls' track team when the school built a new track. Now there was an old track, lumpy and rutted, so we could have practices and track meets. Our gym teachers, unpaid, came out to coach the team.
I was a junior in high school when Title IX was passed. If you're even a few years younger than me, it's almost incomprehensible how much of an afterthought girls' and women's sports were.
https://www.womenssportsfoundation....hletes/mythbusting-every-female-athlete-know/
Nothing changes without pressure. Once upon a time, skiing competition was only for men, period! Professional sports were only for men, period. So what if Lindsey Vonn could be almost washed up? She could be paving the way for your daughter or grand-daughter.
Think back on history. Can you imagine what Jackie Robinson suffered, trying to integrate baseball? This is how change happens.
I don't advocate erasing the lines between women's and men's sports. Men are built stronger and faster. But if a woman wants to play up, push her limits, or (in many sports) earn real money, she should have a chance to compete with men. Today, it's only the exceptional women who can consider this. But when I was a kid, nobody considered it. Things change. I was filled with joy that things had changed when I watched my daughter in the goal for her team - the "boy's" hockey team. A damned good goalie, too.