Comments on: Urban Girls: The Have Nots of Sports http://www.thenewagenda.net/2009/06/20/urban-girls-the-have-nots-of-sports/ Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:38:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Monica Jean Alaniz http://www.thenewagenda.net/2009/06/20/urban-girls-the-have-nots-of-sports/comment-page-1/#comment-18776 Monica Jean Alaniz Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:26:18 +0000 http://thenewagenda.net/?p=11293#comment-18776 In the past several decades, the largest groups of immigrants into this country have come from Latin American countries where there is a distinct cultural divide between genders and participation in educational and extra-curricular activities. I come from an area where I have seen girls and young women discouraged from pursuing academic and extra-curricular pursuits simply because of their gender. The article is right in that families expect more from females when it comes to household chores and family interaction. I have seen that this is rampant in the community in which I reside and it saddens me. I have seen it in my own family. As the only unmarried daughter I am expected to take care of certain things while my brother, who is also single, leads his own life without even having close to the same obligations. Unfortunately, the choice is to either shoulder the responsibility or have my family members that need assistance go without the care that they need. I believe that the best way to combat this is to speak out about it (which I do, and which relieves some of the pressure). Someone needs to be a voice for these young women and talk to their families letting them know the benefits of having their daughters be more active outside of the home. In the past several decades, the largest groups of immigrants into this country have come from Latin American countries where there is a distinct cultural divide between genders and participation in educational and extra-curricular activities.

I come from an area where I have seen girls and young women discouraged from pursuing academic and extra-curricular pursuits simply because of their gender. The article is right in that families expect more from females when it comes to household chores and family interaction. I have seen that this is rampant in the community in which I reside and it saddens me.

I have seen it in my own family. As the only unmarried daughter I am expected to take care of certain things while my brother, who is also single, leads his own life without even having close to the same obligations. Unfortunately, the choice is to either shoulder the responsibility or have my family members that need assistance go without the care that they need.

I believe that the best way to combat this is to speak out about it (which I do, and which relieves some of the pressure). Someone needs to be a voice for these young women and talk to their families letting them know the benefits of having their daughters be more active outside of the home.

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