Engendering Change in the Olympics

I admit it. I watched Olympic Ice Dancing. Perhaps this makes me less of a man, but there are two things working in my favor. One, I watched it with my wife. Two, I like Tanith Belbin. As I watched it, though, I couldn't help but thinking -- are we far off from seeing a male couple out on the ice?

The Olympics, like most sports, are divided by gender. And often they are divided according to traditional gender roles and stereotypes. Ice Dancing is one man and one woman. Synchronized swimming is female-only. Ski jumping is restricted to men. Softball is restricted to women. But as gender roles and ideas of sexuality change over time, how will this affect the composition of Olympic sports?

Bill Mays knows that change will not come overnight. Mays made history in 1996 when he became the first male to compete in the US national championships of synchronized swimming. He also competed with his partner, a female, in future national championships and the 1998 Goodwill Games. His attempt to compete in the 2004 Olympics in Athens was denied, however, when swimming's international governing body (FINA) did not petition for mixed duet synchronized swimming to become a sport.

Why, though, should there have to be a mixed event? Is there some reason why men cannot compete against women in this sport? I can find no gender requirement in FINA's rules for synchronized swimming. And it does not seem that a male would have any great advantage over a female in a sport that values artistry as much as strength. Besides some possible teasing about competing in a "woman's sport," what harm is there if males compete?

The same is true for ice dancing. Is it inconceivable to see an all-male or all-female dancing pair? For now, the answer is yes. Rule 500(2)(b) of the International Skating Union rules state that a pair shall be comprised of one man and one woman. But is this rule based on anything other than tradition or views of what is "normal"? A pair of men would not seem to have a great advantage in ice dancing, which features footwork, artistry and some lifts, but no jumps. It might seem a little odd at first to see two men in sequin jumpsuits dancing in tandem to 'Bolero', but so did Billy Jean King defeating Bobby Riggs.

As traditional notions of gender and sexuality break down, will sports evolve to reflect changing attitudes? Or, is it possible that sports will lead the world into these changes, much like Jesse Owens and Jackie Robinson paved the way for greater racial equality in this country? Change may be slow in coming, but don't be surprised if you see a man swimming in sync or two men dancing on the ice in the not-too-distant future. And after a while, such an idea might not seem odd at all.

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