Nearly every feature story on Marta makes a big deal out of how she grew up playing with boys as if this were unusual. Of course it’s fun to read about Marta’s childhood years fighting macho attitudes on dusty pitches and in the street — but just once I would like to see it acknowledged that her experience is not extraordinary. It is in fact absolutely typical for female players, especially (but not only) those living in places where women’s sports is not accepted. In the U.S., girls play with boys, by the way, and many also find themselves combating patriarchal attitudes about sports when they lace up their boots. Brazil hardly has a monopoly on machismo.
The Pitch Invasion piece is a rewrite of this earlier blog post. Both are well worth the time to read.
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