Att slå som en tjej

Kathleen Gallaghers ord i boken Drama Education in the Lives of Girls (2000:6):
"I would like to recall a significant story about my father. And thinking about him means remembering my 'daughter-self'. I was 12 years old when my father read, in our community newspaper, about a new baseball league that was about to begin in the east end of Toronto. It announced a registration date for kids between the ages of 11 and 17 at the local community centre. My father asked me if I would like to play and I thought I might. He took me along to register, but when we arrived, the baseball convenors kindly explained that it was a hardball league, the implication clearly being not for girls.

They explained to my father that there were several softball leagues in the area that I might like to join. Referring to the newspaper clipping in his hand, my father persisted, indicating that their advertisement invited 'kids' to play baseball. They delicately explained further that, despite having advertised the league that way, it would be evident to anyone that it meant boys when they saw that it was a hardball league. I remember feeling a little embarrassed that my father still did not seem to 'get it'. Even I understood that hardball was for boys. At that point, he turned to me and asked whether I would like to play hardball. Somewhat confused, but rather instinctively, I nodded 'yes' and my father turned back and looked blankly at the chaps behind the desk. I was very aware that they seemed irritated, but to my surprise they looked at each other and then turned to us and one of them said, 'Well she can try it if you like, but I don´t think she´ll enjoy herself.' My father turned around to me again and asked if I´d like to play baseball. I gave a definitive 'yes!' We signed the forms and picked out a uniform; I could hardly wait until my first game.
In the first year, I was the only girl in the league; the next year there were two others. Today, when I drive by the park where I used to play - in the diamond under the big stadium lights - I smile because half of the players on the fields are girls. And like me, these girls don´t 'throw like girls' because they are expected to throw strongly and skilfully. I am grateful now, in many circumstances, that I don´t 'throw like a girl', but I am more grateful that my father wanted to realize a different world for me - a world of possibilities - a world where girls play hardball too."