Author on the "sheer freedom of sports"
By Kelly McLendon
Author Mina Samuels sounds like that friend who’s always on the go.
“I do road running and a lot of trail running, whenever I can,” she says, adding that she also cycles, swims and enjoys cross-country skiing.
Her book “Run Like a Girl” looks at how women’s participation in sports has changed over the years. Samuels says their involvement is still evolving and isn’t always entirely accepted.
“To a certain extent, it’s still evolving where parents don’t think of putting their girls in sports, or girls don’t want to be in sports. That’s just crazy stuff.”
Wanting to explore “how sports help women discover their greater capacity” drove Samuels to uncover facts about sports history and also about herself. She writes about the impact sports and breaking a sweat have had on her own life.
When working out and committing to fitness, Samuels says there is a certain freedom that may come to women, as they’re prioritizing and putting themselves at the top of their list.
“We spend a lot of time prioritizing other people. I don’t know if it’s in our nature, or how we’ve been socialized. We are deferring to other people’s needs and schedules. When we make that time to get out there, it shows us that it’s possible.”
Samuels also looks at how sports are viewed in countries around the world. Sometimes, “it’s the freedom to do what you want with your body, which is not as accessible to women,” she says, citing South America and some parts of Africa as two of the places where women might lack this accessibility.
The connection between the mind and the body also play a big role in female sporting.
In “the sheer freedom of sports, as long as we remember to play sometimes, it allows us to open up our minds,” Samuels says.
Another chapter details her own experiences at an all-girls summer camp.
Being in an all-girls environment, free from the “male gaze” can be refreshing, she says.
“In a way, we could just do our thing and nobody mattered, or nobody was tempted to wear eyeliner.”
“Eyeliner has no place at summer camp,” she jokes.
Samuels says her own relationship with working out is constantly evolving.
“It’s fascinating how we can discover new elements of ourselves forever. I hope until the day I die, I’m discovering new aspects of myself. Sports are a really good place where we can test that out,”she says.
