I agree completely that girls should be able to develop into women without feeling like their femininity is something to hide. I don't subscribe to the older feminist notion that hairy legs, no makeup, and shapeless clothes are the only way to avoid bowing to the patriarchal constraints placed on women. But I cannot accept that prancing before a panel of judges to be evaluated on body shape and fashion sense is the healthiest path to self-actualization. I may be biased as an athlete, but I found this film to be the most intriguing and complex of Cassidy's trio. I have read countless books by and about women athletes, eagerly watched women's sports on TV, and competed in many sports myself.
Sport is about strength and speed and the finest, purest achievement of human potential.
We hear about the power women athletes gain as they learn to reap the same benefits from sport as men do. Although women and men may have different styles of play and personal goals in a game, both feel the fire of competition and the rush of victory with the same intensity. The girls Cassidy portrays, especially those in the exclusively female sports, put a different face on athletic competition. Some are as terrified before events as before a major exam, stressing themselves to near breakdown. Some pursue sports to become attractive to boys.