When I am coaching writers or storytellers, I remind them, over and over again, that their stories matter. Not only is it important for all kinds of stories to be told in all kinds of ways to reach all kinds of people but individual stories hold universal relevance. And communicating a universal idea through one person’s story helps an individual reader or listener to connect with it in a deeper way.
In her book, Break Point: Two Minnesota Athletes And The Road To Title IX, Sheri Brenden clearly helps the reader to make the connection between the experiences of individuals and the bigger story of the changes that were needed to help pave the way to improve girls’ access to sports (and all the related opportunities) in Minnesota.
Break Point recounts the stories of two high school students, Peggy Brenden (the author’s sister), a tennis player, and Toni St. Pierre, an endurance athlete, who couldn’t test their skills in competition because, in the absence of girls’ teams, their (very reasonable!) requests to compete on the boys’ teams were determined to be against Minnesota State High School League rules.
While the two athletes didn’t know each other, their lives were connected when the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union agreed to go to court to fight for the girls’ right to compete in their chosen sports. While Brenden and St. Pierre hadn’t set out to be trail-blazers (they just wanted to compete), when they won their case they did indeed blaze a trail for a new conversation around girls’ sports.
I really enjoyed seeing that conversation develop throughout Break Point. Sheri Brenden is an engaging writer who manages to be both matter-of-fact and friendly, whether she is recounting the ins-and-outs of a court case or describing her sister’s ‘Kill ‘Em With Cool’ tennis style.
Brenden did a great job of showing how the ‘small’ story of two girls who just wanted to compete in their respective sports is really the big story of how everyone deserves the same opportunities in sports, in work, and in every other aspect of our lives.
So, if you are interested in the history of girls sports, the application of Title IX, or if you want to see just how pervasive the myths and prejudices that attempt to limit women’s participation in sport can be, give Break Point a read.
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While things have definitely changed in the over 50 years since the events in the book, women are still dealing with blatant discrimination disguised as concern for women’s safety and we are still being asked to be patient and wait for equality (as if it will just naturally develop over time…sigh.)
I have to say that seeing that the same arguments, in slightly different form, have being going on my whole life has only made me more determined to stridently oppose them.
