Most sportswomen ‘have lesbian tendencies’

Press, 18 December 1989, Page 6

Most sportswomen ‘have lesbian tendencies’

NZPA-AFP Bonn Most sportswomen have homosexual tendencies, according to a West German social scientist. In her doctoral thesis to be published in February, a sociologist, Birgit Palzkill, has done a detailed investigation into the sexuality of sportswomen, and concludes that 90 per cent of women who take part in competitive sport, particularly football, handball and .tennis, are homosexually inclined.

But West German sports stars have been swift to react. Kira Berger, the captain of the national ice hockey . team, said there was no greater instance of lesbianism in her team than in any other sector of society. The tennis star, Sylvia Hanika, called the report “ridiculous.’ She said, “The figure quoted, that 90 per cent of tennis players are homosexual, is completely false.’ Ms Palzkill interviewed 19 lesbian sportswomen for her inquiry, and concluded that they had difficulty in accepting their

femininity because they did not conform to the female stereotype, which she claimed consists in being “small, gentle and pretty.’.

Ms Palzkill said the origins of lesbianism could be traced to childhood, when girls refused to play with dolls and rejected the role expected of them. . They would adopt a “neutral* stance, neither feminine nor masculine, but it was difficult to sustain with the onset of puberty. Social pressure and the taunts of other children often contributed to a feeling of “difference'

and would push young women into sports where they could come to terms with their own identity in a stable environment. However, Ms Palzkill claims, sport is a field in which women are only accepted if they show traits normally considered masculine — strength, endurance, competitiveness and power.

To try to reconcile the conflict between being “a sportswoman’ and being “a woman,’ many young women abandon sport altogether, while those who continue construct a tough, asexual persona for themselves.

This, Ms Palzkill claims, frequently results in personality defects and a growing dependence on sport as an outlet. All the sportswomen interviewed said their attitudes towards their femininity altered the moment they decided to live openly as lesbians. But Ms Palzkill says the price can often be high. She cites the case of one unnamed athlete who was forced out of a national team because she had been accused of attempting to seduce a team-mate. >