March 9th, 2005
Wesley Smith suggested recently that Million Dollar Baby missed an opportunity. Turns out he was right. Today’s New York Times has a tough, amazing story about Katie Dallam, a female boxer who was brutalized in the ring, nearly died, and has lost the use of the left side of her brain. An astonishing article.
(Again, say what you will about the political biases of the Times, it’s still one of the wonders of the world.)
miklos rosza March 10, 2005 at 2:28 am
I’ve known some women boxers who’ve tended to be offbeat “post-feminists” who want to explore their own capacity for violence — a capacity that radical, essentialist feminists seek to deny. “Violence” is too simple a word here. Physical courage and force of will is obviously a big part of the equation as well. But when you throw a punch you’re trying to hurt someone or knock them out; it’s disingenuous to deny the pleasure there is in knocking somebody down.One woman who is my friend turned pro and was put in with a foe some 20 pounds heavier. My friend was knocked out, suffering a hairline fracture of her skull, advised strongly never to box again.Another got a detached retina while sparring.I personally don’t like seeing women get beat up, and to this point even the professional women boxers are very bad compared to the men. (Leila Ali, for example, is a joke.) It remains a sideshow attraction at best.But oh yeah, those old fart trainers sure know how to become father-figures!