Women’s participation in athletics has been one of the victories of the feminist movement. Policies like Title IX demanded equal access and funding (even if that hasn’t yet been realized) in federally subsidized programs. Though the amendment had to do with much more than women’s participation in sports, this is what discussions of Title IX are often all about. Title IX stated,
No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance… (Title IX)
The bill says nothing about which sports women would be allowed to play, or how they would be allowed to play them. There are lots of small differences between men’s and women’s sports. 
But, while women’s basketballs are slightly smaller, softballs are much larger than baseballs–a feature that necessitates differences in pitching, hitting, and throwing the balls. Men’s and women’s athletic outfits also differ. Consider men’s vs. women’s professional tennis clothing. But, gendered performance expectations are also lying behind many of the rituals and traditions we hold most dear in many sports.
In watching 2012 Olympic trials for gymnastics, there was one moment during Anna Li’s routine on the uneven bars that caught my attention in the sportscaster conversation following the judging. We often don’t think about gender performance expectations; we simply don’t have to. They don’t even typically feel like expectations because many of us are eager to take part in them. But when gender expectations are disrupted, we know something significant happened, and there is typically a great deal of collective work done to repair the breach. Anna Li did just such a thing. I’m not incredibly knowledgeable about gymnastics, so I missed it when it happened, but the significance of the event was not lost on more seasoned fans and commentators.
Inequality by (Interior) Design 