Girls enter the ring
Thursday 23rd April 2009, 2:30PM BST.
(Picture supplied by the Amateur Boxing Association)
THE Amalgamated Boys’ Club have decided to open the door to women.
It was front-page news in 2007 when it came to light that the club refused to allow women to train at their St Martin’s hall.
The club said their premises were too small and that they did not have the manpower to accommodate women.
Now, nearly two years later, the island’s only boxing club has announced that next month, depending on interest, that they will start special women’s training sessions on Thursday evenings.
Head coach Graham Guilbert did not want to expand too much on why they have had a change of heart.
All he would say was: ‘The committee has changed and our insurance has been updated. It also needed to be organised better.’
The sessions will involve the same bag- and pad-work that the club’s male boxers undertake.
Like the men, if a woman wanted to spar, she have to have a medical examination by a doctor to gain an Amateur Boxing Association ‘medical card’.
That will also entitle them to fight competitively.
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I appreciate it’s a matter of personal choice however in my opinion there is something fundamentally unpleasant, undignified and unfeminine about watching two women beating each other up.
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Come Paul…this is the 21st century! ALL people are equal. Whilst I appreciate it is your opinion, why shouldnt women box? Why shouldnt they play football, cricket etc? Its only a game afterall!
Is there anything fundamentally pleasant, dignified and masculine about watching two men beating each other up?
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GsyDonkee – firstly I don’t recall mentioning anything about football and cricket, just boxing.
It is a sad that in the 21st century those distinct characteristics that make men and women different are being eroded by popular culture. We are now faced with iffeminate men that seem more interested in hair care products than adventure and responsibility and “macho” women who try to neck pints and be just like the lads.
I agree about equality however that does not make men and women the same – it is an equality in diversity – equal yet different.
For example, men are naturally physically stronger than women; yet women have the strength to handle childbearing, something as a man I couldn’t handle! Then there are masculine and feminine characteristics, both of which are distinct, different yet equally important.
Why don’t I think women should box – simply speaking in my opinion it is not feminine.
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I agree with Paul Le P…
If my wife wanted to start boxing I would be horrified…
He is spot on – women boxing is not feminine… not at all…
Mud Wrestling…. now there is a whole different story!!
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I think its a good idea, it gives us women to show you all what we are made off.
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To Paul Le P – I am a female boxer and happen to be a curvaceous, very feminine, sexy woman who only drinks Pink Champagne. If you saw me in a club/restaurant you would have no idea I was a boxer. We are not all trying to be macho or drink pints you know!!
And all men are NOT naturally physically stronger than women, you should ask some of the men I have beaten!! It totally depends on the build, hereditary factors and the type of exercise/occupation of the man. Also, a lot of men actually find watching two women beating each other up quite sexy and exciting, not in the least “fundamentally unpleasant, undignified and unfeminine”
To GsyDonkee – thank you for defending us “non-feminine” women – lol
And to WH Bonney – you are just a perv!!
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Oh, and it is great for physical fitness, as a self defence mechanism, teaches self discipline, and is great fun!
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Like i said, Guernsey needs to get with the times……. :)
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Personally I don’t like to watch women fight, I occasionally watch MMA and really don’t enjoy the female fights. That does not mean that ladies don’t have the right to pursue their interests, if they wish to box then let them, same as the men.
Paul Le P – the thing you and I have to remember is that even if we, as men don’t like to watch it, female boxing fans probably would.
And BTW Google Gina Carano, I think she is or was the UFC champion.
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Samantha – If you choose to do boxing that is of course your perogative – it’s a free country after all :). It was interesting however to note that you considered it OK for men to find women beating each other up sexually attractive, yet you call WH Bonney a perv for liking mud wrestling! I guess the definition of perv is a subjective thing…
In response to your point about the strength of men compared to women I accept that individually some women are stronger than men (I’ve seen some women that could easily beat me up for starters – you probably could as well! :-) ) however scientifically it is proven that physiologically men are generally stronger than women.
A simple definition of looking at the difference in strength between sexes is to look at the world records for strength events such as weight lifting. Men are consistently higher than women. Also check out the interesting discussion on the Science of Sport blog at:
http://www.sportsscientists.com/2007/10/women-vs-men-part-i-world-record.html
http://www.sportsscientists.com/2007/10/women-vs-men-part-ii-physiology-of.html
I’m departing from the main point here a little however it does emphasise that there are differences between men and women. I emphasise again my earlier point that this doesn’t make men superior to women – just different and more suited to different tasks and disciplines.
Oh, Kate, as for getting with the times I guess I’ll just have to stay old fashioned….never mind, my very sexy, curvacious, pretty strong wife who also likes champagne prefers me that way so it’s not all bad ;-)
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Dean – “the thing you and I have to remember is that even if we, as men don’t like to watch it, female boxing fans probably would.”
You’re quite right – I wasn’t suggesting for one minute that it should be banned, I was just expressing my personal views on the matter.
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Also check out “Physiology of Sport and Exercise” by Jack H. Wilmore, David L. Costill and W. Larry Kenney. You can read an interesting section on the differences between men and women for free at books.google.co.uk
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W H Bonney – glad for your support my friend even though I don’t share your love of mud wrestling I’m afraid.
In fact I can’t help but wonder whether your dislike for female boxing and your love of mud wrestling aren’t somehow linked. After all if Mrs Bonney took up boxing and caught you watching mud wrestling, well one couldn’t blame her for the inevitable outcome….. ;-)
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Paul L P – your view of “equality in diversity” seems to be based on the generalised view of what makes a man and the generalised view of what makes a woman. You seem to forget that each of those men and women are individuals – are we all supposed to conform to the generalised view?
I use moisturiser and the odd bit of hair wax. I have even been known to wear the odd item of clothing that is, wait for it…pink. Does that make me less of a man than the grunting brute fixing the road? I would tell you to look at the whole of my character and my actions, and would emphatically say no. The characteristics of my masculinity run deeper than such superficial factors.
Equally, a woman who chooses to spend a couple of hours a week boxing is no less of a woman than a beauty queen (indeed, she may be a beauty queen!).
Personally, I am not keen on boxing for either sex, but if it is ok for men to do it, it should be ok for women to do it if they wish to do so.
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What is wrong with women boxing??
Its personal choice afterall, this is just an extension of equality.
I dont agree with women boxing against men, but if there are enough women who want to do it then why not??
In US schools, girls have had wrestling teams for many years and it has been a fantastic way for them to keep fit, breed confidence and learn to look after themselves.
Not all women like netball!
Were not talking about women knocking seven bells of crap out of each other, this is amateur boxing we are talking about here not pit fighting.
If my wife said she wanted to take up boxing I certainly wouldnt stop her because it would do her more good than harm.
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TL – I completely agree that wearing a pink shirt or using hair wax doesn’t alter masculinity –
I accept the examples I gave in my previous post were a little on the superficial side however I stand by my belief that popular culture is eroding the deep characteristic differences between masculinity and femininity.
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W H Bonney wrote: “If my wife wanted to take up boxing I would be horrified”.
Couldn’t agree more. Last thing I need is for my wife to learn how to land a left hook.
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I’m 5 foot 2, roughly 7 and half stone, and i do boxing. My father was a channel Island champ and i’m very proud of him as he is of me doing boxing. I didnt attend ballet classes, i didnt attend singing classes, this was a personal choice of mine. My family didnt push me into boxing and my partner has no problems with me boxing. He would never tell me what i can/cant do, should i be chained to the kitchen sink??? make sure his dinner is on the table like a good little house wife?!
Men who strongly believe woman shouldnt be allowed to express herself in a manner that you feel isnt exceptable, well maybe your with the wrong lady!? Boxing doesnt teach you to go out and beat someone up, it teaches you to look after yourself (being a small girl i am a target) i would NEVER use my boxing skills to hurt someone. only if i wasnt in a situation where i felt i was in danger.
What will it be next, women arent allowed to fix cars, or save lives? It seems extremely clear to me that most of the men in the Guernsey Bubble refuse to except that its a two way street. Do ladies moan when you see a male ballet dancer? No we think more of him of doing what he wants to do.
Boys (i’ll refer to u as boys as your acting like little boys in a playground) just face the fact that we no longer live in the dark ages where women are only good for bringing up children, we have a life, we have jobs, and some of us earn more money than you boys so maybe you should pay us abit more respect.
And believe me, a woman doesnt need to know how to box to give u a left hook!
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Vee – I think that you and some other ladies have got completely the wrong end of the stick in this discussion.
I can’t speak for the other men who commented here but I certainly didn’t say that women shouldn’t box – I merely expressed a point of view that in my opinion it is unfeminine. I stand by that opinion whilst accepting that others like yourself don’t feel the same way I do.
Unfortunately these days it appears that anyone who disagrees in the slightest with the feminist brigade is labelled as a male chauvanist and accused of not respecting women. This is simply not true – completely the opposite actually. I can assure you that I have the utmost respect for women. My wife is degree educated (higher education level than me) with a successful career history yet she has voluntarily left employment in order to raise our first child. Contrary to what some would say, this is not a backward step as she will have the most demanding, stressful, responsible career there is – looking after another human being. In fact rather than feeling “chained to the kitchen sink” she considers it a priveledge, as do I.
Some of you ladies need to appreciate that it is possible to honour and respect women and still be a bit “old fashioned”
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Unless they are sparring, i cant see why they would need a special separate female class. Why not just have women and men training together like they do in martial arts and boxing based exercise classes?
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Wil – agreed, but I inferred from the article that they may only have one set of changing rooms / showers which would make it difficult to have men and women there. But that may be wrong.
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TL – that would be a logical straight forward answer, however, they did not say that. They refused to comment on why the club changed its mind in regard to training women and they had previously stated club size and manpower as being the issues/excuses.
They have stated that they will hold 1 class for women “depending on interest”. My fear is that only a handful will turn up, they will say there is not enough interest and thereby feel legitimised to exclude. I hope they do not intend to follow this course.
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Go girls !
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TL- you are correct, when i enquired as to why there was no female boxing available i was told it was due to Lack of facilities. Id have quite happily showered with the boys, im sure they would have been more embarrased than I would.
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