Most of us were too young and having too much fun to notice when we crossed the fine line into “behavior not becoming of a lady”—actions that call for a painful penalty. Now, as a woman and a mother of both a daughter and a son, I can tell you exactly when it happens. It happens on the day girls start spitting farther, shooting better, and completing more passes than the boys. When that day comes, we start to get the message—in subtle and not-so-subtle ways—that it’s best that we start focusing on staying thin, minding our manners, and not being so smart or speaking out so much in class that
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