Counting to Ten

It must have been during one of my many exam period MAC visits that I first spotted it. "Hey Harvard Girls" screamed a sign on one of the weight room bulletin boards, "Anyone Interested in Women's Wrestling?"

Is it a bit of final club punch-season humor, I wanted to know, a coy attempt to poke fun at the Diversity and Distinction view of the world? Or is it part of a serious effort to get Harvard women down on the mats with each other?

As a one-time wrestler myself (I spent the better part of two middle school winters trying not to get pinned), I can't help but be intrigued. The poster reawakens long-suppressed memories, a whole host of sensations and smells I hadn't thought about in years. For me, wrestling was the ultimate athletic challenge. It was an opportunity to learn about myself and my limits, an unparalleled test of strength, stamina and mental agility. In short, I hated it.

This, perhaps, explains why I have a tough time understanding the mindset of those who submit to the rigors of the sport. And it is why I have an even tougher time understanding why women at a school with such a vast breadth of athletic and extracurricular options would want to start an organization with wrestling as its defining activity.

Sensing a possible Title IX angle, I get in touch with Lauralee Summer '98, a woman whose name is listed as a contact on the poster. Lauralee confirms that she and Danielle A. Hobeika '01 are in fact trying to pull together a club for women wrestlers. But right away she makes it clear that her commitment to wrestling is nothing if not earnest.

Despite her sweet voice and exceedingly polite telephone manner, Lauralee, a three-year member of Harvard's wrestling team, shows herself to be pretty passionate about the sport. "You use every part of your body," she explains excitedly, "You have to go out there and face your fears."

In addition, Lauralee tells me that the number of women wrestlers in America has increased four-fold in the last several years. It turns out that there is an entire circuit of women's wrestling tournaments and three or four full-scale teams on the collegiate level. Hobeika recently finished first in her weight class at a Christmas tournament in New York and Summer, who paid her own way sophomore year before she got a grant from Radcliffe as a junior, has in the past finished second and third. But because they both weigh less than 118 pounds--the lowest weight class for males--they've been unable to find suitable opponents at Harvard. This, Lauralee explains, is where the idea of the club comes in.

If it can attract ten members--the number needed to gain recognition from Harvard--women wrestlers will be able to start working out after hours in the space used by the varsity team.

I ask Lauralee whether she thinks Harvard women will show much interest, and she says that while seven have confirmed their intent to join, there's no real way to tell until after the club's introductory meeting.

"Some [women] might think it's kind of random," she acknowledges. "I don't know if there's a stigma attached to women's wrestling, or if [Harvard women] just don't know about it." Still, she notes, that as a fitness activity, "it definitely beats stair master."

My professors have warned me about extrapolating from a small sample space and, well before that, my parents told me about the dangers of generalizing from my own experience. Still, whatever little I've managed to learn about Harvard women during my three-and-a-half years here leaves me convinced that the club won't be a big hit.

But I'm terribly eager to be proven wrong. So I make a point of accidentally ending up in the uncozy confines of Loker Commons around 8:00 on Tuesday night, which just happen to be the place and time the introductory meeting is called for. I arrive 10 minutes after the hour, and so I don't know whether to attribute the absence of a swarm of prospective Radcliffe wrestlers to bad timing or lack of turnout. But the fact that I only see a few clusters of three or four women around the commons can't be a very good sign.

I call Lauralee on Wednesday, and she's upbeat about the meeting. Although only five or so women showed up, she got a number of e-mails from undergrads who said they wouldn't be able to make it, but are eager to get involved.

And again, my preconceptions get the better of me. I can't help but wonder whether those doing the e-mailing are excited about women's wrestling or the political implications of women's wrestling. Whichever is the case, though, for Lauralee's sake I hope that they end up joining the club.

Dan S. Aibel '98 is a philosophy concentrator in Kirkland House. His column will appear on alternate Tuesdays.