If women dunked on the regular, would they be superstars? Would their dunking be responsible for sold-out arenas and high school gyms all over the world? Just imagine for one second, if you went to a women’s basketball game and there were wind-mill, 360, and alley-oop type dunks happening within the game on the regular. How would you feel about women’s basketball then? How would you perceive these women now? Would this make you withdraw or enhance your support? Would you respect these women and the game more if this were reality? Would you pay to see this? Ponder this. Would it matter to you if these same women wore high-heels or sneakers off the court? Would or would it not matter to you, if these women’s physiques were so cut and well-defined that they put most average and healthy men physiques to shame? From my 16 years of experience in women’s basketball, I’ve noticed that not only female basketball athletes, but the majority of female athletes, are judged first on looks alone before their athletic ability is even recognized.

The image of women’s basketball to some is perceived as a group of masculine women who mimic their “talents and image” after their male counterparts or labeled the infamous term and my favorite, the “tomboy.” A woman named Senda Berenson first introduced basketball to women in 1893. She altered Naismith’s rules around to avoid the unwanted roughness of the men’s game. Berenson eliminated physical contact as much as possible to make the sport of women’s basketball socially acceptable and to ease the mind of “then” society’s attitudes and thoughts toward female sports, when at the time gymnastics was the leader in physical fitness for women. Berenson also thought of physical contact as insulting, which is one of the main reasons she wanted to change Naismith’s original rules.

Well, the last women’s basketball game I attended, I overheard a man behind me referring to one of the players on the court as a man and making subtle and sarcastic remarks about this particular player because her build was very strong and her talent very extraordinary. He would say things like, “Good shot man,” and laugh while his wife attempted to hush him and deter him from embarrassing her even further. Her appearance seemed to be overshadowing her performance to this particular person. The year was 2008, not 1893.

At times, I can not help but wonder if the majority of people view women’s basketball this way: appearance first and talent second. I read basketball blog posts every now and then to see if there are any new comments or real knowledge posted on the subject of women’s basketball only to my dismay. I see the usual, “Women’s basketball is just not as entertaining as men’s basketball” or “They would not have even lasted this long if it wasn’t for the NBA’s backing.” Huuhhhh is the only reply that I have at this point anymore to those comments. Ok, not really. However, I can not say this next sentence enough. This might be one of the most important times, if not, the most important time for women’s basketball to leap to new heights. The talent is expanding in so many game-changing ways. Read about Britney Griner. No, go look up Brittney Griner on youtube and tell me that is not entertainment or that women’s basketball is not evolving for the better.

There is no mascara, no eyeliner, no eye shadow, no foundation, no lip gloss or lipstick. However, there is a resilience, a strength, a fortitude, a passion, and a love so pure in women’s basketball. Let’s allow women’s basketball and its strong and beautiful athletes to finally flourish. The time is now. Let’s not judge a face or personality that we have yet to experience off-court. Let’s appreciate the same amount of hard work these women and young girls put in to perfect a skill, a craft, a way of life, just as the M.J.’s, Magic’s, Lebron’s, and Kobe’s did and do. Let it be “A League of Their Own” because they are talented by skill and not by your presumptions. When can our appearance not matter and our talents be recognized first and foremost?

Of course, we are women; but we are also athletes, we are mothers, we are Michelle, we are Oprah. We are strong and beautiful. We can dunk and bare child. Now, is that not beautiful?

You can protect a young girl or woman’s dream by supporting women’s basketball by: attending women’s basketball games and spreading the word on its athletes. The time is now to help push a league to new heights, to help drive a young woman or girl to her potential, and to help a dream soar.

Women’s basketball is the record and I’m just the d.j.

Fallon Wright is a budding entrepreneur and women’s basketball sports enthusiast.