basically what i want to convey to you is that this fic, this beautiful fic, filled me with such an achy sadness for the state of women's football. even being a female athlete, the situation of professional women's sports isn't something i think about a lot, probably because it would depress me too much, but this just hit home. obviously there was zaida trying so hard to avoid comparisons to her dad, not only to not be her dad, but because, in my interpretation, at any rate, it's a totally different playing field, hers and her fathers, and it was so raw and evident in passages like these-
González probably gets it, but that doesn't make it any better. - of course he gets it, his dad being who he is, but it's not the same, it doesn't make it better, because he's more or less got the same opportunities to be great as his father had, whereas zaida just - doesn't. she can become the most brilliant female striker in the world and it still won't be enough, and the way i read this, that was one of the main reasons she tried so hard to stay away from her father's (enormous) shadow
and "Sorry we're not the men's team," she bites out, voice nearly shaking. "Sorry we don't win everything." - god, just. my heart. how awful it is for her to have so much talent and so much potential and to see firsthand, from her father, that it can be done, everything she wants can happen, but knowing that she won't ever be able to get it just because she's a woman, and how she blames herself a little bit and her dad a little bit, it's just so. it's breathtaking, the way you've written this.
and through it all there's never the inclination that she wishes she was on the mens team, or anything, but this is her chip on her shoulder, this is part of what makes her fight and work so hard. and there's also hints at her thinking that she has to, i dunno, prove to DV that she can be as great as he was without any of the titles. and she knows he'll see it, and she knows he'll be proud of her, but she wants to earn it, and she's never quite sure if she has.
When she remembers that night later, his words are always first. - despite her desire to be different from him and the ways she pulls away, subtly, throughout, there's this, that says so clearly how much she loves him. gorgeous.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2012-01-04 11:34 pm (UTC)basically what i want to convey to you is that this fic, this beautiful fic, filled me with such an achy sadness for the state of women's football. even being a female athlete, the situation of professional women's sports isn't something i think about a lot, probably because it would depress me too much, but this just hit home. obviously there was zaida trying so hard to avoid comparisons to her dad, not only to not be her dad, but because, in my interpretation, at any rate, it's a totally different playing field, hers and her fathers, and it was so raw and evident in passages like these-
González probably gets it, but that doesn't make it any better. - of course he gets it, his dad being who he is, but it's not the same, it doesn't make it better, because he's more or less got the same opportunities to be great as his father had, whereas zaida just - doesn't. she can become the most brilliant female striker in the world and it still won't be enough, and the way i read this, that was one of the main reasons she tried so hard to stay away from her father's (enormous) shadow
and "Sorry we're not the men's team," she bites out, voice nearly shaking. "Sorry we don't win everything." - god, just. my heart. how awful it is for her to have so much talent and so much potential and to see firsthand, from her father, that it can be done, everything she wants can happen, but knowing that she won't ever be able to get it just because she's a woman, and how she blames herself a little bit and her dad a little bit, it's just so. it's breathtaking, the way you've written this.
and through it all there's never the inclination that she wishes she was on the mens team, or anything, but this is her chip on her shoulder, this is part of what makes her fight and work so hard. and there's also hints at her thinking that she has to, i dunno, prove to DV that she can be as great as he was without any of the titles. and she knows he'll see it, and she knows he'll be proud of her, but she wants to earn it, and she's never quite sure if she has.
When she remembers that night later, his words are always first. - despite her desire to be different from him and the ways she pulls away, subtly, throughout, there's this, that says so clearly how much she loves him. gorgeous.