Good for a Girl Synopsis
From the time Lauren first laced up her running shoes to dominate boys in her neighbourhood, through puberty when half of all girls abandon sports for good, into the NCAA where young women routinely starve and hurt themselves, and into elite running where she had to be 'fast and fuckable' to fit into the Nike machine, Lauren felt she was bumping into a system that was not made for her. She realised, as many women now have, that something is deeply off with the sports experience and that it's high time to rebuild it without men at its centre. We all know girls develop differently to boys during puberty but, shockingly, pro coaches fail to adapt training to their bodies. Girls develop eating disorders, RED-S and amenorrhea; they're also likely to be emotionally and physically abused; and in their careers with sponsors like Nike, they're underpaid and misrepresented.
Lauren Fleshman - one of the fastest American women runners - explores scientific and social research while telling her own story in a bold, energetic voice. This is a time for female athletes, so it's the time to understand their bodies and knock down the barriers that hold them back.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9780349014425 |
| Publication date: |
10th January 2023 |
| Author: |
Lauren Fleshman |
| Publisher: |
Virago Press Ltd an imprint of Little, Brown Book Group |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Pagination: |
352 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Sports
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| Other Genres: |
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Lauren Fleshman Press Reviews
I tore through Lauren Fleshman's Good for a Girl. This is the book we've been waiting for: a coming-of-age story, told from inside our broken sports system-a system that was not built for the young athletes inside it, and certainly not for young women. Lauren's story is clear-eyed, passionate, nuanced, and unflinching; it will change the way you look at sports -- Kate Fagan, author of What Made Maddy Run
This book breaks open the door for caged conversations to protect the health and integrity of growing athletes. It not only needs to be in the hands of women-identifying athletes, but also their peers, coaches, and parents. It is the invitation to have a long overdue conversation for a long overdue cultural shift -- Alysia Montano, Olympian, co-founder of &Mother, and author of Feel-Good Fitness
Women's sports have needed a manifesto for a very long time, and with Lauren Fleshman's Good for a Girl we finally have one -- Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers and David and Goliath
Good for a Girl is much more than a great running memoir. It's a remarkably candid tale of self-doubt and self-belief; of entrepreneurship, family, money, competition, and-importantly-female physiology. (Turns out women are not just smaller men!) It's an important book that also happens to be a page-turner -- David Epstein, bestselling author of Range and The Sports Gene
If someone held a gun to my head and said 'Run,' I'd say, 'Nah, just shoot me.' And yet I could not put down Lauren Fleshman's thoughtful, elegant memoir: a necessary look at what women endure and deserve from the sports they devote their lives to -- Ariel Levy, author of The Rules Do Not Apply
Good for a Girl is simultaneously a moving memoir and a call to action in how we think about-and train-girls and women in elite sports. It's a must-read-for anyone who loves running, for anyone who has a daughter, and for anyone who cares about creating a better future for young women -- Emily Oster, author of Expecting Better, Cribsheet, and The Family Firm
Lauren Fleshman's Good for a Girl is a lyrical, insightful, and timely meditation on women's sports, women's bodies, and the fundamental issues of social justice exposed and unsolved in the world of elite athletics. As someone who finds no joy in movement, I was moved and riveted from start to finish. A must-read for anybody -- Kate Manne, author of Down Girl and Entitled
Lauren Fleshman serves as a guide to two worlds unknown to most of us: elite athletics, but also, and more importantly, the unjust system that gifts men with riches and fame but crushes the hopes and bodies of women. She is both a champion and a survivor, and anyone who cares about running, athletics, or women must listen to her -- Peter Sagal, host of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! and author of The Incomplete Book of Running
