A reflection on what I'm calling The Matilda Effect.

I'm not really a sports-team follower. I remember once getting really excited by a great game of beach volleyball, and I did watch the cricket as a kid, but I've never had a sports team and I'd rather play than watch.

But I've been totally sucked in to cheering on the Matildas (weirdly, not Australia so much as specifically the Matildas). Particularly I've loved how human these women are. The kids are not hidden away, the kindness to other teams, the queer visibility. Awesome.

To watch all genders get behind a group of women, to want to be these players, to turn their backs on the live AFL and instead cheer the Matildas... To be cliched, it's felt so much bigger than sport. It's felt like a window into what it would look like for a moment if women felt that level of support generally.

I had an experience this week where I was interviewed for a podcast along with another (male) guest. He was introduced as Dr whereas that titled was dropped from my name (despite me correcting their briefing info the week before). During the interview I was cast as the naive over "overly enthusiastic" perspective and my colleague as the expert (he did a great job backing me). I was also misnamed as Mollie multiple times.

Afterwards I had this sense of "Not today dickheads!" and I wrote to them and told them this wasn't ok. While I would nearly always stand up for myself this way, I had such a sense of power. It really felt like this week we were allowed to be our best.

So I am now a convert to the power of sport to do wonderful things. Sport, and the sheer tenacity and hardwork of these players and those who came before who unionised, advocated, and kept playing.

#thematildas #matildas