"Thirty years ago, prospective female participants in sport were presented with a plethora of rules and traditions that effectively said women can't do this or that. Women can't play soccer, or rugby, or ice hockey; they weren't allowed to wrestle or box, to run more than 800m ... to be a high level coach, president of a national sports federation, be appointed to the International Olympic Committee."

Commenting on the 1994 Commonwealth Games, Abby said:

"The number of events for men and women will still disproportionately favour the men by a significant margin. The women-only events (rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming) and men-only events (boxing, wrestling, weightlifting) reflect persistent biases regarding athleticism in each gender. The women-only events reflect the socially-acceptable notion of grace while the men's events stress combat and strength.

Many changes and strides have been made for women athletes since ... the 1960s and '70s. There are more changes to be made in Canada, but ...look outside of sport and, indeed, outside of Canada to see that inequities and barriers to women's involvement in sport continue to flourish. We must understand better the links between social, political, economic, and cultural manifestations of gender inequality in the larger society. Outside the locker room and sport administration offices there remains the issues of women's access to sport and fitness activities and how persistent gender roles whiten family and society can preclude a woman form taking part in sport."

Republished with permission from ACTION the publication of Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity 1994