A Locker Room Talk: Levelling the Playing Field | Fiona Cooper | TEDxUniversityofStAndrews

In her talk, Fiona makes the members of her audience think again about their perception of women in sport. She feels like sport has been created to be a highly masculinised preserve and wants to reach a more equal playing field, consequently encouraging us to take action. Concluding with the idea that, sport has the ability to empower everyone who takes part in it, so we should support everyone to do whichever one makes them happiest! Fiona is a 4th year student at University of St Andrews studying International Relations.

She was born and raised in Fife, and has since loved all
sports, from the day she could walk. However, she had never
been that good at them, always receiving the 'best effort'
awards, but never actually winning. Fiona was lucky enough
to be at one of the few high schools that had a girls rugby
team, all five of us. There, she found, that her particular
physical and mental qualities were actually of benefit, and this
meant she could really excel. From here, continuing rugby at
university, enjoying its incredible inclusivity and positivity. The
experiences here pushed her on to higher levels, even
captaining the Scotland under 20's in 2016, and now playing
as part of the Scotland pathway programme. Fiona’s rugby
journey continues. However, the male dominated rugby
world has traditionally fostered a macho culture, where
gender inequality was - and remains - normalised. This still
hangs over women's rugby and when you are involved it is
hard to miss, and even harder to challenge. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx