Phoenix

on heat and equity

As a woman who lived in the coastal South for much of her life, I’ve always complained about the cold in Vermont.

For the first time, I found a true heat threshold. When I stepped out of the airport doors in Phoenix last Thursday, it was 111 degrees. I felt irritable as I waited for my Uber driver. He arrived, looking a bit like an off-season Nikola Jokic in aviators. As we drove through the dry desert landscape, with techno blaring, I felt like I was moving through a Mario Kart track, something otherworldly and unknown.

It’s hot, everyone said every time anyone spoke to anyone. (image via Public Domain Review)

I am definitely a girl most comfortable in lush landscapes - green upon green trees, hanging moss, fecund marshes or thick boreal forests with birdsong. The desert is foreign to me. It is elsewhere. I love the way other people love it (like O’Keeffe).

Phoenix heat aside, I was overjoyed to be in town. A (wonderful, generous, brilliant) friend invited me as a +1 to some WNBA All Star events and parties.

Last year I realized I had a difficult time introducing myself professionally. I have a wild web of interests and projects. With help, I came up with the line: I’m passionate about opening up environmental conversations and shining a light on under-reported and misunderstood experiences, particularly those of women.

Part of my career is geared toward spotlighting equity gaps and the under-celebrated experiences of women. You can see this in my second book Almost Famous Women (though it’s a thread in all of my books, including the fourth-in-progress) - a work of historical fiction which examines the lives of women who circled or deserved fame or notoriety, including women like Joe Carstairs, the fastest woman on water, or Edna St. Vincent Millay’s sister, Norma.

My journalism has circled the under-sung careers of women in jazz (Helen Jones Woods and Dottie Dodgion) - but also those of women in adventure culture and sports. I’ve written two pieces about Lhakpa Sherpa, the female record-holder for Everest Summits (10) - who works under the poverty line at Whole Foods and raised 3 children as a domestic abuse survivor (please watch the trailer for the new documentary on her!). I’ve written about Anne LaBastille, a capable outdoorswoman and scientist who “out Thoreaud Thoreau” but is much lesser known and read.

Lhakpa, explaining to me in 2019 that she uses an antique oxygen mask (which you can see in the documentary trailer)

My first documentary project highlights the career of Olympic Mountain Biker, Lea Davison - who was a major pioneer in the sport despite significant and gendered obstacles. In our documentary, Lea discovers how unshackled she is by retirement - and is ready to say what she really thinks.

Most recently I wrote about the US Women’s National Soccer Team and closing the wealth gap for female and male athletes. This work introduced me to some truly brilliant thought leaders in this space like Sarah Flynn, Jess Robertson, and Jessica Clarendon - many of them working behind the scenes in the sports world to open up visibility and narratives for female and female-identifying athletes.

The landscape for female athletes is the best it’s ever been - but the gap is still massive. It’s a chasm. For example - the highest salary in the WNBA in 2024 is Jackie Young - at $252,240. Steph Curry’s annual salary for the 2023-2-24 season was $51 million. (The lowest NBA salary is $1.16 million, and the average annual salary is around $12 million). Yes, this is only salaries - this does not include endorsement deals.

So - keep buying those WNBA league passes, clicking on the women’s stories, buying their merch, and making noise to support these women. Progress might feel groundbreaking - and it is - but there is a long, long road to true equity.

It was incredible to be in the room with such beautiful excellence, in the midst of a breathtaking year for women’s sports. I got to admire A’ja Wilson and Paige Bueckers - and hear Flau’jae at the mic - at the Boardroom x Coinbase Party. I heard a moving speech from retired great Sheryl Swoopes about the importance of healthcare for female athletes, especially the retired ones who once played for very little money. I heard from Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier at a panel about their new 3 x 3 league, Unrivaled - which has an incredibly cool player-focused business model, with equity opportunities for the 30 players.

Stewie talking about her experiences overseas - how they’ve been good, but also how WNBA players need to be accessible and visible in the offseason.

I hope we can all do our part as consumers (of merchandise and media) to keep the energy moving towards equity - in sports, but also in the world. One aspect I love about sports narratives is that they inspire us - they reveal struggle, redemption, effort, progress - and they reflect - if not anticipate - cultural shifts.

xo

M