Andrea Duran’s accomplishments in softball are too many to list here, but to give you a brief idea: She is a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team and was a member of the 2008 U.S. team that won the Silver medal at the Olympic Games in Beijing. In the summer of 2009, she also earned three gold medals with the U.S. team at the Canada Cup, the KFC World Cup of Softball and the Pan American Games Qualifier. Andrea is a graduate of UCLA where she was a two-time National Champion. She was also named Pac-10 All-Academic three times, earning first-team honors as a junior and senior. In 2006, she was named a first-team ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-American.
Do you think it’s hard for people to see women as both physically strong and beautiful? Why?
I think that in the past it might have been hard to see women as physically strong and beautiful because of all the sociological standards that we have held women to. Men and boys were always the ones to play sports and be the physically strong ones. Physical strength never equated into beauty for the women of the past. As I grew up I loved to play sports and was a physically strong child in that area. A lot of times I was called a “tom boy” because I enjoyed athletics and I loved competing with the boys. I feel like in the present day and in probably the past decade or so, health and wellness has been a big part of our society, so seeing physically strong woman and athletes is more common and therefore more acceptable. I feel like women and society are embracing the fact that strength is beauty inside and out.
What about being seen as beautiful and smart? Do you think women sometimes think they can’t be both?
This is a common stereotype I believe – “The pretty dumb girl” – and because of this stereotype I believe beautiful girls are sometimes judged and are presumed not to be smart. This might have an effect on the way beautiful girls view themselves. They may think that smart and beautiful cannot coincide. In my opinion being beautiful can be defined in so many ways by so many people it is just the perspective that you choose to take. A lot people may feel that being smart is beautiful.
Have you ever felt judged for being too pretty or too athletic, by either men or women?
I don’t think I have ever been judged for being too pretty! I think when I was younger I was judged a lot because I did play with the boys, I got kicked out of a couple of softball leagues because I threw too hard for my teammates. This was hard as a kid because I was just doing what I loved and I didn’t know any different. I remember I got called a boy once when I was growing up because of what I was wearing I was so mad. Now that I am adult, I think I get judged for being too athletic based on what I wear on a daily basis. I think that when I walk into boutiques or department stores, when I am trying to get my shopping fix, I get judged because most of the time I am wearing workout clothes. Sometimes I do not greeted or helped in the same way other woman are, who are dressed in regular clothes.
How do you deal with keeping up your feminine side while being an athlete?
I feel in the sport of softball we get stereotyped a lot. A lot of my teammates wear makeup and ribbons and bows when they play. I will occasionally wear ribbons in my hair, and earrings in my ears, but for the most part makeup and ribbons are not me. I feel the girls that do show more of their feminine side out on the field stand out more, but I always want to stay true to myself. I think sometimes it’s a struggle because you want people to know, that yes I am an athlete, but I am still a woman, and still like to do girlie things. I still like to wear makeup and get dressed up when I am hanging out with friends or going out. I think a lot of times as athletes we get stuck in “athlete mode.” We are so used to being in workout clothes for most of our day that when we go shopping or travel we tend to wear what is comfortable, whether it be workout pants or whatever and I feel like we may get judged for that. I am also not a big makeup wearer off the field so it is harder for me to show my feminine side by just being the sporty girl that I am, but I stay confident and true to myself and that is all I can do.
What is your favorite part of being a woman?
I think my favorite thing about being a woman is just empowering other woman and girls to do great things. We as woman know that we don’t always get the respect we deserve but we use that to only make us better and stronger. I also love being able to get dressed up in heels and dresses from time to time. I haven’t had children yet but I love knowing that one day I will be a mother, god willing, and I wouldn’t be able to do that if I was a boy.
What is the hardest part about being a woman?
Giving birth!? I just think trying to compete in a man’s world against men. Men respect woman more in the present day but it is still tough for us at times.
Do you have any guilty girlie pleasures?
When I was a little girl my girlie pleasure was definitely Barbies. I am probably one of the few tomboys that played with Barbies. Now that I am older I love to go get pedicures and manicures occasionally and treat myself to massages and shopping sprees.
Did you ever wish you weren’t a woman?
The only time I ever wish I wasn’t a woman is when I turn on Sports Center and see all of these men making millions of dollars playing the sports that they love. The games they have enjoyed since they were children are now their jobs! I wish I could do the sport that I love forever until I was ready to retire. Yes, I am currently playing the sport that I have loved since 10 years old, but mostly for the love of the game, getting paid probably the equivalent to a major league baseball player’s weekend bar tab. It is so frustrating at times. I know if I was a boy I would most likely be playing professionally making millions or at least hundreds of thousands of dollars because I am one of top players in my sport.
Has being female ever held you back in any way? (career, sports, etc)
Being female has held me back because as a softball player I am not able to make my sport a career like some male athletes are able to do. Women’s sports are just not as mainstream as men’s.
How has being female been an advantage? (career, sports, etc)
I think being female has been an advantage for me when it comes to my sport of softball because I am able to reach out to so many young girls across the U.S. and teach them the game of softball along with life lessons and other skills. I am glad that I can be a positive female role model for young girls that look up to me and other woman in my sport. I wish when I was a child that there were more female role models to look up to.
If you could go back and give your 12 year old self one piece of advice, what would it be?
I would tell her to always be true to herself, teach her how to be a more confident, to focus on the positives in everything and everybody, to not be so hard on herself, and to just be the best you can be no matter what you are doing.
