Japanese Women's Football Victory (なでしこジャパン) Stunned the Non-Sports World (But Shouldn't Have)

Japanese Women's Football (Soccer) Team
Win World Cup

I wish to congratulate the Japanese Women's national football team, or Nadeshiko Japan (なでしこジャパン), for winning the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.     In a nail-biting penalty shootout, they beat the Americans, becoming  the first Asian team to win the FIFA Women's World Cup. 

But their victory expanded far beyond the soccer fields. In American culture Japanese women have often been stereotyped as demure, delicate, petite and passive.  But all stereotypes, even those that appear on the surface to be positive, are dehumanizing, because they attempt to stuff multi-faceted human beings into a slender mail slot.

Is it possible that in the final World Cup match between the Japanese and American women, the U.S. team underestimated the talent and drive of their opponents, falsely perceiving them to be geisha dolls in short pants?   In any case, the Japanese Women's Team did not just win the World Cup, they demolished a corrosive stereotype at the same time.   Good job!

Related post:  Weight-Loss Secrets I Learned from Japanese Women