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Participation of women in sports
Women's role in sports in the early 20th century
Participation of women in sports
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The 1920s was a time for many new opportunities for women in America, including participating in sports and becoming athletes. Prior to the Roaring Twenties, only upper-class women had participated in sports. These wealthy women had joined sports clubs, social clubs, and country clubs. They engaged in sports at institutions, as well as playing sports while vacationing in Europe (Women’s Sports Foundation, 2/21/2011). An example of a woman like this would be Jordan Baker, a character from the novel The Great Gatsby. Jordan is a competitive golfer in the novel. Baker comes from the wealthy, upper-class, and is ‘old money’. Consumerism of the 1920s caused the amount of clubs and sports teams for women to multiply. This materialistic attitude of Americans caused the economy to boom, thus providing more money for leisure activities. Institutions, churches, and saloons sponsored sports teams for women, and provided facilities. Declining prices of sporting goods and increasing popularity of sports as entertainment encouraged the formation of leagues. Both amateur and semi-pro leagues were organized, providing opportunities for middle-class athletes (Women’s Sports Foundation, 2/21/2011) Industries and companies supported sports teams for women. They did this to promote personal health and worker efficiency. These teams brought advertising opportunities for the companies who supported them. This offered competitive opportunities for women and occasional income for the athletes (Women’s Sports Foundation, 2/21/2011). To satisfy the competitive urge of their students, physical educators held “Play Days” and “Sport Days” for their female students. In a play day, teams from institutions did not play each other, but were comb... ... middle of paper ... ...se at the end of the race” (Smith, 1998, p. 8). Eyewitnesses proclaimed that women were in no more distress than men when they finished the race. The majority of the International Olympic Committee believed that track and field was too hard for women, and proposed other events, that included activities such as singing and dancing. The 1920s was the just the beginning of women in sports. The booming post-war economy and the sports heroines increased the popularity of women athletes. The idea of a woman was changing, from being dainty and delicate to athletic, healthy and strong. There has been a growth in opportunities for women in sports, and the media brought this competition to everyone’s attention around the world. The accomplishments of the women athletes of the 1920s were the beginning of the journey to becoming equal to men in the world of sports.
“The athletic craze began in the late nineteenth century when American’s were looking for some recreational activities to add to their daily lives during the Depression. In the cities, industrial wage earners frequented play grounds. They went dancing at the dance halls and had fun at the amusement parks. People that lived in rural areas simply rode bicycles, played baseball or football. “
In any movement by a marginalized social group to gain equal rights and recognition, there are always several factions with differing opinions of the best way to achieve the common goal. There are those who choose to work within the rules of the system as is it is already structured by the dominant social group, and there are those who choose to create their own branch, rewriting the rules to represent their own philosophies. Historically, women's athletics have been led by the second camp; by women who demanded a philosophy of sport with a vision unique from that of men?s athletics. Women's athletics remained, much like women as a social group, in its own separate sphere, leading its own organizational structure. But as the women's sphere was de-mystified (Spears, 1978) in the mid twentieth century, autonomous organizational structures were absorbed under the umbrella of formerly exclusively male athletics. This is the case as illustrated by the merger of the AIAW and the NCAA.
Sports reached a new height in the fabulous fifties, both professionally and recreationally. More time to relax and a new wealth among society brought more participation to family athletics. Furthermore, households began to purchase televisions, which allowed enthusiasts to truly follow their favorite team or athlete (Bradley 1). Desegregation was the biggest c...
The 19th Amen... ... middle of paper ... ... Women And The Politics of the 1920s. " OAH Magazine of History 21.3 (2007): 22-26. Academic Search Premier.
When people talk about the impact of women in professional sports, they mention one huge concept: Marketing. Marketing to women is a tremendous source of profit for professional sports, but the impact of how women would respond recently became knowledge. However, now the marketing programs of the different professional sports, including the NFL, need to change their approach on marketing to women. Because the NFL still lacks sales to women compared to other professional sports in America, the NFL needs to change their viewpoints on the experience of women in the stadium and the variety of merchandise available for females.
It goes without saying that a person's gender, racial and social origins influence their participation in sports. Particular races and genders often dominate certain sports. African Americans, for example, tend to dominate football and basketball, while Caucasians tend to dominate ice hockey. The same holds true for gender as well. Football is an entirely male dominated sport, while horseback riding, gymnastics and figure skating are much more female oriented. How and why did these divisions come about? Determining the origin of gender goes beyond the scope of this paper, however one can speculate about how gender classifications and stereotypes affect one's role in the sports arena.
Traditionally men have dominated the world of sports however in recent year’s women’s sports have become popular and with their new found popularity, women’s sports have evolved into marketable leagues of their own. Although women’s sports took a huge leap forward, women players still don’t receive the same financial compensation for playing the same sports in the same arenas as their male counterparts. In Purse Snatching by Donna Lopiano, she points out sexism may have a huge effect on this financial discrepancy between women and men athletes. Analyzing sports economics may point to a different reason why women are receiving such a compensation disparity. Women sports have come a long way, since the days when women were only allowed to watch.
In 1970 only 1 in 27 girls participated in high school sports, today that ratio is 1 in 3. Sports are a very important part of the American society. Within sports, heroes are made, goals are set and dreams are lived. The media makes all these things possible by creating publicity for the rising stars of today. Within society today, the media has downplayed the role of the woman within sports.
...t and leisure, to creating equality amongst everyone. The history of sports has been marked by division and discrimination but also has affected modern popular culture and changing social attitudes and standards towards gender equality, social-class and race. During the Gilded Age and after, sports finally broke the barrier between gender, social-class, and equality. It allowed blacks to be able to play sports with whites, women to play sports with men, and it allowed the poor to play sports with the middle-class and wealthy. Not only did sports in the Gilded Age allow barriers to be broken, but it also allowed sports to be shared amongst different races, women, and social-classes. Different sports such as prizefighting, boxing, and swimming were introduced by the minorities in society, and have now become some of the most popular sports today.
Unintentionally, a lot of us have been boxed into institutions that promote gender inequality. Even though this was more prominent decades ago, we still see how prevalent it is in today’s world. According to the authors of the book, Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions, Lisa Wade and Myra Marx Ferree define gendered institutions as “the one in which gender is used as an organizing principle” (Wade and Ferree, 167). A great example of such a gendered institution is the sports industry. Specifically in this industry, we see how men and women are separated and often differently valued into social spaces or activities and in return often unequal consequences. This paper will discuss the stigma of sports, how gender is used to separate athletes, and also what we can learn from sports at Iowa State.
She was no different and had no ambition to compete. Given the lack of opportunity and an accepted social standard of the time, women didn 't participate in sports. They merely supported sports in other capacities such as cheerleaders, majorettes and concessionaires.
It has taken many years for women to gain a semblance of equality in sports. Throughout history, women have been both excluded from playing sports and discriminated against in sports. Men’s sports have always dominated the college athletic field, but women were finally given a fighting chance after Title IX was passed. Title IX, among other things, requires scholarships to be equally proportioned between men and women’s sports. Although this was a huge gain for women, gender inequality still exists in sports today. An example of this persisting inequality can be seen when looking at men’s baseball and women’s softball. In college, baseball and softball are both major NCAA sports. It is widely accepted throughout today’s society that baseball is a man’s sport, and softball is a woman’s sport. Very few people question why the two sexes are separated into two different sports, or wonder why women play softball instead of baseball. Fewer people know that women have been essentially excluded from playing baseball for a long time. This paper will focus on why softball has not changed the way women’s basketball has, why women continue to play softball, the possibilities and dynamics of women playing baseball with and without men, and the most discriminating aspect of women being banned from playing professional baseball.
The discrepancies in media coverage in coverage of female and children athletics have large gaps, but are gaining momentum in sharing equality. Major athletic leagues such as the NBA and FIFA World Cup have wide gaps in marketing and ratings for their male and female athletes. Children are future athletes and superstars, but as funding and coverage in athletics catering to the males, women are breaking the barriers to be in the spotlight of sport. Both gender contribute equally to athletics, and challenge the each other to accept new ideas and change. The sports world that has a single gender dominating the media is unjust. Society does not want to bored, we need change in sports entertainment to cater to all. Not all parents and teachers are available to educate our children about the concepts of sharing and teamwork, our children are growing up learning key concepts through media. I will discuss these concepts and how they intertwine.
Throughout history, men have placed limitations on women's activities, including sport. Women have gone through times where physical exertion was considered too stressing for women, physiologically and emotionally, as well as everything short of encouragement. The image of the pre-sport woman, twirling her umbrella while being drawn by horse and carriage attired in full petticoat, etc., is a sight that shows how far women have come, but how much more still has to be done to achieve equality. I view the image of women prior to sport as 'ugly' because not only was their right to partake in sports suppressed, but also their rights as women and as citizens. This image of women, however still persists until modern day. Albeit not to the same degree, but women's opportunities in sport are still less than the male counterpart, as well as the restrictions that this male society still imposes on women's sports, especially through the media. Through poor media coverage of women's sports by male-run organizations, the advancement of the sport has suffered tremendously. The television industry poorly advertises women's sporting events, such as basketball, and never shows them in primetime. The US women's soccer association was even dismantled due to lack of support. With publications, the only time women are featured are as either inactive or sex symbols, when editors could be using these media outlets to promote women in sport instead of degrading and downplaying them. Women's sports will never become mainstream without social change.
How did sports "both reflect and influence" North Carolinian society from the late nineteenth century to the 1970s? During this era, athletics in college, basketball in particular, proved that many native-born citizens became Americans through participation in sports in which their accomplishments merited praise. Sports effectuated life lessons learned as well as cultural values, including teamwork and sportsmanship. Race and gender played an enormous role in the history of sports. In one historical moment from Pamela Grundy's book Learning to Win: Sports, Education, and Social Change in Twentieth-Century North Carolina, she writes about men's college athletics between 1880 and 1901.