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. …show more content…
Girls are told to stay indoors and play with their dolls or bake, while boys are encouraged to go outdoors, get dirty, and be adventurous. Wade and Ferree also state “sports are squarely on the masculine side of the gender binary” (Wade and Ferree, 174). Hence, we are brought up with the understanding that playing and talking about sports is a boy’s thing, which further promotes the notion that sports are a very masculine thing. Furthermore, as playing sports is competitive and is a way to show excellence, young boys are considered as “real boys” and “real men” later on. However, when boys do not talk about or play sports, they are considered feminine or “not real men.” The same rule applies for young girls. If young girls are too into sports, they are considered to be “too masculine.” This is true for me too. When I was younger, I was told to not play too much outdoors and to behave “like a girl.” The stigma that only boys should be allowed to play sports and it is not a feminine thing needs to be erased for us to welcome a more gender-equal
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.
In Robert Lipstye’s piece, “Jock Culture,” he argues that everyone seems to assume that if you’re not into some sort of sport or anything involving physical activity, you are not really of much use at all. He tries resolving this issue by trying to understand this spectrum of stereotypes. Lipstye’s piece first appeared in The Nation, a newsmagazine usually focused on politics in 2011 special sports issue. Since then, the situation isn’t as bad as it used to be on the way everyone has seem to put into this stereotype of what they have to do because of their gender.
“Homerun!” A woman screams, a man looks at her and says ‘Do you know what sport this is? Puzzled as she responds” uh baseball.” “Ahh” he says rolling his eyes and looking the other way as she was speaking some sort of secret language. As most people know women are not heard in the same way as men are when it comes to sports. Molly Quinton wrote a essay titled “Sexism and Sports” that encourages others to take a look at just how sexists today's sports have become and how women are seen in a different way in. Exaggerating her knowledge of the sports Quinton uses her own experiences of being a female in a sports enthusiasts family to broadcast the view that men are questioning her knowledge and competency when it comes to sports, in her case baseball. She puts together repetitive acts that she has faced in order to draw the attention to the sexism towards sports and for a change to be persuaded on how everyone's standards are on women and any discrimination.
Title IX was put in place to help women. This act was supposed to stop situations such as unfair media attention, but has it helped? According to the article Media Coverage of Women's Sport: A New Look at an Old Problem, “There is evidence that these injustices are not diminishing over time, as Duncan and Messner (2000), in their longitudinal analysis, found the amount and type of coverage of women's sport in broadcast media has not changed since 1989” (Cunningham 44). The problem of inequality within media has been a problem for years and there haven’t been improvements. It has been said over the years that the amount of media coverage may vary depending on what female sport it is. Cunningham says, “Several authors have found that women participating in "sex appropriate" sports (e.g., gymnastics, figure skating) receive better coverage, in terms of length and number features, than do female athletes in "sex-inappropriate" sports (e.g., body building, wrestling)” (Cunningham 44). This statement isn’t fair, because there shouldn’t be two different categories for women’s sports. All sports are appropriate or they wouldn’t be allowed. Those so called “sex-appropriate” sports still aren’t gaining the amount of coverage that male sports are gaining. Therefore the excuse of inequality within female sports, because of the sport being “sex-inappropriate” isn’t a good argument. There are arguments as to why women don’t get as much coverage. According to the article Visual and Verbal Gender Cues in the Televised Coverage Of the 2010 Winter Olympics, “The production techniques used for men’s sports far outweighs those for women’s sports in several key areas, including editing, camera use and type of shot. Specifically, men’s sports were e...
...er, D. L. (2006). Girlie Girls and Manly Men: Children's Stigma Consciousness of Gender in Sports and Physical Activities. Journal Of Leisure Research, 38(4), 536-557.
Women in sports is relatively a new thing in the U.S. Until 1972, discrimination in sports on the basis of sex was very prevalent. Title IX established fairness in regards to sex discrimination for women in federally funded schools and programs. I had the ability to interview a woman who lived and went to school during this era.
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 first perspective is that women are disadvantaged at any sport. Some people reiterate the difference of men and women in sports. This is influenced by strength and the natural power men hold, comparable to women. Rodriguez questions “Is this because female athletes don’t have what it takes to make it in the world of sports or could it be more of a social issue?” This perspective seems to be a social issue based on the notable skills women acquire vs. the apparent judgments of gender issues. The second perspective is the idea that women deserve and inherently earn their right of equal attention and equal pay. “Sometimes, the secret to equality is not positive discrimination, it 's equal terms. It 's the shrug of the shoulders that says "what 's the difference?" The moment worth aspiring for is not seeing people celebrate the world-class female cricketer who competes at comparatively low-level male professional cricket, but the day when people are aware that she does, and don 't find it notable at all” (Lawson). Lawson makes it a point to confirm the biased notions against women in sports and relay an alternative worth working toward and fighting for. Both outlooks can be biased but only one has factual evidence to back it up. The second perspective reviews an ongoing gender issue. This problem is welcome for change depending on society’s
When a woman or man joins a non-traditional sport for their gender or sex, it can have drastic social and cultural costs. These impact not just the individual but also the entire community. When a person challenges the gender roles of society, then they change the perceptions of what men or women are capable of doing, they further androgynize cultural norms, and they open up sports for others.
Sports, in general, are a male dominated activity; every “real” male is suppose to be interested and/or involved in sports in the American society. However, it is not expected of a female to be interested in sports and there is less pressure on them to participate in physically enduring activities. These roles reflect the traditional gender roles imposed on our society that men are supposed to be stronger and dominant and females are expected to be submissive. As Michael Kimmel further analyzes these gender roles by relating that, “feminism also observes that men, as a group, are in power. Thus with the same symmetry, feminism has tended to assume that individually men must feel powerful” (106).
Since sports and athletics have been brought into our society it has always been gender specific. For example, it is seen that males should be playing the rough and tough sports or athletics such as rugby and football, whereas the women should be participating in less competitive sports and athletics such as swimming, or running. Can you imagine that the world population of women is around forty-nine percent and they still aren’t given the same opportunities or respect as men? Being a women in the twenty-first century playing one of those “non-traditional” sports is a tough task for these women. The women who choose to do so are usually questioned about their sexuality and
Through my illustration, I have effectively demonstrated the negative ramifications of the division of women in sport. Although all people, should connect through sport, women and men have been divided,
John Humphreys, the author of “Foul Play” argues that sport provides an opportunity for the creation of barriers between groups. I feel he is perfectly correct in saying this as one of the biggest problems in sport today is sexism. Women face a number of discriminations in sport today; they aren’t paid nearly as much as male athletes, their facilities are always worse than men and not only this but there is a large amount of sexualisation of female sports stars in the media. This as well as the failure of general public to take woman’s sport seriously has resulted in a huge divide between male and female sports.
Gender in sports has been a controversial issue ever since sports were invented. In the early years, sports were played only by the men, and the women were to sit on the sidelines and watch. This was another area of life exemplifying the sexism of people in which women were not allowed to do something that men could. However, over the last century in particular, things have begun to change.
Over the past decade or so, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of women dominating in their respective sports. As well as, seeing women dominate in their professional sports, we’ve seen women become more prominent in broadcasting, and reporting on sports as well. An occupation that once was male dominated, is not so much anymore. These strong female figures, such as Ronda Rousey, Venus and Serena Williams, Maya Moore and Erin Andrews are making waves and names for themselves in sports history with their notable athleticism, feministic views, and sports knowledge. These great women are making a statement that sports are not just for men, but also for both men and women, and sports previously where only men participated are starting to see women enter that field. Even in a male