Gender Differences In Sports

Socially-constructed views on gender norms have traditionally shaped the rules and regulations that govern sports. Beliefs that men are biologically stronger than women were maintained and reproduced through the introduction of women to male-dominated sporting spaces, in which most cases men would define the rules that women had to follow. For instance, in tennis Grand Slams women play only best-of-three sets while men play best-of-five sets, creating a significantly shorter duration of play. There is increased awareness towards the degradation of women caused by creating gendered rules. However, many sporting institutions and athletes are complacent or resistant to changing the rules that have been commonplace, as it would affect tradition.

The differences between rules and regulations in many sports for women and men are not to accommodate for natural differences, but rather to reinforce patriarchal norms and ideals of hegemonic masculinity.

Opposing this statement is the theory that differences in rules are to account for a woman’s naturally weaker body. Without the implementation of these different rules, a woman’s reproductive ability could be damaged as female bodies do not possess the equal abilities of men to withstand the rigors of sport. Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, had a firm belief that women should be excluded from the competition, and should only hold the place of applauding the male competitors (Houlihan, 2008). His outlook mirrored the popular Darwinist ideology of the time, that determined that women were in possession of a limited quantity of energy for all functions, and priority was to be given to reproduction and child-rearing (Houlihan, 2008). Later studies have also shown that women who train too intensely may lose their ability to menstruate to due

Qualitative work examined by Wiser (2014) states that, “the societal construction of rules, and rules concerning physical contract specifically, serve to reify the notion of gender differences”. This research shows how the rules and regulations set and contribute to structural maintenance of traditional concepts of gender where females are seen as weaker and inferior to men. In sporting spaces where young people are learning gender roles, these modified rules for women further establish females as less than males. Based on a socio-cultural perspective, this learned behavior means that rule differences are not based on natural differences in overall performance, strength or endurance, but rather to reproduce dominant gender roles in society. From a biological perspective, studies have shown that the gap between males and females is not as significant as it is currently believed to be. For example, although males typically have higher muscle mass, male muscles are not inherently stronger than female muscles. Measures (including strength relative to cross-sectional area of muscle) have revealed that men and women are almost equal in strength, have similar fast and slow twitch muscles, and during strength performances, when measured relative to body weight, “the mean values between men