Gender Disparity In Sports: Social Class, And Gender

Class, Gender, and race disparity in regards to sports representation has led to several cultural injustices. This paper will discuss those issues in detail and how we can move forward, not only for people of color, but for any social classes and genders. Furthermore, we will discuss several articles that will help us individually come up with a solution dealing with those three topics.

Throughout the covers of Sports Illustrated that spanned from the years 1975-1979, it was apparent that there was a difference in the representation of race. Whites, specifically men, were featured to a greater extent than people of color. This aspect was also seen through which races were being displayed playing a specific sport. The sports considered elite

Since the male figure was barely ever home, their boys spent more time with moms and sisters. This created the idea that this was making them become more feminine. The people knew they had to do something about it because in their eyes, men couldn’t grow up being feminine. The only way to earn strength, health and manhood was in the open air with activities that required agility, physical skills, courage, and no women allowed, “The creation of separate (public/ domestic) and unequal spheres of life for men and women created a new basis for male power and privilege” (Messner). In an era where men were having muscularity crisis, their jobs were not satisfying them. They were not able to show off their muscularity at work, they were owned by their bosses and had to do what they were told. Sport for men helped them prove that they were strong, “Sport was a male-created homosocial cultural sphere that provided men with psychological separation from the perceived feminization of society while also providing dramatic symbolic proof of the ‘natural superiority’ of men and women” (Messner). Sport helped divide a line proving that men were superior than women and that women were not able to play sports. Sports were not to be played by women that was not their place, “Because

Socioeconomic status plays a huge role when comparing individual’s social class, race, and sports. Socioeconomic status of the individuals who are great athletes and various sports they played. The sports that were most commonly displayed on Sports Illustrated covers were baseball, football, and basketball. There was very little to no attention on figure skating, golf, tennis, skiing, swimming, hockey, special events, and horse racing. To deeper understand how Sports Illustrated chose what sports and who to be on the cover of the magazine is based on the public’s social views and acceptance. In the late 1800s to the early 1900s professional sports were mostly played by whites. In the study by Wilson, “Yergin (1986) found that, while the upper classes are more likely to attend most sporting events, they are less likely than the lower classes to attend wrestling and boxing matches”(6). The upper class often played sports that did not require a lot of energy like tennis and golf at country clubs. Country club sports were more common among the wealthy because it required leisure time and money, while the working class participated in prole sports like football, baseball, and boxing. This was another way for men in poverty to make money. Aggressive sports or running around on a field was not respected by the wealthy because it seemed silly to spend energy on such things. According