Iranian Women and Sports

1837 Words4 Pages

Islam is the main religion of Iran and much of the Middle East. The Islamic religion has many beliefs just like most other religions. Many of these rules affect women in particular. In the Islamic religion, a major tenet is that a woman’s body, a symbol of sexuality, should be covered (Pfister 12). This rule, along with some other beliefs, makes it particularly hard for Islamic women to participate in sports or athletics. There are many countries, other than Iran, that are experiencing the same dilemma of girls wanting to play a sport, but it is looked down upon by the community. Even in America until Title IX was created, girl’s sports were often thought of as less significant than men’s sports. The sports teams in the West were often underfunded, and unequal (Kristof and WuDonn). While there is no prohibition of women’s sports, and health and fitness are actually emphasized in Iran, women seldom choose to participate in sports (Pfister 12).
Whenever sports are being practiced or played, Islamic laws must be followed. This includes the fact that men and women must practice separately and that women’s bodies must be covered (Pfister 12). They must practice separately because Muslims believe that sex should be saved until marriage. In order to make sure no one breaks this tenet, they like to get rid of any temptation or chance. Men can practice anywhere; however, women can practice in one of two places: private facilities separate from men, or publically where they must wear appropriate clothing and behave accordingly. The problem with this is that the private facilities are not easily found, and even if you can find one they are usually in richer areas because that is who is able to afford them (Pfister 14). As one ...

... middle of paper ...

...unate that this statement is true. While it is great that Iran is the, “leading Muslim nation for women’s sport”, women’s participation is sports still has a long way to go. The other Muslim nations must be in even worse conditions related to involvement of women in sports. Iranian women, and women around the world, need sports in their lives. Sports are an essential part of staying fit and also of gaining life skills such as confidence and leadership. Sports in addition to education will help to end women’s suffering. Solutions, such as education and athletics, help to empower women. They also give women knowledge that can help them to lead a better life and eventually provide a better future for the country. Anyone regardless of gender, race, religion, etc. should be allowed to participate in sports. Women especially should not be discriminated against.

Show More
Related

  • Traditional Female Roles: The Traditional Gender Role In Sports

    1376 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women have forever had this label on their back of being too small, too weak, too feminine, and too boring. The traditional gender roles of the female interfere with the extortionate nature of competing in sports. Men are usually the ones to go 100% and give whatever they got, and to show masculinity while doing it. The standard masculinity of being strong, smart, and taking charge over dues the feminine traits of being soft, gentle, and polite. That’s what society has taught us to learn and accept. But the traditional female gender role is diminished when participating in athletics and people may think it’s weird to see females compete at the same level as males do. Men have always had the upper hand in the professional, collegian, and high

    Read More

  • Has Gender Equality In Sports Reached The Finish Line?

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    Surprisingly, when women are active in sports they seem to have more self confidence and self awareness. When women are treated equally they know they are just as important as men, which has a drastic boost in their self esteem. When women participate in sports the rate of loneliness and depression is not as fast as when women are not participating in sports (“Women”). Self esteem impacts the quality of life. Any solution that allows self esteem growth in the lives of women should be implemented. There is no need to not help a situation if you know a way to help out. For women to have more power than a male is very rare. Women’s access to leadership seems to be lower than men’s access to leadership(“Women”). When someone is more active in sports and has goals in life, the goals seem to help out in life situations. When participating in sports you have to learn to have patience, and that always helps in one’s life. After the World Cup in 1919, women got motivated to do there best in sports and skills. The media also had a huge inspirational outlook on women(Coakley). The Afghan Women’s Network (AWN) is a network trying to help and empower Afghan women. This program is trying to boost women’s self esteem in sports(“Women”). If...

    Read More

  • The Female Athlete and the Search Equality

    1548 Words  | 4 Pages

    As we can see there are both positive and negative experiences for women entering a sport, whether it is non-traditional or traditional. The great thing about being human is that we have the opportunity and freedom to choose how we are going to let other people affect us. We, as women especially, have the greatest opportunity of them all; we have the chance to teach societies and help them grow. Not many people have the power to change society but women athletes are taking that power and using it well. No matter how hard it gets to be and no matter how much you want to give up a sport because of someone else's negative vibes remember that the cultural costs do not outweigh the benefits. The greatest achievement is to raise above all the negativity and be a role model for younger athletes; the best possible reward is to hear another athlete want to be just like you.

    Read More

  • Women and Sports

    3158 Words  | 7 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Women's Rights in The Islamic Republic of Iran

    1331 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979 created a lasting affect on the societal role of women through modern day Iran. Women in Iran before the revolution were not entirely treated equal to men, but despite some cultural perceptions of women being inferior to men, they had made progress to become socially equal under the Shah. Several misconceptions and theories have been published and studied to show the inequality of women versus men because of Islam. However, contrasting theories have also been made to show that inequality has little to do with the religion, but instead with the forceful nature upon which it was implemented in the revolution. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the Islamic and political history of Iran and its social implications over Iranian women.

    Read More

  • Sports and Gender

    1659 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sports become stereotyped as gender-neutral, feminine, or masculine based on conceptions regarding gender, gender differences, and beliefs about the appropriateness of participation due to gender (Colley et al., 1987; Csizma, Wittig, & Schurr, 1988; Koivula, 1995; Matteo, 1986). Sports labeled as feminine seem to be those that allow women participants to act in accordance with the stereotyped expectations of femininity (such as being graceful and nonagressive) and that provide for beauty and aesthetic pleasure (based on largely male standards). A sport is labeled as masculine if it involves the following: 1) attempts to physically overpower the opponent(s) by bodily contact; 2) a direct use of bodily force to a heavy object; 3) a projection of the body into or through space over distance; and 4) face-to-face competition in situations in which bodily contact may occur. These characteristics are believed to be appropriate expressions of masculine attributes such as aggressiveness, effectiveness, and power (Metheny, 1965; Koivula, 2001).

    Read More

  • History of Women in Sports

    1518 Words  | 4 Pages

    For most of human history, athletic competition has been regarded as an exclusively masculine affair. Women weren't aloud to watch most sporting events let alone participate in them. Not till late 19th century did women really begin participating in sporting events. Although women were permitted to participate in many sports, relatively few showed interest, for a variety of social and psychological reasons that are still poorly understood. Title IX declares: "No person in the U.S. shall, on the basis of sex be excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal aid." Therefore sex should not deem females athletic ability as inferior in comparison to men. Women are physically, mentally, and emotionally capable of playing any sport just as men are.

    Read More

  • Men and Women in Nontraditional Sports as Portrayed in Film

    927 Words  | 2 Pages

    Women and men play various sports because they as Americans want to experience the excitement of playing for fun, and doing something they love. The idea of what men and women can do for fun in sports has been shaped by the American society in many different ways through the media, schooling and education, and professional sports organizations. America portrays women playing field hockey and doing synchronized swimming while men do boxing, and body building. If a woman chooses to do boxing because to her it is fun and if a man chooses synchronized swimming because he likes it, they face many cultural costs and benefits of choosing this sport. Society does not like change and holds female athletes up to ideals such as being beautiful, graceful, and healthy. Male athletes are held to ideals such as strong, aggressive, and powerful. People who choose to play non-traditional sports risk being judged by society as unnatural and homosexual, instead of being viewed as an athlete who is special and unique, they are often subjected to unwanted sexual advances and assumptions. The benefit of doing an untraditional sport is that you are able to do something you love. As a result of people who do non-traditional sports, they open the doors for future generations of women and men who might want do play an non-traditional sport.

    Read More

  • Society and Sports

    1125 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many repercussions that are projected upon both men and women when they enter into a sport that typically isn’t thought of as gender appropriate. Some of those cultural and social stigmatisms may be abandonment by your peers, and friends questions regarding your sexuality, and even in some cases criticism as to how you are living your life. In some cases, it may lead to you not being accepted by either group, theone whose norems you are not following, of as well as the one with whom you are trying to get involved. This paper will address all of these issues and how these seemingly negative situations can, will, and are, leading to growth. It will also discuss how this is a situation where repercussions are not just in the sports arena, but is prevalent in everyday life, in areas far beyond that of sport.

    Read More

  • Fairy Tales teach children to be stereotypical in terms of gender roles

    666 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ough they perceive that both gender should be permitted to play all sports, they still feel that selected ones are not appropriate. For instance, football was checked as a sport for male gender and is not appropriate for girls to involve themselves in, and aerobics was taken as a female gender sport inappropriate for males and should not participate in.

    Read More

  • Gender Equality In Sports

    329 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Media Coverage Of Women's Sports

    1641 Words  | 4 Pages

    When it comes to women's sports and popularity in the 21 century it has been little progress made toward gender equality for woman sports, now in the 21 century more kids and adults know who some of these females athletes are but as far as media coverage goes for female athlete are in the shadows of the male athletes dominance and the tradition that males developed in sport due to what gender establish athletics first, because women sports were brought up years after men athletics had been established.

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality In Basketball

    1184 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gender inequality in the United States is a serious problem, and it is often overlooked. It is a big issue, especially within sports. We live in a society where our culture prefers men 's sports over women 's. Labeling activities as feminine and masculine is a social construction based on stereotyped expectations regarding gender and perceived gender differences (McCullick, 2012). In 1972 Title IX was passed stating that, no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. This opened up athletics to women and girls (Education Amendment Act of 1972, 1972). Although

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In Sports Essay

    1374 Words  | 3 Pages

    Whether its baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey, or tennis, sports is seen all over the world as a representation of one’s pride for their city, country, and even continent. Sports is something that is valued world-wide which has the ability to bring communities together and create different meanings, beliefs and practices between individuals. Although many people may perceive sports to have a significant meaning within our lives, it can also have the ability to separate people through gender inequalities which can also be represented negatively throughout the media. This essay will attempt to prove how gender is constructed in the sports culture while focusing on female athletes and their acceptance in today’s society.

    Read More

  • Women in Sports

    976 Words  | 2 Pages

    It would appear, from the outside, that men's sport will forever have all of the advantages, all of the rewards, all of the prestige, while women's sport is left to perpetual inequality. Yet, not only are there sports that are considered "non-traditional" for both sexes, the obvious majority of these sports are "traditionally" recognized as women's sports. While there may be a very small number of teams of male synchronized swimmers or synchronized ice-skaters, there are virtually no integrated teams. Of the number of sports considered non-traditional for women, among them football and wrestling, women have gradually opened the door into these sports. In most states, girls even have the right to participate on boys' sports teams if there is no girls' team or even a girls' team which plays by the same rules because of the historical limitations on women's sports.

    Read More

More about Iranian Women and Sports

Open Document