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Gender discrimination in the sports world
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Gender discrimination in the sports world
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There has always been this conception that boys are stronger than girls, boys are better at sports, and boys are overall better at achieving certain physical tasks. Can these statements in fact be true? From the very start of a young girl’s life, they are taught to behave differently from men, and to not compare their abilities to those of a man. In her essay, “Throwing Like a Girl”, Iris Marion Young argues that women are trained into fragility and self-consciousness because they are objectified. “The fact that the woman lives her body as object as well as subject. The source of this is that patriarchal society defines woman as object, as a mere body, and that in sexist society women are in fact frequently regarded by others as objects and …show more content…
We mistrust our bodies and have this constant urge to question whether we are capable of achieving certain tasks. “Typically, the feminine body underuses its real capacity, both as the potentiality of its physical size and strength and as the real skills and coordination that are available to it” (148). We seem to take into practice a certain “ambiguous transcendence”, which simply means that we lack bodily trust. Young uses the example of when men and women hike. A man usually speeds through the trail, not worrying about the many dangers that can come if he steps on the wrong rock or slips on a tree branch. A woman, in contrast, would analyze every aspect of the trail and worrying about whether she is capable of completing the run or not. She displays “discontinuous unity”, in which all this divided attention that is being given to that dangers of the trail are causing her to be taken out of the flow. “Our attention is often divided between the aim to be realized in motion and the body that must accomplish it, while at the same time saving itself from harm” (). When it comes to “inhibited intentionality”, women seem to underestimate their abilities and convince themselves that they are not capable of doing a certain task. There’s this perception that a women “simultaneously reaches toward a projected end with an ‘I can’ and withholds its full bodily to that end in a self-imposed ‘I cannot’.” …show more content…
She takes herself to be applying Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy of embodiment. She explains a famous study performed by Erik Erikson in which male and female preadolescents construct a scene for an imagined movie with toys. It was concluded that females often emphasize what he Erikson called “inner/enclosed space” and males emphasized what he called “outer space” or some spatial orientation that is more open and outwardly directed. Women usually feel the need to have a constricted space in which they are not available to move beyond what is available at their grasp. “Feminine existence lives space as enclosed or confining, as having a dual structure, and the women experiences herself as positioned in space” (39). This conception is also seen in sports in which for example, women don’t move out and meet the motion of the ball but instead tend to stay in one place and react to the ball’s motion only when it has arrived in her
In the past there were many biases against women and their lack of abilities compared to men. Although the male perspective has changed over the past few centuries, there are many feminists who still fight for ...
In the short story, “Girl,” the narrator describes certain tasks a woman should be responsible for based on the narrator’s culture, time period, and social standing. This story also reflects the coming of age of this girl, her transition into a lady, and shows the age gap between the mother and the daughter. The mother has certain beliefs that she is trying to pass to her daughter for her well-being, but the daughter is confused by this regimented life style. The author, Jamaica Kincaid, uses various tones to show a second person point of view and repetition to demonstrate what these responsibilities felt like, how she had to behave based on her social standing, and how to follow traditional customs.
Particular behaviour and traits are attached with a specified gender. Due to this, the social learning and classification founded on gender are swiftly imbibed into by an individual. Children become aware of the distinction between male and female and definite social responsibility that each gender has to perform in society (Blakemore & hill 2008 , and Goffman 1977 ). Women are often viewed as tender and subtle and men are regarded as more competent to bear pain and rough and tough. Therefore, women are considered as weaker sex. In relationship, the women are the end and men are supposed to be follower or chaser. Women are physically weak and smaller compared to men and physical strength is vested with male realm (Goffman 1977
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
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).
“Women and men do not receive an equal education because outside of the classroom women are perceived not as sovereign beings but as prey” (Rich 446). Women already have this preconceived notion that they not only have to compete with men in school but the pressure that society puts on them to compete with other women every day. The body shaming epidemic going on now tells women that if they don’t have the right measurement then you are not considered attractive, it is another example of how women are viewed as a whole instead of as individuals. Adrienne Rich also discusses the obstacle that women face every day, but no one wants to talk about, rape. “How much of my working energy is drained by the subliminal knowledge that as a woman, I test my physical right to exist each time I go out alone?” What Rich is expressing is that women always have the unnecessary burden, of not only being considered the weaker sex in society but also physically being reminded that as women doing something as mundane as walking to your car you have to be conscious of the possibility of being raped. This is affecting women outside of the classroom setting, if women were represented more in mainstream curriculum there would not be such a conception about gender
31). Following Young’s theory, society has already decided that women are a ‘weaker sex’ due to the belief that females respond to situations by limiting their physical engagement because they are not capable to concentrate their efforts on physical activities as compared to men (Young 1990, p. 33). Young (1990, p. 33) states that generally cis-women fail to engage with their body’s potential for an efficient performance as they are in a mindset where they do not have trust in their bodies to accomplish the same things as men. Moreover, trans-women are also forced by the pressure of society leading them to feel self-conscious of their movement and stiffen against performance as they are unsure on how to behave and act (Hines 2007, p. 55). This is due to their own experience as it can be confusing for a trans-woman to change from the hard-wired gender behaviours of their birth sex to their gender identity and therefore, most are limited to the comportment of gender stereotypes. This is the result of expression that transgender people choose to act on to better reflect their gender identities (Griffin 2012, p. 7). Similarly, this causes wasted motion and repression of strength by both cis-female and trans-female resulting from hesitancy that comes conforming to gender ideals that women are submissive and soft. Thus, this shows that the female body is culturally and socially denied to have their own identity, subjectivity and
... history, it is proven that gender changes along with social, political, and cultural change. Despite all, many women continue to face other kinds of discrimination. Women continue to experience sexism, the idea of traditional gender roles. Women are still thought to be more involved in taking care of their children and the household. Women often face unconscious stereotypes in the workplace as well. In some cases, women have a less change of obtaining better, and higher paying jobs. Women often don’t get promoted to higher positions in office, despite their qualifications and experiences. Female candidates running for public office experience forms of sexism as well. The variations and adaptions of society are evidence that reinforce the idea that gender is formed under social construction rather than the essence from biology alone.
Although contemporary society is not as patriarchal as it was in the past, that male dominance still exists today. Young’s description of a self-imposed “I cannot” can be supported with common real life examples today. The “I cannot” comes from a woman’s insecurities, fear of getting hurt, and underestimating their bodily capacities. In a sexist society, these factors of the self-imposed “I cannot” would lead to
Contemporary western women frequently limit their physical movement in everyday life compared to men. For instance, they sit with their legs together, take shorter steps, shield their body with their hands and arms and put less effort into definitive tasks (Young 139:2006). Young argues that women behave in this way because the patriarchal environment in which they live teaches girls that they are “physically handicapped in society” (152:2006). This, again, has striking parallels to Dworkin’s work on foot binding. The female body is constructed in such a way that means it is constantly objectified and “gazed upon” as if it were a “shape of flesh rather than a living manifestation of action and intent” (Young 154:2006). This results firstly in women being viewed as weaker, second-class citizens in comparison to men, resulting in inequalities that can be seen in many areas of life. However, most significantly it means that women constantly fail to achieve their full potential. They learn to “actively hamper their own movements” (Young 153:2006), a hugely significant and damaging inequality that results from a rigid and out-dated social
Excerpt from K. Conboy, N. Medina and S. Stanbury, eds. Writing on the Body: Female Embodiment and Feminist Theory (401-17). NY: Columbia University Press, 1997.
In Iris Marion Young’s composition Throwing Like a Girl, Young highlights how the body movement of women reflects the stressors of their environment: a patriarchal society. Young places an emphasis on how the behavior of women prioritizes the protection of their bodies, and that the “immediate bodily impulse [of women] is to flee, duck, or otherwise protect [themselves]” (Young 34). I view this as a repercussion of the indisputable fact that men are more often than not the instigators of violence, and women are their most frequent victims. Young sheds light on how the fear perpetuated by a world predominantly centered in the ideals of male chauvinism drives women to complete tasks with “timidity, uncertainty, and hesitancy” (Young 34), as they
...Gender stereotypes do not only target women, contrary to popular belief. The largest issue facing boys and, ultimately, young men in our society is the amount of emphasis placed on women whether it be through literature, propaganda, or equality. The modern society tends to place so much emphasis on women’s suppression that the majority of citizens forget about men’s equality. School-age boys should be given the option to read male-oriented literature rather than that of the feminist era. Women’s rights propaganda should either be eliminated or that of men’s rights should be added to counteract all of the negative things said about them. Finally, young men should have the right to choose their learning environment, whether it be in a classroom or outdoors. All of these things should be incorporated into society in order to end unfair discrimination against young men.
Society is comprised of two different sexes and they are “men” and “women.” A person’s “sex” is determined when they are conceived and whether they are male or female will attribute to their upbringing. Women are known as the “reproductive” ones and therefore, are more nurturing and usually tend to the home. In contrast, a man exhibits different qualities such as masculinity, strength, and in most cases, superior to women. The two articles written by Joan Scott and Alice Kessler define the gender roles of women (and men) and elaborate on the differences that these two “sexes” have to endure in every aspect of their lives.
We may be personally responsible for our own misconceptions of gender and masculinity. Our actions about these topics speak louder than words. Sociologist, Ann Oakley argues that parents often mold their children around certain behaviors, with positive and negative consequences, to adhere to the standards that are socially acceptable. Oddly there is a strong back lash to this sort of treatment in females. In a study done conducted by Michael Messner, when asked who was a tomboy and who was a sissy as children, women raised their hands more often to identify with the tomboy image. The tomboy trait celebrates masculinity and restricts femininity. Often children explore many traits about themselves, as Allen explained to Pascoe, “When you’re younger…you’re a kid. You are wide open…You just do what you want” (Pascoe 118). Darnell, a football player, stated “Since you were little boys you’ve been told, ‘hey don’t be a little faggot’” (p 55). Darnell showcasing that males are conditioned very early like females about their roles of masculinity. These children are taught about how masculinity works. In the school Pascoe researched, a faculty member, Mr. Ford, reminded males students through his reply to a backhanded comment made to him from another student that men should engage in sexual actives with women, not men. Another...