Men Vs. Women in Professional Sports

Men Vs. Women in Professional Sports Ever since the ancient Greece, men have held athletic competitions or sports. It is only in modern times that women have had an opportunity to compete. Most sports still don’t have men and women directly competing against one another. In the past athletic instructors adapted the rules to make sports less physically taxing for women. For instance in basketball, to ensure that girls maintain proper decorum, they were forbidden from snatching the ball and dribbling it more than three times in row. Females would not be considered strong enough to play a full-court basketball game until 1971. Women have struggled to be taken seriously as athletes for more than two centuries. Over the years, females have competed against the stereotype of being too fragile to play strenuous sports. During the 1920s, many people believed that girls couldn't handle the stress of interscholastic competition. In the 1930s, some doctors warned that high-stress sports might harm a woman's reproductive system. Women playing in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League had to attend charm school. There, they studied etiquette and beauty routines, including how to arrange their hair in a manner that would "best retain its natural style despite vigorous play.” The Olympics did not admit women athletes until 1912. Women could not compete in the marathon competition until 1984, partially because some medical experts thought that women could injure their organs by participating. A major turning point for women's sports occurred when President Richard Nixon signed Title IX of the Educational Amendment of 1972, which states that any educational program receiving Federal assistance can lose its funding if it discriminates on the basis of sex. This legislation was a great opportunity for women because it gave female athletes access to better equipment, coaches, playing fields, and travel budgets. Before Title IX, Interscholastic competition for females had been declining over the years. According to the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) In 1970, only one out of 27 girls played high school varsity sports. Now, due in part to Title IX, that number is one in three. While Title IX has greatly decreased the disparity between male and females in College athletics, in professional sports, the disparity is evi...

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...re not yet accepted as athletes also led her to compete in a "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match. She played against former Wimbledon winner, Bobby Riggs, who had been making constant belittling remarks about women's tennis. The 29-year-old King beat the 55-year-old Riggs soundly during a match that attracted nearly 50 million television viewers.

In my opinion, there is a place for women in professional sports. I do however believe that in the world of professional sports women will never be equal. There is no way they can be; men are physically stronger and better suited to play professional sports. I am not willing to pay the same ticket prices to attend a woman’s basketball game when I can attend a men’s game and see players flying through the air and running at the speed of light. Women just can’t keep up with men in most sports. There are sports however those women have more appeal than men. Tennis for example, while the men are better at playing the actual game I would rather see women’s tennis any day. There is a niche for women’s sports. No matter how hard they try when it comes to sports, women will always be second-class citizens.