The world of sports is by no doubt dominated by males. Sports like football, soccer, basketball, baseball, or hockey all somehow pervade our social media, TVs, and sometimes even our lives. Interestingly enough, I don’t recall the last time I saw a women’s soccer match on TV, if ever. And, it seems like in some sports, hockey or football, for example, women are simply nonexistent. Most of us see women on sport channels when they’re playing beach volleyball, or every four years in gymnastics during the Olympics. Why aren’t females and males portrayed in most, if not all, sports equally? Why do men have a greater chance of actually making a career in sports than women do? The separation between girls and boys in sports start right from the beginning …show more content…
This would be reasonable if it happened in separate instances, and in both genders; however, when a group of people of a determined gender makes the exact same decision when faced with a choice, it is time to take a step back and analyze what is happening. We might take into consideration that the idea of free-will is not quite present when we are dealing with gendering, since the media, as well as the sports and games industries, have a lot of influence in shaping our behaviors. Many big sports events, for example the Super Bowl or the World Cup, as well as other minor events of baseball, hockey, basketball, and soccer, are exclusively male. In other events, as the Olympic Games, there is a distinct focus of the media in a specific gender, depending on the sport. Some sports have a female focus, like artistic gymnastics and figure skating; others have a clear male focus, since women even tend to have less competing categories than men, for instance, shooting, weightlifting, freestyle wrestling, and boxing (in which men have 10 different categories, while women have only three). The event in question also has some sports that are exclusively male, such as Greco-Roman wrestling, and some that are exclusively female, such as synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics ("Olympic.org"). …show more content…
“[H]uman beings are among the least dimorphous species on the planet, with men and women marked more by biological similarity than by difference” (Groner, O’Hara 15), then why should we promote differences in children’s upbringing from such an early age? Boys and girls should be exposed to the same types of toys, language, and displays of affection. They should be raised in the same environments for there to be less segregation between girls and boys once they grow up to be teenagers and then adults. If we start teaching children that boys and girls aren’t so different after all, by exposing them to everything equally and letting them engage in the same sports, they might carry this belief throughout their whole lives and implement positive gender change in the future. Another reason for girls and boys to be on same sport teams would mean creating a friendlier and more comfortable environment for children who may feel like they can’t fit into a specific gender binary. These types of environments would not only create a safer place for children, but it would expose them to the idea that boys and girls are more similar than they are different, especially in their physical abilities. Similarly, educational systems should contribute to the
The discrepancies in media coverage in coverage of female and children athletics have large gaps, but are gaining momentum in sharing equality. Major athletic leagues such as the NBA and FIFA World Cup have wide gaps in marketing and ratings for their male and female athletes. Children are future athletes and superstars, but as funding and coverage in athletics catering to the males, women are breaking the barriers to be in the spotlight of sport. Both gender contribute equally to athletics, and challenge the each other to accept new ideas and change. The sports world that has a single gender dominating the media is unjust. Society does not want to bored, we need change in sports entertainment to cater to all. Not all parents and teachers are available to educate our children about the concepts of sharing and teamwork, our children are growing up learning key concepts through media. I will discuss these concepts and how they intertwine.
In 1970 only 1 in 27 girls participated in high school sports, today that ratio is 1 in 3. Sports are a very important part of the American society. Within sports heroes are made, goals are set and dreams are lived. The media makes all these things possible by creating publicity for the rising stars of today. Within society today, the media has downplayed the role of the woman within sports. When the American people think of women in sports, they think of ice skating, field hockey and diving. People don’t recognize that women have the potential to play any sport that a Man can play, with equal skill, if not better.
(Coaxley, pike 2009, p.277) The article also looks at how both men and women faced seemingly insurmountable barriers when attempting to break into a spoit that is not “proper or stereotypical for their gender to participate in. But society seems to be making some headway towards equality in sports their is still a long way to go. Evidence still shows that as a society we are still far more comfortable with women being involved in the traditional sports such as field hockey rather than boxing and men participating in sports such as rugby rather than synchronized swimming this is because they are pre conceived as “ NORMAL” for a specific gender.
To deepen our understanding of the cultural values embedded in sports and to explore current values and power structures regarding men and women, it is necessary to investigate the effect that the media may possibly have in influencing beliefs about gender-appropriate sport behavior. The media is a powerful factor which influences our beliefs, attitudes, and the values we have of ourselves and others, as well as the world surrounding us. It seems that the televised coverage of athletics continues to reinforce the ongoing division between males and females, and to reproduce traditional expectations regarding femininity and masculinity. One is able to witness the biased attitude directed toward the individual who attempts to participate in a sport that is non-traditional to his/her gender. Figure skating, for example, has been dominated for many years by women.
On a more personal level, it has been my observation that up until the junior high level both boys and girls are actively engaged in sports, but once the boys start to get bigger, the adults in the society become apprehensive about allowing mixed gender play. I feel as though society has a tough time embracing the possibility that women might get hurt if they play sports. It is at this point in a student's career that a great division occurs, all of a sudden innocent games become strictly regulated and boys and girls are separated.
Lopiano and Sommers agree that the amount of media coverage female athletes receive compared to male athletes indicates that female athletes are less valid. Lopiano and Sommers both point out that the media tends to highlight female athletes in action only during major events. Fortunately, for the male athletes, the tendency is different because no matter what time of the year it is, male events are always airing on the television. The media only decides to highlight events such as the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) women’s basketball Final Four, Olympics, and World Cup soccer. Since the Olympic games and World Cup occurs every four years, the Final Four also known as the semi-final round are the rare eve...
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
On the other end of the "field," television, radio, and written broadcasting of women's sports are at a great disadvantage compared to men's. How often do you turn on the television, or the radio, or open the newspaper and see coverage for women's sports? The answer is hardly ever. Now, if you turn on the television, radio, or open the newspaper, you are ten times as likely to be looking at coverage on professional or collegiate men's sports than women's. Football, basketball, baseball, and hockey to name a few are examples of men's sports being broadcasted all the time in comparison to women's. What about the women's sports? Are the less important than the men's? Why don't they get the equal amount of coverage?
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.
In summary, Despite opponents argue, fans want to see thunderous dunks and incredible athleticism over the lesser abilities of females, male competitions is more intense and there is more at risk, and male driven associations produce more revenue than female driven associations. It is apparent that male and females are built differently therefore they have different abilities, females go through the same types of events and often have more on the line, and female athletics aren 't given the same recognition or praise. Then, maybe one day female will receive the same amount of pay as their male counterparts. As, Vera Nazarian once implied, “A woman is human. She is not better, wiser, stronger, more intelligent, more creative, or more responsible than a man. Likewise, she is never less. Equality is a given. A woman is human.”
Most people watch some form of sports, whether it be the Olympics or the highlights on ESPN. The NBA and NHL playoffs are underway and theyit seems to be the only news on ESPN. There is almost no coverage of the WNBA playoffs or any female athletics. Tennis isone of the only big sports on ESPN for women. While during the Olympics the coverage seems to be non-stop and close to equal. Women’s participation in sport is at an all-time high and has almost become equal with men’s, however,. sSports media does notfails to show this equality and skews the way we look at these athletes. Through the disciplines of sociology and gender studies, it can be seen that despite the many gains of women in sports since the enactment of Title IX, “traditional” notions of masculinity and femininity still dominate media coverage of males and females in sports, which is observed in Olympic programming and sports news broadcasts.
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.
Perhaps society prefers men’s sports because they are what the media endorses. According to a study conducted by experts from the University of Southern California and Purdue University, statistics show 95% of television coverage is focused on men’s sports (Cooky et al.). Solving the issue of equality in female sports depends on media networks understanding the power they hold to change athletes’ lives. Increasing the airtime of women’s athletic events on major sports networks would greatly expand fans’ support for female athletes, which would help facilitate gender-based equality in the media, and thus provide girls of all ages with powerful role models to encourage them to work hard and go for their dreams. The first step on the road to providing gender equality in sports is understanding why the situation is a major issue.
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.
Ann, 2007, pg. 57), however this is not true. This mentality causes males to resent the female athletes, thus rendering it even more difficult for them to succeed. Without a shift in gender ideology, females will continue to face adversity, regardless of the amount of change that has occurred over the last 30 years. There does not need to be equality between the genders within sports, however equity must be seen, with the perception of the abilities that female athletes possess not being compared to that of males. This would aid males to not feel as threatened by females participating in sports and physical