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 …show more content…
Messner, showed that women’s sports took up only 6.3% of airtime while men’s took up 91.4 %.(1989,2004,p.4). And the hit show Sportscenter was showing men more than women at an astounding ratio of 20:1 (Messner, 1989, 2004, p.4). Also the coverage and the after game interviews are far less than men. They don’t get enough exposure showcase the talent and entertainment of a women’s game. If a man is highly masculine and highly skilled at what he is doing, he gains that respect and popularity so easily without really doing a thing. For men this brings money, merchandise, media coverage, and fans. More fans means more and more money. Which conclusively brings more success to the franchise, and that’s one example why male professional sports overpower female. Women have an extreme disadvantage when it comes to this because they are not popular in means of sporting events, they don’t have as many fans, don’t have a lot of people to buy the merchandise, and they don’t have the money to treat you with a higher salary. You don’t see contracts in the WNBA like you do in the NBA, for example the salary cap for each team in the WNBA is $878,000, while the NBA is $58 million. (Garland, 2012). That is a huge difference for playing the same sport in the same country. This also goes hand in hand with endorsements. Men make millions and millions extra from endorsements which women don’t usually get. For example, LeBron James at 18 years old signed a deal with NIKE for $90,000,000 just because he was good at basketball, Nike is lucky LeBron wasn’t a bust, but you would never see a company risk that type of money with a female athlete that young. (USAToday.com,
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.
If any man can claim to be a woman and compete in women’s sports, why have women’s sports at all? If the argument is that there is no difference between men and women, why is there gender separation within sports? We cannot continue to allow the destruction of women’s sports. We are robbing the opportunity for women to compete on equal ground within their gender
Throughout history, women have had to struggle for equality in all elements of our society, but no where have they had a more difficult time than in the area of athletics. Sports is a right of passage that has always been grafted to boys and men. The time has come for our society to accept women athletes and give them the attention they deserve.
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.
Men and women have been separated since the beginning of life. God put Adam in charge of the Earth. When God created Eve, he took a piece of Adam’s rib from his stomach to create Eve. From this story that came from the bible, men believe that God made them better than women. And this has created a gender inequality between man and woman ever since then. Gender inequality, as stated on The Free Dictionary’s website is, “the difference between women and men in regard to social, political, economic, or other attainments or attitudes, or the problem perceives to exist because of such difference.” I believe that, when it comes to women’s sports, there is a pretty big difference in genders. Some of these differences are caused by men. A good example is that there are an enormous amount of men that take it as a joke. Most men feel that women just do not have the capability to ever have the strength and skills to compete with men. While others look at it as women are too girly to play and that they will cry and complain if they break a nail. Some think women are too fragile and if they try to compete against a man they will get badly injured. I believe these opinions that men have about women in sports, leads to the gender inequalities in it.
The first perspective is that women are disadvantaged at any sport. Some people reiterate the difference of men and women in sports. This is influenced by strength and the natural power men hold, comparable to women. Rodriguez questions “Is this because female athletes don’t have what it takes to make it in the world of sports or could it be more of a social issue?” This perspective seems to be a social issue based on the notable skills women acquire vs. the apparent judgments of gender issues. The second perspective is the idea that women deserve and inherently earn their right of equal attention and equal pay. “Sometimes, the secret to equality is not positive discrimination, it 's equal terms. It 's the shrug of the shoulders that says "what 's the difference?" The moment worth aspiring for is not seeing people celebrate the world-class female cricketer who competes at comparatively low-level male professional cricket, but the day when people are aware that she does, and don 't find it notable at all” (Lawson). Lawson makes it a point to confirm the biased notions against women in sports and relay an alternative worth working toward and fighting for. Both outlooks can be biased but only one has factual evidence to back it up. The second perspective reviews an ongoing gender issue. This problem is welcome for change depending on society’s
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.”
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.
female athlete was still considered to be passive and weak, some would say women’s sports is a waste of time because women aren’t supposed to be playing sports because of the original stereotypes that woman are too feminine and too easy going to actually be a dominate figure in their sport.
For as long as sports have been around sports fans have focused on male sports more than female sports. Even with the inclusion of female sports to the world, male sports still receive more recognition. But don't you think women deserve more recognition when it comes to sport? The lack of recognition received may be caused from the stereotypes that are imprinted into the minds of sports fans that men are faster, bigger and stronger and deserve to get paid more money for doing their sporting job. Media coverage of women's sports on television and newspapers are low compared to mens sports, but some people may argue that mens sports are more entertaining to watch.
Another issue is the ability for both sexes to excel while mixing genders in a sport. Adding in all the size, speed, and strength factors, most girls aren’t going to play to their full potential. The girls will play shy or, timid in the risk of getting injured or just flat out embarrassed by a much
Broken Opportunities This generation stereotypes females to be not as skilled as males in playing sports. Almost half people think that girls should not be capable of playing or joining boys’ sports teams. Based on a CNN Report, “A significant percentage of both women and men said men are better at sports, with 32% of women feeling that way and 47% of men, the poll found” (Wallace). Then why is it hard to accept the fact that females are able to play sports or even join male’s sports teams?
Is this the world of females in sports? I think, in a world of sports, a woman should be allowed to play professional sports with men if she chooses to. Women that want to play sports might have a better chance, just because they are girls does not mean anything in terms of their ability to play. I feel that women should play sports because they can have a better chance at a college education. Female athletes receive more scholarships than men because they are smarter than men. Women have an advantage in competitions with other countries. Some women may have more strength than men do. Women can earn more scholarships than men. Women might like that sport, and they might have the strength and speed to play that sport.
ADVERTISEMENTS & SPORTS Women face discrimination in different spheres of society and the feminist movements across the globe have fought tooth and nail against this. Sports is one such sphere where women are slowly coming up and are aiming to be at par with men. Nicole Hoevertsz at the UN: “Sport can help break down barriers and challenge gender norms”1. Olympics, the biggest sports event has seen gradual increase in women participation which reached to 45% in Rio 2016 Olympics2. Such a positive change assisting women athletes to breakdown gender specific stereotypes and bringing confidence to showcase their skills and abilities without the fear of being judged by others in sports.