Women Athletes in Male Dominated Sports

Women Athletes in Male Dominated Sports

Sports are one of the great American pastimes, but the reality is that sports have encouraged a very distinct separation between males and females in the American society. The attitudes acquired through sports are learned on the field and breached into the real world to create conflict between the sexes. The issue of gender inequality goes far beyond the sports world, yet male dominated organizations form and support the sexes. With this separation of sexes we see the social and cultural strain on athletes participating in opposite gender sports, because society frowns on women participating in male dominated sports.

The idea of sports has always had a masculine viewpoint. It has been seen as unladylike for women to participate in certain sports, let alone those that are primarily male dominated. The American public's fascination with female athletes: tennis players, professional golfers, figure skaters, and gymnasts. These sports demonstrate the agility and elegance "natural" to women and although athleticism is clearly a major aspect of these sports, the individual stars are known, culturally at least, more for their "feminine" attributes like self-sacrifice, glamour and grace (Banet-Weiser, p 411). From the article by Banet-Weiser, we can see society and the general public recognition of female athletes has always been based on their feminine beauty and objectified status, rather than their athletic skill, which becomes a major drawback to women's sports and probably a significant reason why many women drop out of sports or have their sexual identity questioned when they try to prove their athleticism.

This issue of gender in sport occurs all the time. The masculine assumptions...

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... everyone whether male or female needs to incorporate physical activity into their daily routine. Without it, we would not be able to participate in athletics and so what if a woman sweats when she is at the gym or playing a sport, it just proves that she is working hard at what she is doing. So, in a way, sport provides communication with other people and improves the physical, mental, and emotional well being of a woman.

I think we just need to look past the negative aspects of sport because they can distract athletes or even cause them to stop doing what they love. Pressure from society to fit in is always a hard thing to deal with and those that overcome the remarks from audiences or critics become the better person in the long run by looking back at what they accomplished and what they have left behind for many other generations of women athletes to follow.