Women in Sports
Historical evidence proves that women have been involved in sports
since fourth century BC; but were not necessarily given the approval
to participate. Many restrictions were enforced to keep women out of
these male activities and were continually reinforced until the
twentieth century. Women entering the world of sports were aware that
they were placing themselves into a male dominated field. With their
entrance into the sporting world, these women have opened themselves
up to many different criticisms and to the possibility of exploitation
within the media and from male authority figures. Women in sports are
constantly striving for equality where hegemonic masculinity in social
sporting institutions value male athleticism at the expense of female
athletes.
From a historical perspective there is evidence that provides a
detailed accounting of the evolution female athletes have made in the
sporting arena. Throughout the decades of the twentieth century,
women embarked on opportunities to fight for their equality. The
suffrage movement brought forth the idea of women’s rights, which led
to the “golden age of women’s sports” in 1920 (Simri 67). Women in
this era began to participate in a larger number of sports such as
golf, tennis, swimming and basketball. As women’s status in society
began to shift, the idea of one’s independence began to emerge within
the social fabric of society. This common ideal led to the fight for
social and physical equality in all area’s of life, including the
athletic field of competition. History has proven that women have
achieved many of their goals within the sporting world....
... middle of paper ...
...problematic situations
exist, sports will continue to be a male dominated field.
Works Cited
Dowling,
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Kirby, Greaves, and Hankivsky. “Women under the dome of silence:
sexual harassment and abuse of female athletes.” Canadian Women
Studies, 2002; 132.
Pederson, P., Whisenant, W., & Schneider, R. “Using a Content Analysis
to Examine the Gendering of Sports Newspaper Personnel and Their
Coverage.” Journal of Sports Management (October 2003): 376-393.
Simri, Uriel A Concise World History of Women’s Sports Netanya:
Jerusalem, 1983
Vescio, J.A., Crosswhite, J.J., & Wilde, K. “The relevance of
sporting role models in the lives of adolescent girls.” ACHPER Healthy
lifestyles journal, 2003: 31-36.
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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...
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Within todays sporting community, certain aspects of sport and its practices promote and construct ideas that sport in general is a male dominated. Sports media often provides an unequal representation of genders. Women athletes are regularly perceived as mediocre in comparison to their male equivalents (Lenskyj, 1998). Achievement in sport is generally established through displays of strength, speed and endurance, men usually set the standards in these areas, consequently woman rarely reach the level set by top male athletes. Due to this, the media significantly shows bias towards male sports while we are ill-informed about the achievements in the female sporting community. On the occasion that a female athlete does make some form of an appearance in the media, images and videos used will usually portray the female in sexually objectified ways (Daniels & Wartena, 2011). This depiction of female athletes can cause males to take focus solely on the sexual assets of the athlete in preference to to their sporting abilities (Daniels & Wartena, 2011). Sexualisation of sportswoman in the media is a prevalent issue in today’s society, it can cause physical, social and mental problems among women of all ages (Lenskyj, 1998).
There has been claims saying that women are not as strong as men, women do not have the physical capability to play sports, and that a woman's place is in the home rather than on the playing field. These claims have been in existence since the beginning of time. Until pretty much the 19th century these claims kept woman from participating in any physical activities. Before this time men were the only ones allowed to be apart of the Olympics, participate in sports, and even attend these events. Women were basically only allowed to work around the house, cooking and cleaning. People would try to keep women from playing sports because they believed women are fragile and it has also been said that women do not have the skills or talents to play and compete alongside men.
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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.
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.