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Future of women in sports
Womens influence on sports
Womens influence on sports
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Women’s involvement in sports has grown tremendously in the past 20 years, and the conversation about women’s sports has evolved from barely being mentioned in the newspaper to being talked about worldwide. Before 2010 women’s sports were just starting to get recognition but still the media and scholars had this idea that men’s sports were more important. Leaders such as Abby Wambach (a soccer player), Ronda Rousey (a boxer) and, Serena Williams (a tennis player) have managed to make a name for themselves and help the movement towards equality. Between 1972 and 2011, the number of girls competing in high school sports jumped from under 295,000 to nearly 3.2 million, according to data from the National Federation of State High School Associations …show more content…
In Canada, women’s hockey is very prominent and well respected by the country as a whole. As stated in the article “there are over 86,000 registered female hockey players in Canada” (Locke and Karlis) and in recent years women’s sports teams have been receiving recognition for their ability to compete at such high levels. One example of this effort being recognized is when the Prime Minister of Canada had this to say "Hockey in Canada today is everyone's game, regardless of race, creed, or gender. I'm a big fan of elite level women's hockey and really enjoy watching it. I think in terms of the caliber of play, the women's game has come a long way" (Prime Minister Harper). Though Canadian women were finally receiving glory for their efforts, Kenyan women also were making an impact in society. According to the IEA empowering women and enabling them to actively participate and contribute to social, economic, and political activities is important for sustainable development. Scholars now are realizing that women’s involvement in athletics results in communities coming together and becoming more stable. Mega sports organizations such as the IOC are now committed to gender equality because of the realization that the gender order of society and gender equality balance are closely intertwined with the structure of sport and the conditions of participation around the world (Njororai). This quote from the Sports and Society journal proves that scholars are recognizing the power that women bring when it comes to their involvement in sports. If only men were allowed to participate modern society would not be how it is today; a more intertwined and equal environment for
Turn on ESPN, and there are many female sports reporters, and many reports on female athletes. Flip through Sports Illustrated, and female athletes are dotted throughout the magazine. Female athletes star in the commercials. Female athletes are on the cover of newspapers. Millions of books have been sold about hundreds of female athletes. However, this has not always been the case. The number of females playing sports nowadays compared to even twenty years ago is staggering, and the number just keeps rising. All the women athletes of today have people and events from past generations that inspired them, like Babe Didrikson Zaharias, the All-American Professional Girls Baseball League, Billie Jean King, and the 1999 United States Women’s World
The report will refer to the sociological perspective of women’s sport in Australia which leads to the changes within women’s sport, Athletics at Brisbane Girls Grammar, women’s sport in the media and then an evaluation and recommendation on the topic ‘Women in Sport’.
Women have faced an uphill battle throughout the history of sports whether it is to be able to compete in sports, to attain equal funding for programs, to have access to facilities, or a number of other obstacles that have been thrown in their ways. Women have had to organize and administer their own sports structure rather than compete within the men's structure that existed. The sheer strength and determination of many women sports heroes is what propels women's sport to keep going. One theme that has predominantly surfaced in this fight though is the merging of women's programs with men's, oftentimes only when they are successful enough to stand alone on their own.
When I think of what it means to be Canadian, one of the first things that come to mind is hockey. This is true for many Canadian’s as hockey was and is an integral piece of the formation of the national identity. However, when people think of playing hockey their attention usually turns to the men in the National Hockey League or other top men’s leagues and tournaments. Even so, Canada has come a long way from its beginnings, when women were not even considered persons under the law until 1929. While it has taken many decades for women to receive more recognition in the world of sport, today shows great improvements from the past. A key reason that women are not treated the same way as men in regards to hockey is due to how the game began;
The 1920s was the just the beginning of women in sports. The booming post-war economy and the sports heroines increased the popularity of women athletes. The idea of a woman was changing, from being dainty and delicate to athletic, healthy and strong. There has been a growth in opportunities for women in sports, and the media brought this competition to everyone’s attention around the world. The accomplishments of the women athletes of the 1920s were the beginning of the journey to becoming equal to men in the world of sports.
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 caters to the males, women are breaking the barriers to being in the spotlight of sport. Both genders 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.
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.
“The past three decades have witnessed a steady growth in women's sports programs in America along with a remarkable increase in the number of women athletes (Daniel Frankl 2)” From an early age women were thought to be “Lady Like”; they are told not to get all sweaty and dirty. Over 200 years since Maud Watson stepped on the tennis courts of Wimbledon (Sports Media Digest 3); women now compete in all types and levels of sports from softball to National racing. Soccer fans saw Mia Hamm become the face of women’s soccer around the world, Venus and Serena Williams are two of the most popular figures in tennis, and Indy car racing had their first woman racer, Danika Patrick. With all the fame generated by these women in their respective sports, they still don’t receive the same compensation as the men in their respective sports fields.
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.
It has taken many years for women to gain a semblance of equality in sports. Throughout history, women have been both excluded from playing sports and discriminated against in sports. Men’s sports have always dominated the college athletic field, but women were finally given a fighting chance after Title IX was passed. Title IX, among other things, requires scholarships to be equally proportioned between men and women’s sports. Although this was a huge gain for women, gender inequality still exists in sports today. An example of this persisting inequality can be seen when looking at men’s baseball and women’s softball. In college, baseball and softball are both major NCAA sports. It is widely accepted throughout today’s society that baseball is a man’s sport, and softball is a woman’s sport. Very few people question why the two sexes are separated into two different sports, or wonder why women play softball instead of baseball. Fewer people know that women have been essentially excluded from playing baseball for a long time. This paper will focus on why softball has not changed the way women’s basketball has, why women continue to play softball, the possibilities and dynamics of women playing baseball with and without men, and the most discriminating aspect of women being banned from playing professional baseball.
The fight for women's ice hockey players to earn respect and acceptance has been hard fought over the past one hundred years. Women have constantly been told that they can not play with men and that there sport is a second rate version of the men's game. The road of women's ice hockey has had many ups and downs but has perservered to the present day and is stronger than it has ever been. The future of women's ice hockey is bright thanks to diligence and hard work of those who kept it all going. Ironically women began playing the sport side by side with men over 100 years ago right at the sports inception. One of the oldest action pictures featuring ice hockey shows men playing with women. Part of the reason that women enjoyed early participation with men is because of the way that the public viewed the game. At the start, hockey was seen as a recreational activity. Women have been routinely barred from participating in serious and competitive sport, but if the game is viewed as merely recreational then women are more accepted. In the 1890's this is what happened to the sport of ice hockey. Suddenly the game was more than recreation and organization entered, rules were drawn and leagues were formed. With the new structure came segregation of the sexes. As the sport progressed for the men, the women were left behind. In spite of all this, the first all female organized game was played in Barrie, Ontario in 1892. Women's ice hockey slowly limped on up until the 1920's.
Krane, V. (2001). We can be athletic and feminine, but do we want to? Challenging hegemonic femininity in women's sport. Quest, 53,115-133.
When it comes to women's sports and popularity in the 21 century it has been little progress made toward gender equality for woman sports, now in the 21 century more kids and adults know who some of these females athletes are but as far as media coverage goes for female athlete are in the shadows of the male athletes dominance and the tradition that males developed in sport due to what gender establish athletics first, because women sports were brought up years after men athletics had been established.
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.
This challenged the supposed stereotype and social barriers within sport. Their achievements positively reflected on Canada as a culture of equality, embodying motivation and determination while upholding a hard work ethic. Competing in sports was more male dominated and women were discouraged to compete in sport. For women, sport was more of a recreational activity and men generally achieved excellence in sport. Sport continued to evolve as a domain for strength highlighting masculinity within athletic competitive settings.