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impact of gender in sports
role of women in sports
participation of women in sports
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In today’s society women are not allowed to play baseball with men due to patriarchal myths and misconceptions that have been around since the emergence of baseball in America. All women should be able to play baseball with men and there is no legitimate reason why they shouldn't. Women are physically, mentally, and emotionally capable of playing baseball just as men are. With that being said their biological sex or gender should not and does not affect their ability to play baseball in the company of men. In addition their sex should not deem their athletic ability as inferior in comparison to men. Since the adoption of baseball as an American pastime, the sport of baseball has been cultivated and altered to amputate women exuding the masculinity of baseball. The emergence of baseball as popular and profitable sport has failed to acknowledge and highlight the athletic abilities women. Instead its conception has affirmed women to be fragile and it has also depicted women to not have the skills or talents to play and compete alongside men. There are numerous individuals who are opposed to fusion of women and men on the baseball field. These individuals use demeaning stereotypes and beliefs to support their claims. Often these claims are false and are not supported by factual or scientific data. For example these claims say that women are weaker than men, women are not physically capable of playing sports, or 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 and have filtered into the arena of baseball. These claims are used as agencies to enforce the superiority of men and the inferiority of women.
Those who are opposed to the idea of men and women...
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... of which are completely false. Since the evolution of baseball in America women have been seen as subordinate species regarding baseball and their abilities. In addition a lot of talented female baseball players have not acknowledged in history. Their accomplishments have been diminished by feminizing remarks, these women are not respected. It is widely accepted that women and baseball are not compatible especially regarding the integration with men. These stereotypes and beliefs have been lingering around for centuries; it is about time they are erased. Women should no longer be denied to play and be successful at baseball, we as a culture need to uplift and support women who want to play baseball alongside their male counterparts. Women are very capable of playing baseball with men, sciences proves it and the talented women who look to play baseball exhibit it.
“You play like a girl!” used to be one of baseball’s classic insults. Not anymore. Softball diva Jennie Finch has made it cool to not only throw like a girl, but to run, field and hit like one, too. Not since Babe Ruth has a player dominated so completely from the pitching rubber and the batter’s box, and she even gives the Bambino a run for his money in the charisma department. Jennie has also accomplished something Ruth never could: She is showing the boys it’s okay to be one of the girls. This is her story…
At the time, I was not impressed with the “American” sport, but now that I have read Stephen Jay Gould’s essay, “The Creation Myths of Cooperstown,” I will have something to say when the subject arises. Don’t get me wrong: I didn’t like America’s baseball then and I don’t like it now. I do, however, enjoy thinking critically and so I, too, am drawn to that great wad of spit we call baseball because the heterosexual ego and rabid patriotism hiding behind its dirty, sweaty disposition have appeared on my radar screen. Thanks to Gould, I now have the ability to let go of my hostility toward an innocent sport and see the hostility for what it really is: anger towards the males who use baseball as an excuse to unleash their violent hormonal urges.
For this Women of Diversity Group Project, my group chose to write about female pioneers in sport. Within that category I chose female pioneers of softball. During this paper I will discuss the history of the sport and female participation in the sport. I will also give some statistics and make comparisons between females and males involved in softball and baseball.
Many women have taken up the positions of engineers, factory workers and many more jobs normally occupied by men. Many women that wanted to help with the war effort had worked, bought war bonds, donated clothing and foods and anything else needed to help and support our troops. Some women now had the opportuinty to play baseball and still help promote help for the war. However the idea of women playing baseball and acting like men was completely absurd during that day and age. That year of attendance of The AAGPBL approached one million, with the players completely defined the image of a respectable lady, the girls played ball with a new baseball of fast pitching, stolen bases and injuries, epically skin abrasions from sliding to bases in short skirts. Though the female ball players were skilled and athletic, their required uniform were one piece dresses and had to wear makeup at all times so that it was a reminder to the spectators that these were indeed women playing in the field( ). No player was allowed to drink, smoke, date, cut their hair short or be seen in public with slacks or shorts. Every player were required to join and had to endure “charm schools” where they were obligated to learn ladylike behavior. Though there were many limitations and requirements for the female players this new form of
Women don’t receive the spotlight in sports very often. Usually, the men in baseball, football, basketball, and soccer have higher salaries and are paid attention to more. This wasn’t the case with a special league of female baseball players. These ladies sparked a thought in peoples’ heads in the mid 20th-century. Could women really play a professional sport instead of staying home to do the housework? From 1943-1954, women in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League helped to change the rights women were believed to have in society and in the workplace as they began playing a professional sport as a form of entertainment. Men, who would usually fulfill this role, were drafted into the military with the responsibility to serve during the war. The AAGPBL quickly became a world-winning group of women athletes and kept baseball and peoples' hopes alive during a time of weakness in American history.
...e, and the coaches have pushed you, and the teammates who have believed in you, and the fans who cheer for you is, a little girl who first picked up the ball, who fell in love with the game, and never looked back. Play for her” (Do). Title IX gave that little girl the chance to play the sport she loved. Softball became that sport. Making it a players’ right, male or female to play, compete, and learn without any discrimination because of their gender. Although softball was first played by boys, girls quickly made the game theirs. From its creation in 1887 and every game since then, the rules of softball have changed. For many of those athletes who lace up their cleats, pull on a glove, and slide though dirt each year, softball has become more than a sport but a way of life, each one of them knowing that “When you step on the field, nothing else matters.”
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.
When they picked up their bats and stepped up to plate, these women weren’t thinking that they started a feminist revolution. They simply loved the game and knew they could make a pretty penny doing it. However, their skill and bravery proved to transcend gender boundaries in their time, and inspire others to follow suit in the future. As described in Kerry Candaele’s article on the history of women in baseball: “they were not behind the scene, they were the scene.” (Candaele 2012) Despite the impractical uniforms, makeup kits, and the unseen thumb of their male supervisors, these women changed the face of sports and paved the way for other trailblazers in the battle for equality across all fronts. In the end, like former player Dotty Kamenshek noted, “At first they came to see the girls. But we won them over with good baseball.” (Kamenshek 1993)
I went to countless baseball games and I saw men that were phenomenal athletes and I felt as though I needed to play like him or have money like him in order to be a man, or good at baseball for that matter. It is also important to mention that men are stereotypically seen as strong and tough within sports which led to a lot of the pressure I felt, primarily because from the time I was very young, I felt that because I was a boy/man I should be good at all things physical (this included baseball). Through my experiences through baseball I have learned so much so, while it seems that baseball has only contributed negatively to my life, I would argue that it has greatly contributed to my self-confidence, work ethic, healthy competitiveness, etc. So, this is significant because it shaped the man I became in high school; your stereotypical jock who only cared about himself and his sport. I allowed societies notion of what it meant to be a man to shape how I perceived the would and overall dictate the lens I viewed the world from. I began to become very selfish and disregard the subjectivity of anyone who wasn’t in my group of
Gender inequality in the United States is a serious problem, and it is often overlooked. It is a big issue, especially within sports. We live in a society where our culture prefers men 's sports over women 's. Labeling activities as feminine and masculine is a social construction based on stereotyped expectations regarding gender and perceived gender differences (McCullick, 2012). In 1972 Title IX was passed stating that, no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. This opened up athletics to women and girls (Education Amendment Act of 1972, 1972). Although
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
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.
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.
For many years, baseball has been a male dominated sport and still is today by the limited amount of female baseball players and the nonexistence of women’s league in the MLB. Women are categorized into a similar game to baseball known as softball, thus arguing that women do not have the same physical ability as men. During the rare times you would notice a female baseball player or any female athlete, society is very quick on labeling these females as lesbians, dutch or dyke. This exemplifies the inequality of gender roles within the sport culture as society struggles with the acceptance of female athletes because they are portrayed to be weak and pristine. It is also argued that baseball has been stereotypically represented to be more of a “father and son” game since at most events, it is more likely to see a male individual bring other male friends for a guy’s night out watching the game of baseball and drinking beer. Rarely would you ever see a father bringing their daughter to these games mainly because of the stereotype of sports being a manly thing in which creates the stereotype of women to be interested in less aggressive activities such as dance. Thus, it is proven that Sports revolve around men causing them to be interpreted as masculine activities in which women should not participate in due to their feminine qualities that are perceived as