Analysis Of Not Just A Game By Dave Zirin

Women in professional sports fits into the Sex and Power: Global Gender Inequality class because many female athletes have experienced the inequalities in a professional sports setting. Female athletes are being put down by gender inequalities, causing less females participating in athletic programs. Women athletes are being paid less than their male counterparts. Along with being paid less, female and males are receiving unequal benefits in the form of scholarship, media coverage, transportation, and stadium conditions. The professional sport’s world is filled with the obsession of body image and sexuality. Through this obsession, female athletes have been abused from the people they trust the most. There is an increasing inequality in women’s professional sports in the form of pay, sexuality, and abuse.

According to Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in [the] Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” Because of the establishment of this international document, much progression toward the equality of rights for all with inherited and acquired traits has been achieved over time. In particular, gender equality has made a great deal of headway since the Olympic Games in ancient Greece. Even though this may be the case, there is no doubt that female athletes are far from considered equal as compared to male athletes in modern sports. In today’s sports society, women athletes are still discriminated against based on lower salaries, less media coverage, and lack of opportunity.

Sports in the 1920s were evolving rapidly, but it was also the first sign of inequality for women against men’s sports. Baseball and boxing were primarily the two most famous sports back then crossing out even a single thought for women activities. “Women and girls had limited opportunities for sports in the 1920s” (Sumner). Even besides sports, most schools had physical education classes set out just for girls. With this, most teachers considered any physical activity such as running or sweat to be considered for males. All in all, they

Fast forward to the 1970s; a time period where there was many controversies arising in women’s sports. In the 1970’s women were not given equal prize money as men and were considered

Female athletes were most likely the first to confront political discrimination. In the early 20th century, physical education instructors strongly opposed competition among women, fearing it would make them less feminine (Ederle). Therefore, women athletes were socially shunned for their supposed manly behavior. Even today in some countries, women are banned from sports. “The procession of the Olympic torch drew protests from Paris to San Francisco over China 's treatment of the Tibetan people, but no one has protested another tragedy that is afflicting millions of women in Saudi Arabia, Iran and other Muslim countries. Many Muslim women dare not even dream of the Olympics because their countries ban female sports altogether or severely restrict the athletic activities of the "weaker sex” (Al-Ahmed). Muslim women cannot even participate in any competitive athletic event because they will most likely be beaten and killed by their own family. Historically men

Gender inequality in sport is a hot button issue in our society today. Women, for the most part, have been on the short end of the stick for centuries in reference to participation in sports. Way back in Ancient times, women were not even allowed to watch the Olympics games because they were deemed “ladylike”. Women slowly began to play sports beginning in the 1800s. Some notable events were the first all-women’s golf tournament in Scotland in 1811 and women’s single competition at Wimbledon in 1884 (Frantz, 2014). Women were allowed to participate in some Olympic sports in the 1900 Games such as tennis, golf, and croquet (Frantz, 2014). In 1928, women were allowed to compete in Track and Field events in the Olympics (Frantz, 2014). Women were officially allowed to play basketball beginning in 1971 (Frantz, 2014). Title IX was passed in 1972, which required educational institutions to provide equitable funding to help women’s sports programs. Eventually, more and more organized sport leagues for women sprawled into existence. However, there was still something holding them back.

It is now 2016 and sports play an enormous part in the U.S. culture. According to Youth Sports Statistics 36,000,000 kids aged 5-18 take play organized sports each year. Sports will continue to grow especially because of today’s advancements in technology. From the first Olympic games to 2016 a whole lot has changed in the world of sports. Not only has sports vastly changed but so have social norms around the United States. With that being said in the 1800s it was socially unacceptable for a woman to partake in a “mans sport.” A “mans sport” would be anything characterized from football, hockey, baseball, essentially anything involving vigorous physical activity. Nowadays many women are playing the prototypical “man sport,” however the discrimination against women still exists in manners that are less obvious. There are very few women’s leagues for a “man” sport. Although women’s leagues for a “man” sport do exist they are far less respected and are no where near as recognized as the men leagues. Women continue to be looked down upon whenever they show the interest in playing a man sport and this should never be the case. Women aren’t the only gender that is looked down upon, men also get this same treatment. Men are stereotyped as gay if they take part in a “woman” sport. Mostly all stereotypes around sports come from sexuality. Although the acceptance of athletes playing an untraditional sport

Dating back to the late 1800s sports for women were viewed more as recreational activities instead of competitive ones. As time went on women were encouraged to not participate in any type of sports activities because it could be “hazardous” to their bodies. This would begin the long battle for equal opportunities in sports for women.

According to Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in [the] Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status” (UN General Assembly art. 2). Because of the establishment of this international document, much progression toward the equality of rights for all with inherited and acquired traits has been achieved over time. In particular, gender equality has made a great deal of headway since the Olympic Games in ancient Greece. Even though this may be the case, there is no doubt that female athletes are far from considered equal as

There still was a belief that women were too frail physically and mentally to participate in intense competition like Olympics. However, in 1932, Mildred “ Babe” Didrikson disproved this belief by winning two Olympic gold medals and one silver medal in track and field. She had also won every golf tournament she competed in. Her great victories influenced the acceptance of

In the last one hundred years women have made tremendous inroads in many facets of life. Of that there can be little doubt. Women may now hold jobs, own property and participate in professional sports. Today women can compete in sports, once a vestige of male domination; there is now room for women in that arena. But even today women in sports are not portrayed in the same light as their male counterparts. To a large degree this is because of today's cultural ideal of women.

During the Colonial Period, discrimination in sport was evident between male and female ,as women were suggested to participate in horseback riding and dancing to the dance that was popular of that time. Plainly, these sports offer very little exercise or excitement, and it can be categorized as more of a ‘pass time’ (Marshall 2015). Moving forward to the Victorian era, sporting clubs were emerging, but restricted to women. Sadly, women were given the excuse that their voluminous skirts and ‘fragile’ mentality would not withstand to sports (Marshall 2015). The gender

While participating in sports, girls and women faced discrimination and prejudice. Women were told that competing in athletics was not ‘lady-like’, and you were called names, for example, a lesbian or tom-boy. Women were looked at as physically unattractive and were seen as “selfish” because they were not as cooperative as men while on a team. Women had to raise their own money, wear

Traditionally, the female population has always been expected to do the cooking and cleaning, wear dresses, raise the children, maintain a perfect body and still remain pure. Women are known to be weaker then men, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Beginning at an early age, female’s participation in athletics would have smaller numbers, with less intensity, and for shorter time spans than males. The female athlete is not only expected to be masculine, but she may place her feminism in jeopardy by others in society (Marsh, 1986). Females are expected to live up to these specific gender roles that are held by both men and women in society. The expectations of feminism often result in women being guided away from sweating, aggressiveness, lifting weights, or competing in sports

Women’s participation in sports has a long history. It is a history marked by division and discrimination but also filled with major accomplishments by female athletes and important advances for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. It is important to know how women impacted sports and opened doors for new possibilities. The principal objective of Title IX is to stop the use of federal money to support sex discrimination in education programs and to provide individual citizens helpful protection against those practices (Casey). Over the past 40 years, women sports have changed based on broken records, superior performance, and equality.