Annotated Bibliography : Women 's Equality

In the world of sports there are many spectators from around the world who invest their time and money in their favorite sports teams. The debate over the equality for men and women in sports has been a popular topic amongst people, especially with the rise in women playing sports. According to the article “Where Girls Are Missing Out on High School Sports”, the number of women playing college-level sports today is more than five times as high as it was in 1972. Despite all the praise for the success in women playing professional sports, there is one underlying dilemma that has been receiving much attention in the media. Nevertheless, there is an extreme pay gap between men and women playing in professional sports that should be fixed because

In her report, Veronica Loveday writes about Women’s Rights Movement, during World War two, and many restrictions women faced. Women’s rights movement in the U.S. begun in the 1960s as a reaction to the decades of unfair social and civil inequities faced by women. Over the next thirty years, feminists campaigned for equality, such as equal pay, equal work , and abortion rights. Women finally gained the right to vote with the passage of the 19th amendment to the constitution in 1920.

Although stereotypes and unequal pay in sports still exists today, the creation of government laws and associations have helped women make great gains in sports over time. Section one in the amendment for equal rights declares, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex” (Mount 2). Females are capable of doing similar activities as men because everyone has equal rights. Even though this law made it possible for females to play sports, it did not help improve the discrimination. All female athletes kept receiving derogatory remarks whenever they played sports until the creation of Title IX (Francis

Equality is something that many Americans have been striving for since the country was founded, however, coming by it has not always been easy. The passing of many different laws, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, has allowed us to come closer to finding a common ground for equal opportunities in all areas including employment and education, but we were still not there. This, however, sparked a revolution most notably in the idea of gender equality and the women’s rights campaign. After the passing of Title IX in 1972, the landscape of gender equality in the United States changed drastically, including its impact on women in sport. Although not directly meant to impact sports, Title IX has made a huge difference

When it comes to women in the media they do not get represented very well and they tend to be poorly portrayed as well. Men are the largest consumers, players, and of sports. So media focus more on male sports and athletes. This may be the reason women are advised not to be engaged in sports and how their gender is presented in the media. Some people think that if more women participate in sports, the media would be fairer. In today’s society, the media focuses more on women’s looks

As a matter of fact, professional male players have much less to lose when standing up for equal pay for female athletes: They have a huge viewership, lucrative salaries, numerous sponsorships, secure contracts. In the male-dominated sports industry, if men’s teams stood up and said women deserve equal pay, equal attention, equal programming, it would only push the fight forward faster, and the sports-obsessed world would be forced to pay attention. As we saw with the women’s hockey and soccer teams, women can go it alone, but why should

So what is the root of the problem when it comes to equality among men and women in collegiate sports? Football. Yes, football is the root of the problem. Football is a money-making giant that happens to demand money be poured into its program. At the University of Southern California men’s teams – largely football – are responsible for over 99% of the near $20 million total revenue of the athletic department (Sacks 2). It is a fact that 70% of Division I-A programs turn a profit. Due to the fact that schools need football’s revenue yet must also meet gender quotas, they are forced to cut non-revenue men’s sports. Colleges cannot spend as much on women’s sports as they can on men’s sports because there is no women’s equivalent for football (Sacks 3). Seems to me that football should be eliminated from the equation. If feminists turned a cheek to football and the money dedicated to its program every year, then maybe there would be more equality across the board.

Female athletes constantly battle to adhere to the feminine social role, as well as the masculine athletic role that accompanies all levels of sport (Martin & Martin, 1995). These stereotypical roles are portrayed in the media frames imposed upon society, and they are contributing to the role conflict experienced by many young females. It is important to understand the media frames utilized in sports magazines, so the public, especially young athletes, will have the knowledge they need to identify these frames and counteract the damaging effects they may cause. With a better understanding of what frames are used to portray female athletes and women’s sports, it may be possible to increase public awareness concerning the framing issue, counteract these damaging frames, and change the public’s opinion regarding female athletes and women’s sports. The media also differ in how they frame female and male athletes in terms of attractiveness versus achievement, which devalues female athletes by emphasizing their appearance over athletic accomplishments (Knight & Giuliano, 2001; Carty, 2005).

Today, sports are one of the biggest parts of our lives. Sunday night football has 64% of American?s sitting on their couch, rooting for their team. If anyone misses that, they have Monday and Tuesday night football to make it up. Besides football, which is the prominent headlight in this culture; sports like soccer, tennis, and basketball, sits close behind. However, most of these sports are linked with men; women are rarely thought of here. Women play these sports too, and do not receive the recognition that they deserve. These women athletes grew up facing oppression for the simple fact that they were women playing sports, yet they

New York Times journalist Karen Crouse described this lack of coverage seen for female sports. Crouse said the modern day female athlete feels “as if she is the sum total of her physical assets—or invisible” (LaVoi, 2013, p. 40).

athletes has affected the coverage they receive within the mass media conglomerate. In an article titled “Gender Stereotyping in Televised Sports” the author states “the way in which television covers, or fails to cover, women engaged in athletics affects the way in which female athletes are perceived and also tells us something about the status of women in our society” and while this holds some truth society has come further than the quote presumes (Duncan et al). Media’s coverage of female athletes is either plentiful or underwhelming depending on which sport is being covered. Team sports like basketball and football are broadcasted heavily but only for the men’s teams. On the other hand individual sports like ice skating and tennis are heavily broadcasted but the majority are female players. The lack of coverage in female team sports is due to

It is obvious in the Western culture; gender makes a difference within the sports. Several studies have shown how reality discriminates within female sporting events and athletes when compared to males. The objective of this study is to examine how male athletes and sporting events dominate over female athletes and sporting events since Title IX law was passed in 1972. The law stated that no person on the basis of sex, in the U.S. would be discriminated against in any athletics or educational programs. Since Title IX, women have had an incline in sports participation, equal education experience, pay salaries, respect, and position opportunities. Though Title IX did make a change for females, it is still areas for improvements in

Not only should media outlets cover male and female athletic events based on equality, there should also be equal coverage due to the fact that it is important for female athletes to be represented in the media. Withholding representation of female athletes from the main sports networks reinforces to young girls that sports are only for men and that they should take up a more “traditionally feminine” activity, when we should be encouraging young females play sports. Since male athletic events dominate sport media it is easy for young boys to grow up believing that they can be the next Michael Jordan of basketball, Wayne Gretzky of hockey, or the next Usain Bolt of sprinting. These images of strong, successful male athletes are so renowned in

Though there have been some minor improvements of the inequalities of women in sports, there are still many more changes that need to be made. The controversy of the topic allows a wide range of research. From the issues of Title IX to the issues of society and its gender roles, there are still inequalities of women in sports.

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.