Essay on Double Standard

Double standards: these two words alone are the unspoken rules that allows one men to act a certain way completely different for women. These “rules and regulations” are established on us in many different aspects in our life that, sometimes, we don't even notice them. As women, our lives at home, work, and school are filled with double standards- our own separate set of rules for no good reason at all. There are authors that discuss this issue of how unfairly women have been/ are being treated.

Women have been victim of gender discrimination for centuries, and this fact remains increasingly pertinent still today. In U.S. history we have seen that much of the heavy lifting or more important jobs have always been taken by men, and front desk jobs like receptionists and secretaries have been considered primarily jobs fit for a female. This has stemmed from a long history of being in a culture where the men are the bread winners. The man of the house has always been considered the one who has the responsibility of bringing home the money and supporting the family and the woman raises the kids and does household duties. Although, this was less true for women who were widowed or separated or whose husbands had a job that brought in inadequate

Almost all American sports have shown sexism at some point in time, but football is one of the only sports to never include women at their professional level, or the national football league. During the first half of the 19th century, feminist movements arose to the point where women began to play the same sports as men. Often separated from men, women still began to have opportunities to play tennis, track and field, golf, and other Olympic games (Davies, 2016). Women even played professional baseball during the early-mid 1900’s. When men left organized baseball for military service during the second World War, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was created so that games could continue playing (Davies, 2016).

Little boys all over the world are raised with the idea that they have the potential to be astronauts, firemen and often professional athletes. Rarely do you find young girls who aspire to be professional athletes. Women’s sports are so vastly unpopular that from childhood, kids are taught the “Big Leagues” are for men. For young boys, mastering a sport can lead to fame, glory and wealth. While there are several famous female athletes, the reality is that there are several more famous male athletes. When I was a young girl, my parents did not encourage me to master a sport to make a career out of it, they encouraged me to play sports to stay fit, or “to have fun”. I did not grow wanting to be a rich and famous professional athlete because it was never a realistic option for

For years a double standard regarding premarital sex has existed not only in society. While it is believed to be acceptable for a male to participate in premarital sex, if a female was to participate in premarital sex she was often shamed. Although there has been significant movement in the acceptance of women’s sexuality throughout the last few decades, women still experience the double standards when it comes to engaging in premarital sex. Women who are more permissive often have to deal with unfavorable reactions from loved ones, future partners, and society. Thus, this can lead to feelings of shame, guilt, low self-esteem, and ultimately mental illness.

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.

Female athletes have been competing in sports since the late 1800s and early 1900s. With the establishment of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) in 1997, the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) in 2001, Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) in 1950, and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in 1973 female athletes were able to compete professionally.

According to Google, Double standards is “a rule or principle that is unfairly applied in different ways to different people or groups”. Many people many not realize it but they usually have double stands. They may expect men to be doctors and women to be nurses. They may expect blacks to be in the slums and the whites to be in Beverly hills. They may expects dogs to be happy and cheerful and cats to be evil and boring. In some ways you can think of it as stereotyping people, places and things.

Women were under-founded and ignored in the past, but sticking women like Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Margaret Court and Althea Gibson broke through all levels for women, making it seem like anything is possible. “Participation in intramural sports among girls and women has been risen exponentially. At the college level, the numbers of women athletes have risen from 32,000 to 150,000 with over 10,000 scholarships going to female athletes,” stated in, “Title IX and the growth of women’s Athletics.” These statistics show a tremendous different from what is was then to what it is now. Also, On July 14, 1999, there was a basketball game in Madison Square Garden in New York, with the capacity of 18,649 people. “Women’s basketball has come a long way since its beginning in 1892…,”announced in, “History of the WNBA.”

Laura E Berk, who is a child psychologist mentions in her recent novel that “somewhere between ages 9 and 11 kids begin to develop gender stereotypes” (Berk, 2015). Berk also suggests that “it’s best to separate prepubescent girls and boys based on ability and cognitive development rather than gender” (Berk, 2015). However, by creating an environment where boys and girls are able to play in the same sport, it is an opportunity to curb these notions before they begin. From pewee leagues to professional sports woman are stereotyped by society in several aspects. These stereotypes occur all across the world, in variety of sports and in several other ways. Gender stereotypes do exist in sports and are likely due to traditional gender norms of our society. These norms exist because, for centuries woman were painted as the weak by men. Woman are constantly being evaluated by physical appearance rather than focused on skill level and performance. For example, the word softball is indicative of a gender stereotype. Baseball is also known to be called hardball, the woman’s sport is known as softball is gender stereotype in itself. This also creates the assumption that woman must compete at a softer and a less competitive level compared to men athletes. To add on “the equipment is also alerted based on gender as well. The size of a baseball in comparison to a softball is much smaller, making it more difficult to hit than a softball” (Patchan, 2015). This assumes

Ladies, have you ever been in a situation where you were judged, or even told you can’t do something just because you’re a female? I’m sure you have. We all experience it. Guys just think they’re supra. Although many may disagree, double standards is a huge thing in 2017 especially between gender. Sometimes it’s mainly towards women (which it is), while others think it’s none existence period.

Cohen, G. (2001). Women in sport: issues and controversies. Reston, VA: National Association for Girls and Women in Sport.

We live in a society that has double standards, although , men and women are both human beings and deserve to have the same opportunities, they are treated differently. A woman and man can go for the same position in a workplace, and a woman can be more qualified and have more experience than her male colleague, however, because she is a woman her boss would overlook her work and give the male colleague a promotion. The male colleague did not get the promotion because he was better than the woman, but because he was a male, who had a boss that believes that a woman job is to stay underneath the male species. The media wants the public to believe that women are being treated with equal respect as men, however, that is false, and especially in today's’ society, women are receiving the same treatment from centuries ago.

Men and Women's lives are controlled by the double standards all around them. Every gender is told how to feel and how not to feel, how to act and how not to act rather than just acting and feeling as they want to. The lives of human beings are plagued by these awful societal rules that are all meaningless. Despite the progress made in equality for men and women, double standards create inequality for both genders.

Historically women have not been provided equal opportunities in competitive and collegiate sports. In the late 1800’s, social perception was that females were weak and although they were admired by men, they were treated like objects (Lumpkin, 2013). Competitive and collegiate sports were dominated by males, with little opportunity for women to participate. Females eagerly wanted to participate, however sports were perceived inappropriate which would put their femininity in question and put their health at risk (Lumpkin, 2013). Women faced many challenges along the way, but gradually they begin to fight for their rights of gender equality and women’s rights in sports and started participating in collegiate sports.