Femininity Among Female Athletes

While participation of women in sports has increased, the media representation of women in sports remains problematic. Even the most talented elite female athletes like Michelle Kwan and Monica Seles are portrayed in a sexual fashion, as a way of deemphasizing their athleticism and neutralizing any possible threat they might seem to pose to male viewers. Very few male athletes are portrayed in such an objectified manner; they are portrayed as competitors first and foremost, not as personalities. Also, the media coverage of athletes is disproportionately focused on male athletes. The coverage of female athletes tends to stress individualized female sports where women can be sexualized like tennis and figure skating, versus competitive team sports like basketball and soccer.

As the nation’s gender inequality continues to diminish, things like sports stereotypes, and labour force conflict cannot be understood without understanding the term of identity. Identity work is explained by Schwalbe and Mason-Schrock in 1996 as “anything people do, individually or collectively, to give meaning to themselves or others” (as cited in Ezzell, 2009, p. 1). I propose to examine inequality based on gender identity and in depth the process of stereotype issues, - how people construct stereotypes in gender inequality in the context of sport- among women Rugby. The academic literatures are based on gender identity/ inequality, where it provides many examples of individuals deflecting the norms “by ... creat[ing] a unique identity as heterosexy-fit— simultaneously tough, heterosexual, and conventionally attractive” (Ezzell, 2009, p. 14). With the intention of deflecting/ creating an exception to these norms, it only creates greater issues as not only does society view them in a certain way, but also the player themselves. The overarching goal of the proposal is to address the social issue and understand why society to this date gives harsh views towards women’s rugby with a common stereotypical view. As an illustration the views were described by Ezzell (2009) who conducted a personal communication with some female rugby players who stated that other views them as: “scary, butch lesbians,” “she-males,” “he-shes,” “lesbian man-beasts,” and “butch,

When you type in Female Athletes into a popular search engine like Google, the top hits are links that redirect to articles titled, “The Top 50 Hottest Athletes of 2016," “Unlimited List of Hottest Female Athletes In The World. In contrast, when you do the same for a Male Athlete you find articles about the “Best Male Athlete ESPY Award” and ‘Most Fit Male Athlete in Sports”. We see such a stark difference, even though they perform the same tasks. At an early age, parents tend to encourage the male child to participate in sports whereas they encourage the female child to join a dance or arts and crafts class instead. “You throw like a girl” is an expression that is often used, equating athleticism to masculinity rather than femininity (Hively

Within sport, as throughout society, gender differences exist. The socially constructed phenomenon of gender dictates a dichotomous system whereby females are feminine and males are masculine. Focusing on females specifically, society determines the feminine traits and roles ascribed to this gender. Being domesticated, slender, passive and heterosexual are a part of the desirable appearance that society has formed surrounding femininity (Wolf, 1991). On the other side of the dichotomy is the masculine realm that sport plays into. Sport is fuelled by muscle, power and aggressiveness, which are behaviours and images associated to masculinity. Sport therefore, defies all existing female gender ideals. It would be assumed that females have no place within this institution due to the gender clash. However, female athletes do exist, and many are very successful. For this to work, sport has established and reinforced the social constructions of gender that exist in society. Female athletes are viewed as inferior and are pushed into gender appropriate sports. Furthermore, they are often labeled as masculine until they can prove otherwise, and so great attempts are made to reassert femininity. The stigma associated to being masculine or homosexual for female athletes is so great that many have become irrationally fearful of this label. The sexualisation of the female body and overt displays of heterosexuality are used in

When a person of a specific gender enters a non-traditional sport for their gender/sex, many social and moral issues will arise challenging that person involved in that particular sport. The intentions of the individual will be questioned as well as their personal interest in the sport. Before any of these questions are asked, there must be a redefinition of gender roles, femininity, and masculinity. In order for a person to enter a non-traditional sport for their gender/sex without being criticize about gender morality, society must set flexible definitions for femininity and masculinity.

Over the course of time, sports have come to signify masculinity; athletics such as football and basketball easily having come to deem where one fits in terms of societal norms regarding gendered bodies. One could argue that sports, in a modern context, have come to be synonymous with the idea of athletic and/or muscular bodies, which are those that are not regarded as the bodies of ideologically feminine ones given the intense and high pressure nature. In “Sports and Male Domination: The Female Athlete as Contested Ideological Terrain” written by Michael A. Messner in 1988 sheds light on the idea that traditional images of femininity have come to solidify male privilege through the construction and naturalization of gendered characteristics regarding women such as weakness, fragility and dependency .

“Women who play men’s sport have constantly to negotiate their status in traditional cultural contexts of men’s power and privilege, and in a general discourse of femininity, patriarchy and compulsory heterosexuality” (Craig & Beedie, 2008).

Women are empowered, encouraged and even pressured into being involved in a sport or some type of fitness activities today; however, it hasn’t always been that way (Cahn 278). In the 1920s, also known as the “golden age” of sports, women and young girls faced obstacles such as rejection, gender discrimination, and stereotypes when showing interest in sports or fitness activities. One famous author named Susan Cahn, wrote a book called Coming on Strong: Gender and Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Women’s Sports, and focuses on the decades between the 1920s and the 1960s. For most of the 19th century, females were accused of causing a great deal of danger to the moral and physical areas of masculinity. Through the research of multiple different aspects, such as media, appearance, and gender roles, Cahn puts together an idea and theme that athleticism is seen as a masculine trait because it was once constructed by society itself; which fortunately for the women, that idea can be changed. In the later centuries, Cahn writes about the progress of woman 's appearance in sports, however then describes the difference in respect, attention throughout media, opportunities and wages between men and women. Through both primary sources such as newspapers, interviews, and journals, as well as secondary sources like relevant literature, Cahn writes her book in a historical non-fiction genre. After reading Coming on Strong: Gender and Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Women’s Sports by Susan

In addition to the gender ideology portrayed within the film, class ideology was also represented as Maggie accepted the fact she was a working-class individual (Gilbert, Summer 2015a). As Scrap, the caretaker of Frankie’s gym stated, “she knew she was trash” (Eastwood, 2004). In this particular scene, Maggie was taking the leftovers from a customer’s plate from the restaurant she worked at, so that she had something to eat that evening for dinner. Although Maggie accepted the fact she was a working-class individual, she wanted to avoid the working-class life and thought her athletic abilities in boxing would allow for social mobility (Gilbert, Summer 2015d). As sport is a representation of social class (Gilbert, Summer 2015d), it can be assumed

The ideal images of female athletes presented in the films for this class have had a strong connection to the images of ideal women in society in general. Like the ideal image of women, there are many variations of the ideal image of female athletes. While Dare to Compete tracked the evolution of the role of the real female athletes, the feature films we watched presented varying views of the ideal female athlete, which has been different in different times and places.

This study reveals much about the attitudes that persist in society today regarding sport and gender. Early on, sport was created to serve men, evolving as a celebration of maleness, valuing strength, power, and competition. It idealized, promoted, and rewarded successful, elite athletes, established “the dream” as a professional career in sports, and viewed mass participation in sport as a tool to weed out the weak (Hill, 1993). In contrast, women’s sports originated to “address the expressed need for healthful exercise” (Huckaby, 1994). Unlike the competitive warrior mode

Race, gender, history and sexual orientation play major roles in women's participation in sport. Through out the history of women in sport, opportunity has increased. Many athletes and coaches are presented with the issue of sexual orientation throughout their sporting career. Regardless of sexual orientation, all female athletes are affected by heterosexism. One's racial or ethnicity background greatly shapes the experience they may have in sport. This essay explores the many issues women in sport face today.

Gender is the differentiation of men and women or boy and girl based on their social role. Gender is socially constructed in society through institutions, schools, families, and more. Gender is defined as the social expression of our sexual identity, which explains the difference between men and women. Gender is not the biological identities, but it is the cultural and social presentation of male and female in society. In this paper, I would like to explain the role of mass media and print media in representing gender differences between men and women in sports. The paper reflects the role of mass media on the importance homosexuality and heterosexuality character in sports. The paper explains the role of media in representing the images of athletes based on their gender identity. The paper describes the role of media in promoting masculine identity in sports culture rather than feminine or homophobia.

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.

Women. Men. They are both a unique and special being that is on earth. In a perfect society, men and women would have the same physical strength and they would be completely equal. The idea of women and men being able to play against each other is wonderful but realistically it might not work out as great. Of course, women can do anything men can do, but in a competitive situation like this, the results of this change could bring forth more negative impacts than positive ones. In professional sports, women and men should be kept separate due to being biologically different and because of the possibility of the quality of the performances in the sports decreasing.