Gender Bias : How Men And Female Athletes Are Treated Different

As an adolescent, I was very interested in sports. In fact, sports were all around me. I was usually the tallest of my friends, therefore I was faced with more opportunities concerning sports. The main sports I played were basketball and softball. At this point in my life, I did not know about Title IX and all of its rules and regulations concerning women in sports; I was just interested because sports were fun for me.

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.

Traditionally women were viewed as equipped to participate in sports, and their involvement was viewed as unfeminine and undesirable. This Article Examples the women were viewed as unfeminine to the sports that men play and undesirable. Young girls who are given an early opportunity to participate in sports may be more prepared for the male in classrooms. Even though women have often been relegated to second-hand citizenship in the same socializing, integration, statues, and recognition that benefit male athletes. (By; Sandra L. Hanson)

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.

Women have struggled for more than two centuries to be taken serious as professionals. There should not be a double standard in sports especially if it is loved and played by both genders. Over the years, females have competed against the stereotype of being too fragile both mentally and physically to play strenuous sports. The passion and work ethic of the female professional athletes is just as strong as the males and everyone should be treated equal and be able to have a chance at making a better living for themselves as well as their family. One area that still faces a continual struggle in sports is gender equality. Female

This article talked about the daunting unequal media coverage in sports of male sports teams in comparison to females.They researched the true differentiations of coverage between men and women sports. The actual percentage difference of coverage of male vs female sports discovered in their research truly is unfathomable. Men’s sports receive 96.3% of the airtime, women’s sports 1.6% and gender neutral topics were 2.1%. When you think back about twenty years ago and the coverage of media people tend to think that America is generally trending positively forward, however that is not the case for the coverage of women's athletics. It has actually gone down since then. Although on the scarce occasion that they are feature in the news, more often than not they are conveyed in the stereotypical way: as wives, girlfriends, or mothers. When media is highlighting these aspects instead of their talent, hard work or success it takes away from their image as an athlete and it demonstrating that it is acceptable to do so in society. However if male athlete achieved equal success and he was a father, that

Swoosh Michael Jordan scores a basket. The crowds in the stands, sports bars, and in their homes go wild. Swoosh, Sheryl Swoopes ( known as a female Michael Jordan) scores a basket…silence. Female athletes are very driven and work just as hard male athletes. Many females are constantly in the weight room to make sure that they have the strength to excel at their sport. If they’re having trouble in a sport, they will relentlessly work and practice at it until they get it right. They won’t give up. Society praises male athletes while female athletes tend to remain unnoticed. Women have been discriminated in sports because society has always viewed males as being more dominant in sports, there are more resources available to the men than the

Women’s equality is an issue that has been around for awhile. While women have been given many rights to increase equality, including the right to vote and go to college, the problem hasn’t completely vanished. One area that still sees this is in sports. Women’s sports do not draw nearly as many fans and are not covered in the media as much as men’s sports, pay differences between male and female athletes are large, and female athletes have to wait longer to start their professional career than men, which risks their professional career before it even starts.

Before I conducted this media analysis about women in sports and sport broadcasting, I hypothesized the obvious - that more male sports would be in the media, and that there would be more male sports broadcasters as well. Through my observations I did find that the sports arena and sports broadcasting sphere are male dominated. However, I also found that although there are not many stories about women, there has been a steady progression and magazines like Sports Illustrated are becoming bold enough to highlight women athletes in a magazine that is targeted towards a male audience. Although women still have a long way to go, they are making some headway into the male-dominated sports arena.

To begin with, women experience a great deal of inequality in the sport/athletic department. Many female sports are not equally recognized as a much as male sports. An example of this can be shown in baseball and softball. Baseball is a known sport that is popular all over the world that is always being aired on TV. Softball, on the hand, is left in the

Various factors may contribute to how the sports media portray female athletes and women’s sports. Within these media portrayals, which are presented to the public through media frames, biased messages may emerge that are spread throughout society. While past research has been conducted on media frames, it has mainly focused on general issues, such as politics, patriotism, national crisis, and activism (Shen, 2004; Moshe, 2004; Neiger & Zandberg, 2004; Reber & Berger, 2005). Female athletes and women’s sports are often under-represented and unfairly framed in the media when compared to their male counterparts, which may be interpreted by the mass audience as a sign that women are inferior in the sports domain. The media’s emphasis on appearance rather than athleticism may cause young women to focus more on looks than

Sexism limits our country. In a world where sexism still exists, women face challenges every day as they choose to embark in athletic activities. Even with the efforts of Title IX, which was established in 1972, there is not equality in sports for men and women. Sexism is real with stereotypes and discrimination on the basis of sex. Even with the high level of success reached by numerous female athletes of many different sports, male athletes always seem to have the upper hand. Whether it is pay, media, support, gear, or playing grounds, one sex always has the better of the two. Male athletes dominate a field that truly is shared by both sexes. What if we treated male athletes the way we treat female athletes? That is a world hard to imagine, and honestly, it shouldn't be. Through female athletes sharing their stories of unfair treatment and pay, sexism and generations of inequality in sports can be overcome.

Men Vs. Women in Professional Sports      Ever since the ancient Greece, men have held athletic competitions or sports. It is only in modern times that women have had an opportunity to compete. Most sports still don’t have men and women directly competing against one another. In the past athletic instructors adapted the rules to make sports less physically taxing for women. For instance in basketball, to ensure that girls maintain proper decorum, they were forbidden from snatching the ball and dribbling it more than three times in row. Females would not be considered strong enough to play a full-court basketball game until 1971. Women have struggled to be taken seriously as athletes for more than two centuries.

During this century women have been able to break out of the traditional female mold. Women have broken the chains that bond them to the home and have emerged into all sorts of male dominated arenas, including sports. Women have become athletes in their own right. In the last ten years there has been validation for the female athlete. The WNBA was created giving women a professional league in a mainstream traditionally male sport for the first time since the All American Girls Professional Baseball League went out of existence in the 1950s. And recently a woman made the cut and participated on the professional golf circuit with the men. Today, we see women athletes in the media regularly. Women's college basketball is given airtime on weekends just as men's is.

Women have always been the minority in the world even today: that is in the work force or even in sports. Title IX, an act that was made by the United States Congress in 1972, said that no one should be denied to play, receive financial aid, or discriminate to any education program or activity that pertains to only one sex (Senne 1). This act was a step towards improving female participation and lessening discrimination, but the stereotypes that most of society believes in still exist. This is one of the main reasons why women are discriminated when it comes to sports; by limited payroll, limited media coverage, and stereotypes.