Gender Roles

“A League of Their Own” is a very impacting movie that depicts the impact of women in sports throughout the 1940s. During this era, men were away in World War II, leaving the women to take their spots in many of their duties. Baseball had been a very well known sport throughout the country. Women playing baseball was unordinary, however it quickly grew to be very popular which led to the inauguration of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. This was a way for the women to get out, have fun, and relax with other females. The film presents several traditional gender stereotypes and female limitations in sports, some which still exist today.

Starting with how women are portrayed in media, Trolan (2013) states that in today’s society, individuals are shown magazines, newspapers, and television programs with articles and photographs, “of what it means to be a woman or man” (Trolan, 215). This is remarkably obvious when discussing the world of sport. Although women have achieved a somewhat higher level of respect in the everyday world, within the sporting world, “they are still viewed as women first and athletes second” (Trolan, 215). Krane, Choi, Baird, Aimar, and Kauer (2004) also articulate that women participating in sport live in two extremely separate cultures: the sporting culture and the culture in which they face the continual battle between being an athlete and being a woman. Being viewed as

Sports have been a large part of society throughout history. They have brought out happiness, joy, hard work, determination, and teamwork in the individuals that have participated in them. However, there have been negatives involved with sports throughout history also, including gender roles, which are defined as the public image of being a particular gender that a person presents to others. These roles have been created by society and passed down from generation to generation, informing one another of false beliefs that say that one gender, usually males, are better than females. In sports, these often say that women have significantly lower performance levels, show less drive and that women see competition as unnecessary. In reviewing the initial beliefs and problems before Title IX, the role of Title IX, the problems still existing today, and the modern movement, it is seen that progress has been made, but also that there is also more to do.

In many shops, there seems to be an obvious separation between boys and girls items, for example, the birthday cards, books, clothes, and toys. This is shown in a variety of ways the boy's items are mainly the color blue and the books have pictures of either action figures, superheroes or tools. Whereas the girl's items are mainly the color pink. The books show pictures of fairies, princess, and Bratz. The cards also have the theme of the color pink for girls and blue for boys. The girl's cards have a lot of sparkles and pretty pictures whereas the boy's cards are covered in camo kind of illustrations and also have action figures on the covers. The children's clothes are separated into sections where there are labels for the boy's clothes and labels for the girl's clothes. The girl's clothing is all pretty and pink, it is covered in sparkles. Whereas boys clothing has camo patterns, blue colors, and pictures of action figures.

In present day all around the world, society has certain expectations for the actions and behaviors of males and females. There are many factors in our everyday lives that contribute to the gender norms that society has set. This essay will discuss how situations in life can play a part in how people treat other people based on their gender. It is believed that males are the leaders of our world, but in present day woman can do as much as men can do. From The Journal of Marriage and Family, Hu states, “Differentiated gender roles in adulthood are rooted in one’s gender role socialization. In order to understand the persistence of gender inequalities in the domestic sphere, we need to examine the gendered patterns of children’s housework time.”(2015, P.1). Gender roles are society’s expectations of the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females that they must be taught. These roles define how females and males are viewed in society, their household, and workplace. In The Journal of Sports behavior by Hardin, he states, “Although gender role differences from biological and “Natural” exists in popular consciousness, research has long demonstrated that instead, many are long time socially constructed… Individuals understand their gender because they are given names and treated in particular ways, such as dress in pink for girls and blue for boys, that reflect social construction of gender. Bandura's social cognitive theory is key in understanding the factors in socialization”(2009, P.3). Bandura's theory of of social cognition is that behavior, environmental events, and cognitive factors are the main keys that shape attitudes and actions of an individual. Although, gender roles play a very big part in our society, specific genders are treated differently while dealing with peer influence, media influence, as well as employment.

Continuing to brain wash the young men today with the “sports is a mans world” mentality only helps to repeat the cycle of nearly oppressing women in the industry. It keeps men feeling secure when it comes to their masculinity, yet making a woman’s fight for respect a never ending struggle.

Beginning with the most prevalent controversy, the obvious physical advantage males have over females. “Weight, shape, size, and anatomy are not political opinions but rather tangible and easily measured.” (Connor) This is a strictly a fact, that men have natural, biological, and evolutionary advantages in many aspects of physical exertion, however, it wouldn’t be fair to say that woman have no hope in physical dominance over any man in the 21st century. Females in male sports aren’t just sitting ducks waiting to be beaten, they have a similar polar edge including speed, flexibility, and quick thinking. Looking at an example of this, Massachusetts high school wrestler, Danielle

When considering the roles of gender the main issues of this movie is how society portrays women as athletes with the abilities of men, yet these women were still expected to be pretty and wear dresses to play baseball. One scene in the movie, the baseball recruiter almost denied a talented young woman based on her looks.

Throughout many years there has been a great change of gender roles of men and women in our society, and especially in the world of sports. Over the last couple years female athletes have really strived to gaining equal representation and media coverage as much as the male athletes do. Female athletes are also starting to participate in more male dominated sports such as, MMA, hockey and even golf. These few sports have been perceived as “manly sports” which usually makes women feel that they shouldn't participate because they're not masculine enough. Even though there are many female athletes who feel discouraged to playing “manly sports” there are also plenty of female athletes who are trying to show younger generations that it's okay to participate and compete in sports that aren't necessarily “feminine sports”. The way that gender roles have been affecting sports for a long time are through behaviors, stereotypes and the perception of male and female athletes.

The film, Million Dollar Baby, is a very powerful story of a young woman by the name of Maggie. While she experienced a very difficult upbringing, Maggie had never lost sight of her goals, and is living proof that anyone can overcome any obstacle that they may be faced with. Maggie’s dream was to be a professional fighter; it was a dream most girls do not share, but it was her passion. She began attending a gym owned by fighter trainer, Frankie Dunn. Dunn was well renowned in the world of fighting for his style and persistence and had brought many men into the ring with promise of a national title, but wanted nothing to do with a woman fighter. Maggie

Through recording the lives of female competitors contending in non-conventional games for their sex, the motion pictures Girl Fight and Pumping Iron II uncover certain social and social expenses and advantages of sexual orientation standard resistance. Young lady battle depicts the game of boxing as the hero for a confounded, misconstrued and very irate adolescent who is spiraling down a way of self-annihilation. Diana Guzman, the hero of the film, discovers train, sense of pride, adjust and love in the most unforeseen of spots the boxing ring.

The film, Million Dollar Baby, released in 2004, revolves around an obstinate woman’s quest to become a professional boxer. The film digresses from other sports movies due to the portrayal of female athleticism, supremacy and a certain type of woman who scarcely exhibits typical feminine attributes and is depicted in a light that is more relatable to masculine personas. She has been placed into the male dominated genre of boxing films, a mass-media platform that has been largely resistant towards sports films featuring a female protagonist.

Gender roles are changing everyday and it all depends were and the views you were raised with. Every parent want their kid to be successful, so they will help them with what they need in order for them to achieve their goal. They also will teach them morals and how a woman or a man should act and what society is expecting from them. The majority of young adults will do as thought and some will be great full for the knowledge passed by their parents but will make their own future no matter what society demands from them. Men are raised to be the providers of the family and females are the one’s that stay home and take care of the kids. These roles apply for some, however this is changing drastically to the point that males are the stay at home

Historically, women were expected to be at home and for men to work. Ultimately, it was seen that a woman's role was to gather berries and food and men were to hunt. Since women were needed to stay near the home to cook, care for the home, and children. Gender roles are not static, but may change over time as the society changes and is reshaped by factors such as globalization, new technologies, environmental pressures, conflicts, health epidemics, and the rise of religious fundamentalism (Ingoldsby & Smith, 2006,p.333). Globalization has helped create a global platform for women’s equality. There has been numerous efforts made around the world to help women’s status. The change can come from deliberate efforts by governments and other change,

Sometimes in our society, gender roles can take over and kids are subconsciously learning that boys and girls must act a certain way, be interested in certain things, and be “masculine” or “feminine.” It’s degrading. Our whole life gender roles are socially constructed as we grow up, but such thoughts become such a norm that it seems to be biologically constructed. In different periods of time gender roles may have been worse or better, or even in some different cultures.