Gender Stereotypes Opinions Regarding Gender Segregation In Sports

An on going issue facing education today is the growing controversial topic of gender equality in sports participation and it’s so call quota for achieving equality. The most notable action that has taken place as women continue to strive towards equality in the athletic realm is what is known as, Title IX. The basic ideas underlying Title IX are that “if an institution sponsors an athletics program, it must provide equal athletic opportunities for members of both sexes.” (Yoshida p.3) Simply put, Title IX attempts to achieve “equality” of funding for male and female athletes. The problem with this idea of complete “equality” is that no one agrees as to what

Although some movements are being made to try and help this issue, such as Title IX, stating that no gender should be discluded from any education program or activity, helping sexism in youth, high school, and college sports, it is not being enforced strongly, not making many changes to some of the still standing issues in the sports world today.

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.

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

Society has largely ignored and discriminated against female athletes. For a long time society portrayed female athletes as masculine, butch, and homosexual which has influenced the amount of women that choose to participate and excel in athletics. After noticing these problems, feminists attempted to reverse these trends and produce better opportunities for female athletes. By advocating for equal rights as well as pushing for legislation, they enabled women to use sports to improve their health, create new identities, and venture into male-dominated areas (Prakash, 1990). Because of this, Title IX was introduced to the world of sport. Title IX states that no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program

Within 40 years of being introduced, girls participating in sports raised from 294,000 to over three million (Paige). With the focus being on the success Title IX had in sports, many people forgot the basic principles that Title IX was found on.The ten key areas of Title IX were: access to higher education, career education, education for pregnant and parenting students, employment, learning environment, math and science, sexual harassment, standardized testing and technology(“history”). With more and more women being admitted into colleges and universities, women began to observe their own athletic talent and began to branch out of just obtaining an education to being successful in the sports world. Many of the professional women athletes that are around today credit Title IX for providing the opportunity for all women to participate in further education and athletics. With the introduction of Title IX came the rising of feminine groups supporting and pushing for more rights. Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a senior advisor for the Women’s Sports foundation talked about how much positive feedback she 's had "from parents, coaches, girls and women, and each one is telling me a different story of discrimination against female athletes. This is 2012, and I 'm still getting hundreds of these calls. For people to say we don 't need Title IX anymore, I completely disagree. We need Title IX more than ever” (Brennan).

From the time I was young, the other children who surrounded me were all boys. I had two brothers and four cousins who were males. Due to the fact that our family was very close, we spent a lot of time together. More weekends than I can remember were spent at my grandmother’s house as a family. As a result of my surroundings, I was not into the typical “girl” things. Some things that would be seen as appropriate for girls my age were dolls, makeup, and tea parties, however, I was more into sports. Football was one sport in particular, that I engaged in because of the boys in my family. Many might agree that football is all for the boys, but I was about to challenge that gender stereotype.

With being involved in several sports at home it was a big interest to me to learn and be around Australian sports. Though the States and here have some popular sports in common, Australia has a few that aren’t common back in the states like Rugby, Cricket, and AFL, which are very popular sports. Sports might seem like an easy topic but underneath there are several things that cause controversy, like national identity, sexism, and racism. When someone asks what demographics make you think of Australia you may hear many say beaches, tan surfers, and kangaroos.

On Sunday, I listened to ESPN Radio on the Internet. The host was Max Bretos, who has been working as a studio anchor for ESPN since 2010. He is the premier voice for soccer on ESPN and before joining ESPN, he worked for the Fox Soccer Channel. The show started with some updates about college basketball games and baseball scores. Also, I learned that Lebron James missed a game because his coach decided to give him the night off. A major topic of discussion was Steph Curry. As a Curry fan myself, it was amusing to hear the host talking about he dropped 46 points the other night, including a buzzer beater three-pointer. Apparently, players from other teams in the NBA are tweeting about how spectacular Curry has been playing. There was a call-in section of the show for people to state their opinions about

Title IX consists of just thirty-seven words, and it is these words that have transformed the dynamics within the female athletic sphere in the United States. Although the federal law was initially envisioned to assist women in academia, it is currently renowned for its profound impact on American sports (Ware). It is an irrefutable fact that Title IX has vastly increased women’s participation in sports: the law has reportedly increased female participation rates within colleges six-fold from 1972—the year it was passed—to today (Cooky). Opportunities for women in sports have never been greater. However, despite the progress made by Title IX, it faces deep challenges in its quest to achieve true equality. Women’s participation rates in sports still lag far behind men, and one cannot ignore this disturbing reality (“National Coalition”). Thus, the question as to whether or not Title IX has achieved gender equity is highly debatable. This paper intends to understand the shortcomings of Title IX’s goal in attaining true equality through analysis of its limitations. Specifically, this essay will explore women’s history in sports prior to Title IX, the importance of sports for females, an overview of Title IX’s statute, and an analysis of the law’s various issues. To narrow the scope of my essay, I will focus mainly on intercollegiate sports.

Teamwork, stereotypes and discrimination, and power are all demonstrated through co-ed sports, teams, and recreational events. Co-ed sports, teams, and recreational events teach youth about equality, class, power, and teamwork. Teamwork is taught through co-ed sports through communication, building teamwork with one another, and different genders. By learning these skills at young age children are able to develop on these essential skills that will be used later on in life as well. Furthermore, stereotypes and discrimination would reduce with co-ed sports because different genders, class, races, and ethnicity would be participating in the same sports, teams, and recreational events. This includes the reinforcement of the Charter of rights law

Title IX is a piece of legislation included in the Education Amendments 1972 that requires schools that receive federal funds to provide girls and women with equal opportunity to compete in sports. So, fast forward into the early twenty first century, a lot of things have changed and notably in the way people think. However, things have not changed so much in the sports industry. In fact, some people still mock the idea that sports should have no gender boundaries, even though certain women have obviously succeeded at proving the industry and society wrong. Female athletes like, Lea-Ann Ellison, and Jen Welter have done an exceptional job, but the odds remain that they will still face

Furthermore, along with the mass media comes the stereotypes that have been constructed in sport. Along with the physical appearance that athletes strive for, they are defined by their capability to accomplish bodily. In Alyson Jones article, she illuminates that for adolescent athletes, it is seen that popularity and successes comes from having a good, ideal body (2014, ¶ 3). The pressure to be “fit” and successful for girls is often to be skinny. As for males, there is pressure that they should be “ripped” with defined muscles. These stereotypes that our youth are learning can be negative outlooks and patterns of performance. Major psychological struggles can occur in adolescents continue to believe that they must look this certain way to

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 states, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” The impact of Title IX on the lives of so many girls is immeasurable. It has created opportunities for women, where opportunities did not use to exist. Unfortunately, it has not completely eradicated sexism. Women in many professional sports, which are also played by

With the passage of Title IX in 1972, the participation rates of women increased so dramatically women now have more opportunity in individual sports such as: a) tennis, b) golf, c) bowling, d) ice skating and e) track (Eitzen, 261). African American women are also benefitting because schools that are now receiving federal funds which are being asked to provide equal opportunities for women and men (Eitzen, p261). This federal statute was enacted due to the response of the overwhelming evidence of the widespread of discrimination against women at all levels of life and in educational pursuits based solely off of their gender (Cordobia, 145).