Inequality In Sport

Throughout the years, gender roles between men and women have evolved immensely. The women who were once seen as incapable of competing alongside men, are beginning to transform this stereotype and decrease the gap within genders in sports. In the past, men have had advantages over women within sports such as, more media exposure and a larger following, but female athletes are changing that. In a world led by mostly male figures, women have gained momentum in proving the feminine stereotypes wrong by calling for an even playing field for

Firstly gender has a marked effect on Australian sports playing and spectating. At the very start of the century woman played few sports because sports were too physically demanding for the body. The widespread acceptance of medicalised perspectives on female bodies served to limit female sporting involvement for a very long time. International Review for the sociology of sport 50 (4-5)pp.430-436. In todays society, there is still continuous inequality throughout the sporting industry amongst athletes and sporting teams. With sport being a strong influence, there are many ongoing consistencies.

The media should not only report on men’s sports, but women’s sports, too. This way people would be more interested in women's sports, and they would gain popularity. Women need to be talked about more to gain popularity. The opposing side would argue that men should be paid more than women in sports. It has been stated in the article “Chasing Equity: The Triumphs, Challenges, and Opportunities in Sports for Girls and Women” that, “We have noticed in past studies that while a women’s sports story rarely if ever appears when the sport is out of season, stories on the men’s Big Three appear regularly, both when the sport is in-season and when it is out of season”(Staurowsky para 23).

The first reason that female and male athletes should be getting paid the same amount is because gender equality laws call for this. An example of a law that states males and females should be getting paid the same amount is the Equal Pay Act of 1963. This law states that an employer shall not discriminate “between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such establishment for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility” (United States). Even though professional athletes are not working for the

One may argue that women do no not play as much as men in matches, therefore they shouldn’t be earning as much. For example, women in professional tennis generally play less than their male counterparts; this is especially true in the Grand Slams because women only have to play best two out of three sets to win a match whereas the men have to play best three out of five sets in order to progress

as male athletes, they receive the same amount of pay, and when the females saw

Over the years there has been several reasons why people argued the point of whether women should be allowed to participate in sports. Society used the excuse that women are weaker than men resulting in the conclusion that women could not handle the competitive atmosphere that playing a sport brings. Another reasoning was that past cultures and religion did not allow women to be involved in activities other than the normal womanly duties. This unjust nature of believing that women are less than men or that men are superior just because is not acceptable and should not be tolerated. As Sandra Coney says in an article, “New Zealand has been called a man’s country. Sporting contest have been a male proving ground and a source of identity and pride” (Coney). This quote proves that it is not just one area or one country where the male species is the higher of the two genders, it is a worldwide issue. Although some may think women should not be involved in sports, many disagree and believe that the involvement of women in sports can benefit society.

In other words, men are the default in sport and women are “othered.” While women have been, and continue to be, disadvantaged by sport media, a newer gender issue has been given more attention in recent years. As the typically restrictive categories

Ladies' games are generally overlooked by the standard games media. The media channels the data and experience that the group of onlookers see. At the point when out comes to sports the media concentrates on three things which are: Information, excitement and translation. In nations like Canada media frequently presents to us certain determination of games that they feel is fascinating to us keeping in mind the end goal to make benefit. scope in the media regularly inclines toward men over

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.

While, in professional sports, the pay gap is much wider. The women can earn just a fraction of what the men make (Master of Science in Sport Management Online). In just about every sport the average income for a woman is much less than the men. The average NBA salary is $4,500,000, the average for the WNBA is $72,000 (Master of Science in Sport Management Online). There also is a huge discrepancy in golf. The average male income is $973,000 and the average woman income is $162,000 (Master of Science in Sport Management Online). The difference in the top two earners have a huge gap. If they both are at the top of the females and the men then there should be no

Women first started taking great strides in professional sports during World War II. When the male professional baseball players went off to war, a group of team owners started a professional league for woman (the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League). This league turned out to be successful. After the men came back from war, however the woman’s league could no longer sustain itself financially and had to shut down. Over the past twenty years, however there have been more and more professional women sports leagues opening and prospering. One such league is the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association), while the league opened being financially backed by the male league (NBA) over its first five years it has become a financial success with high profits and good TV ratings on major and cable networks. Some woman’s leagues even become just as or ever more successful that there male counterparts. An example of such a league in the women’s professional tennis tour which lately has had better television ratings and draws more fans than its male counterpart. In 2001 for the first time, ever the woman’s Final at the US Open Tennis Championship (the tours most prestigious played in the United States) was broadcast on a major television network (NBC) in primetime (8pm). Media coverage of women's sports is considered important because it increases the level of

Media has also significantly impacted the slow progress female sports and athletes have been making, as they focus mainly on male dominated sports and athletes. Female sports tend not to get much media coverage due to the lack of interest from viewers; on the other hand, they do nothing to assist in increasing female sport ratings by showing ads or promoting these sports. It would appear that the media tends to exploit female athletes by inviting them to do photo shoots for the covers of Sports Illustrated magazines, which has helped to boost sales. Organizers of competitions and owners of female teams have also realized that by exploiting women - providing them with uniforms that are attractive to men - popularity female played sports increase.

Men throughout history have been the dominant gender, from the times of hunting with stone weapons to the modern day metal and automated machines. Many negative connotations are thought of when comparing women to men like strength, but less so when comparing men to women. Is it the society’s view that women are weaker than men or is it a natural fact brought to light? In sports women experience many prejudices, but even so some sports are equal or even female dominant. However the sheer majority lie in the male dominated section leaving women feeling oppressed and as if they have unequal rights, and they mostly do. Some instances of women oppression or unequal rights in sport belong to the sponsorships they receive, the effect media plays on children and women and also the history of sport and of gender inequality itself. The physical make up of each gender also effects stereotyping and how people perceive each gender.

With the rise of feminism, gender inequality has been quite the topic in todays time. With the wanting of equal rights and treatment it has been pointed out as per which all places males have the hegemonic overview and women are the oppressed; one of the areas where its unequal in gender is in sport. This paper will examine and break down the issues regarding sex and gender biases within sports in modern day media and how it can be resolved.