King Highland Stables: A Short Story

Across the world, society holds men and women to different standards. There are precise gender roles and stereotypes that are well established. In the western world, women are supposed to be nurturers, cleaners, and the chef. Whereas men are perceived as strong, independent, and athletic. When these social norms are broken, it is not uncommon for specific labels to be given, such as being called a lesbian. Over the past few centuries, these stereotypes and gender roles have been challenged by many women and feminists. An area where these stereotypes and gender roles have been under scrutiny and analyzed is in the world of sport and physical activities. However, traditional female stereotypes continue to conquer. Gender inequality has accomplished small victories but is still an enormous part of sports which is evident through the little recognition received for competitions along with the difference between men’s and women’s professional level of sport, being looked at as attractive instead of being talented, and the very few female coaches. Eventually, there is hope that the sports world will not be considered the masculine domain, and there will no longer be a legacy of bias against the female athlete.

In the work of Elaine Bine and Diane Taub, who discuss the deviance of women in professional sport, they claim that this poor judgement is

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.

Many people have written articles about their experience with athletics, especially with high school and college-level athletics. Because athletics are so often intertwined with these formative moments in one’s life, as well as with normative ideals of masculinity, they are ideal contexts in which to write about gender identity. Thomas Rogers’ essay “The College Hazing that Changed My Life,” originally published on Salon.com in 2011, and Joe Mackall’s essay “Words of my Youth” both deal with athletics as a way into discussing gender identity. Although the essays are very different, they both deal with a very similar theme: how difficult it is to develop a masculine identity, particularly within a sporting context, in a world that is increasingly accepting of different gender identities.

American athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias earned more medals, broke more records, and swept more tournaments in more sports than any other athlete, male or female, in the twentieth century. Within recent years, women have made huge strides in the world of sports and athletics but are still not getting proper recognition for the time, effort, and talent these women have put into their sport. Gender equality is a major problem in athletics, Title XI, sports media, and the sexualisation of females involved in athletics shows the clear divide in gender equality amongst men’s and women’s sports.

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

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

In a time period where things are evolving and changing, the Author Cormac portrays John Grady as someone living within the old western “cowboy civilization”. Although John Grady is moving into a much progressive era, he would rather engage himself in the life of the land, cattle and that of his passion, the horses. The world John was used to is becoming more modern and although he is not blind, he is unwilling to give up the past and accept the present. Grady still embraced his desire to be a true cowboy even in his journey to Mexico he attempted to act on that philosophy but the new time and his experiences came to a fore front as he was forced to mature and to proceed through life abiding by the new rules before him.

There have been too many times to count where a horse has taught me a lesson whether it be in the saddle or on the ground. But there are a few horses that have taught me lessons that I'll never forget. Specifically, there was one mare who was named Molly she is a twenty-year-old Saddlebred that was an ex-park horse. Like most stereotypical mares, Molly was more than just challenging to get around with on the ground and in the saddle. Under saddle as soon as you put your foot in the stirrup and pressed any weight into the stirrup you better be prepared to swing your leg over and ride because she was off at the canter or a trot. There was no such thing as a flat walk, nor did you get to choose the gait you rode, it seemed every second of

While we left Independence, some of us had a problem when we just left Independence. A 59 year old grandmother of the Cline Family had gone sick somehow and the rest of the family is taking care of her and I hope that she will get well soon, I know that she is going to be okay, I wish that she won’t have anything that might kill her.

The number two on the woman’s jersey represents the idea of females being treated as second class citizens and being inferior to man. Though easy to brush off, the words printed on the trophies all represent a specific component of Gender Disparity. One award displays the phrase “Better chance of athletic scholarship”, and another contains the words “State of the art facilities”. A sharp distinction of the genders is symbolized by the words “Boys athletics” and “Girls athletics” being emphasized. Located on the hats of the athletes are the letters G and B. This also highlights the idea of a prominent wall dividing males and females that should not be crossed.

The article - ‘For Woman Own Good' by Cameron investigates sort of some freaky stipulations that are often required by some sports entities along the history. It seems like there was a big discrimination for being a sportspersons to compete in a competition, as some competitions prerequisite certain certification before qualifying a player to take part on it. It also underlined the gap within the competition itself where male competition put apart from the female competition. The writer argued that it has been unfair to make such disperse in male and female competition because the changing in capability and conditioning could not be prescribed to

In this episode of Makers, the women build on the momentum that their movement has created. This episode begins with Billie Jean King establishing a women’s tennis league, and fighting against the unequal prize money given out in tennis tournaments. Next, Billie Jean takes on a former male champion in what was known as “the battle of the sexes”. This tennis match was marketed like a heavy weight prize fight and over 30,000 people attended the match. Billie Jean won. This was a significant achievement for the women’s right movement and surely paved the way for future women athletes such as Serena Williams.

Fast forward to the 1970s; a time period where there was many controversies arising in women’s sports. In the 1970’s women were not given equal prize money as men and were considered

When you 're a female athlete victory doesn 't have the same bite ,there is a certain lackluster and supressment in winning that many female athletes can attest to.Burton Nelson defines femininity as “non competitive,non ruthless,not victorious”,female athletes can not want to win with all their “heart” and “ souls”.In her writing “I won.I’m Sorry”,she accounts for not only the grievances that she herself faced as a female in a gendered society but also ones that professional female athletes have to go through.Burton Nelson starts of her narrative with an anecdote on Sylvia Plath,a well known poet noted for committing suicide. Nelson makes use of Sylvia 's letter to her mother Aurelia Platt,her tendency to cater to men and her spelling bee contest to help keep her argument composed and clear.She uses these events to frame her ideas that women in sports aren 't’ accepted in society unless they have grace in defeat,society requiring women in sports to achieve in a emphasized feminine manner and female athletes need to catering to their male counterparts ego.