Sexism in Sports Essay

Recreation and sport is historically known as a manly practice all around the world. Sport is typically associated with males that have led to the stereotype of sport equaling masculinity (Obenour, 2002, p. 2). A lot has changed when it comes to gender roles but it seems still to this day that women have less power than men, this is noticeable in recreation and sport in the 21st century. There has been a decrease in athletic leadership positions at the youth and college levels occupied by women ever since Title IX was passed in 1972. Research shows that female coaches has decreased by 48% and is still decreasing at a rapid rate (Blom, 2011, p. 54).

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, however, are perceived by society as the gentler sex. Women are thought of as nurturers, mothers, daughters, but they are not thought of as being physically strong or physically capable of being strong. Once women began to enter the sports world, their coaches and spectators had different standards for them. They were expected to look feminine, to wear feminine uniforms, and to compete against each other but to have no physical contact with other players. The fact is that when women first began to play sports they were still something to be objectified. They were something to survey, and they had to be pleasing to the eye (men's eyes). "I want foxes, not oxes" (Ed Temple, Tennessee State 1952). This statement reinforces society's expectations regarding not only the ways women are supposed to look as they are engaged in a sport but it also gives credibility to the type of sports women are traditionally allowed to play.

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.

Girls seeing women dripping in sweat, getting gritty, putting all their heart into winning, and fighting to the last buzzer disproves all they were taught what a girl should be. Watching a team of women working together for a common girl dispels this idea that girls are each other's competition Even after the game when the women treat each other with respect disproves that idea. The lack of female representation in sports is a problem; creating more professional sports for women is a solution. Professional sports create an interest in that sport because it creates a job for the players. Another way for more representation in sports is to show women playing in the sports.

By turning women away from playing certain sports, we are influenced to believe that they are not as qualified to play, compared to men. (Creedon, 1994). Ironically, women on the field seem to have to act tougher than the men. If an

Discrimination against females is not a new concept in the athletic world, but it’s definitely disappointing when we are in an era of change. Sadly, the media seems to be the only thing powerful enough to refine the idea of women in sports and lately it hasn’t been doing a good job. Conducting a quick online search, I compared Sports Illustrated covers between men and women and the results weren’t surprising. Women were sexually exploited while men were in their uniform playing their sport. I also searched for the latest sports news on ESPN’s website. The only section referring to women’s sport was “Women’s College Basketball” and only had two articles. Looking at Women’s Sport Report, I was honestly flabbergasted at the images and articles

Gender discrimination in the sports industry has always been a controversial topic. Gender equality in sports has come a long way. Like when UNESCO recognized sports and physical activity as a human right in 1978. Discrimination is defined as unjust treatment of different categories of people or things. Discrimination towards people has been around for a long time and it's affecting the entire world and has taken large steps towards being demolished. These large steps have been taken to make the world a better place and a lot of these discriminations have gotten smaller over time, but many of these are still seen in everyday life, unfortunately. Discrimination against females has been a constant battle due to the world being extremely male dominant. Women have had to fight against discrimination for many things, such as freedom of speech, the right to vote, and equal rights to work. Women were expected to be stay at home parents, taking care of the cleaning and housekeeping, and raising the kids, and were not allowed to be on the workforce, do things they enjoy, or even get a little freedom. Female discrimination in sports is a common issue all around the world, women are seen as not as good as males, equality in sports is unequal, and the amount of pay and media coverage is different for each sport and gender. We believe in making sure that women have the equal opportunity to enjoy the benefits of sports by tackling sexism in sports at all levels. This includes challenging

Any sports fan will admit that he or she watches more men’s sports than women’s. When asked why, one may answer that men are stronger, faster, and more athletic or the game is more entertaining when men are participating instead of women. Also, men are more interested in sports than women. Therefore, a man is more likely to watch men perform than women.

Women may be equal to men now under law, but they definitely aren’t equal in the sports world. Women have overcome so many things, like the right to vote on August 18th 1920, the right to be CEO’s of large corporations, and to be both collegiate and professional athletes. Women are capable of doing anything a man can do, but they aren’t viewed that way in the sports world.In the journal, The Inequality of Sport the author statess “the light in which women are portrayed is much dimmer thant he one shining upon men in profesional and collegiate sports.”(Hanson 2012) This quote really spoke to me. Men are always in the spotlight when it comes to athletics and partly I believe that media is to blame for that. I am as guilty as the next person at

Gender is defined as an ongoing cultural process that socially constructs differences between men and women. This day in age, men still have more privileges than women do. Men have more wealth and power, many role-models are males, and women are seen as child raisers. Dr. Jack C. Watson says that women in sports face such things as “social

Sports activities are an overly sexualized industry and as a result, there have been many inequalities between the two genders. In the sports society amongst the two gender there are many issues: pay differences, promotion issues, and professional injustices. Society has evolved to believe that men should be muscular and play contact sports, while women should participate in less physically demanding sports and wear revealing attire. Women’s sports like women’s basketball, softball, and bodybuilding are not taken as seriously as men’s sports, which ultimately results in many women being overlooked when it comes to their athletic capabilities. Also, women are often used in advertisements to sell sport affiliated merchandise.

Women in sports are portrayed as unskilled if they lose or there is an outside reason for their win, yet this is not the case. This image of women only being good at sports for a physical or outside reason is slowly changing but an extremely slow rate. Today, ladies and gentleman, I will explain to you how the media is slowly starting to properly portray women in sports. Originally this issue was fixed but it slowly becoming fluid as the media is starting to accept the truth about female sports players. My two points of evidence for tonight is an article from the Courier mail and a Samsung phone ad. These two media ads clearly show the slow rate in how accurate female sports players are being portrayed.

Throughout the decades, women have been tossed away and not been allowed to do so many things in their life, that men have been allowed to do. For example, decades ago, women were never allowed to hunt, be seperate from their husbands, or even play sports til the 1900’s. Their only job was to sit home and care for the kids while the men did all the dirty work. Sexism in sports is a wide-ranged topic that many people have ignored for most of their lives. It is clear that women in sports have been discriminated against throughout the globe, which is evidence dthrough sports history, payment of female athletes, and media representation.

The growth of women’s sports has been shown by the creation of various professional sports leagues for women including the WNBA, and the LPGA. In addition, because of the change of equal representation in women’s sports, more female athletes have begun to participate in sports compared to those of the past. This is supported by a study done by the NCAA from 1970-2001, where female participation in athletics was shown to increase by 847% (O'Reilly ¬340). The large increase of female participation in athletics seems to be related to the rapid growth of many professional women’s sports leagues, and the increased coverage and representation of women athletes in the world of sports. In addition, women have started to completely change how they are viewed in the sports world by participating in male dominated sports. This shows how women have considerably changed how they are viewed in the sporting world, by challenging stereotypes against them. With the evolution of gender roles in our society, we have started to see women participate in certain sports that were at one time only associated with one gender. The definition of a female athlete has also changed. Women athletes today are not only seen in a feminine manner, but also as a more emotional and physically empowered individual that younger athletes can look up to. Looking into future, women’s sports look to