Should Sports Initiatives Be A Great Way? Empower Females?

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

Traditionally women were viewed as equipped to participate in sports, and their involvement was viewed as unfeminine and undesirable. This Article Examples the women were viewed as unfeminine to the sports that men play and undesirable. Young girls who are given an early opportunity to participate in sports may be more prepared for the male in classrooms. Even though women have often been relegated to second-hand citizenship in the same socializing, integration, statues, and recognition that benefit male athletes. (By; Sandra L. Hanson)

Women have struggled for more than two centuries to be taken serious as professionals. There should not be a double standard in sports especially if it is loved and played by both genders. Over the years, females have competed against the stereotype of being too fragile both mentally and physically to play strenuous sports. The passion and work ethic of the female professional athletes is just as strong as the males and everyone should be treated equal and be able to have a chance at making a better living for themselves as well as their family. One area that still faces a continual struggle in sports is gender equality. Female

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.

When speaking of women’s sports, men’s sports, media coverage and sponsorships, many will think of sports leagues where things are very similar for both genders like the NBA and WNBA. Basketball is the one sport where things are

Women have always had less involvement in sport than men. There may be reasons as to why women have less involvement. They may stop playing sport to focus on other thing like having children or a family. Women with family may also find it difficult due to a lack of money and time. These barriers can occur at any level of sports continuum from someone who may just want to exercise to keep fit (participation stage) but feels they can’t as the only classes available to them are mixed sex classes which they are not comfortable with. Other example, of the barriers to women may be that at the performance or excellence stage lack sponsorship, media coverage and government funding in women’s sport. This in turn means that women are unable to continue sport as a career and are limited to the level they are able to achieve as they can’t live by only playing sports and must get a job. There has been a large improvement in the amount of women involved in sport since scheme and government funded activities have been put in place to increase numbers of women’s only classes, competitive clubs and female teams in traditional male sport such as rugby, football and

The purpose of this research is to bring attention to the lack of women’s sports coverage in the media and show how male sports have taken priority over women’s sports.

Professional women athletes still have lower coverage even when compared to the media portrayed for college male athletes. Men do acquire to a greater crowd with regards to live amusements, yet how are individuals expected to support women if their reputation, schedule, track record, and so on isn't being advertised or promoted as much as men's? The media scope has been a colossal factor with reference to why ladies sports are not seen or upheld as much as guys may be. The absence of media scope in ladies sports has expanded disparity in sports amongst men and ladies, and make ladies appear to be "weaker", or "slower" than the recreations played by men (Pexton, 2011). Women appear to be viewed as substandard compared to men, even in games, and this can definitely change in view of how the media depicts women from now on to our

When a person of a specific gender enters a non-traditional sport for their gender/sex, many social and moral issues will arise challenging that person involved in that particular sport. The intentions of the individual will be questioned as well as their personal interest in the sport. Before any of these questions are asked, there must be a redefinition of gender roles, femininity, and masculinity. In order for a person to enter a non-traditional sport for their gender/sex without being criticize about gender morality, society must set flexible definitions for femininity and masculinity.

Over the course of time, sports have come to signify masculinity; athletics such as football and basketball easily having come to deem where one fits in terms of societal norms regarding gendered bodies. One could argue that sports, in a modern context, have come to be synonymous with the idea of athletic and/or muscular bodies, which are those that are not regarded as the bodies of ideologically feminine ones given the intense and high pressure nature. In “Sports and Male Domination: The Female Athlete as Contested Ideological Terrain” written by Michael A. Messner in 1988 sheds light on the idea that traditional images of femininity have come to solidify male privilege through the construction and naturalization of gendered characteristics regarding women such as weakness, fragility and dependency .

“Women who play men’s sport have constantly to negotiate their status in traditional cultural contexts of men’s power and privilege, and in a general discourse of femininity, patriarchy and compulsory heterosexuality” (Craig & Beedie, 2008).

This study reveals much about the attitudes that persist in society today regarding sport and gender. Early on, sport was created to serve men, evolving as a celebration of maleness, valuing strength, power, and competition. It idealized, promoted, and rewarded successful, elite athletes, established “the dream” as a professional career in sports, and viewed mass participation in sport as a tool to weed out the weak (Hill, 1993). In contrast, women’s sports originated to “address the expressed need for healthful exercise” (Huckaby, 1994). Unlike the competitive warrior mode

Females generally are at risk of not benefiting from sports because of a lack of participation (Crouter, 2011). Women are deprived because of inequitable access to sports facilities and limited opportunities to participate in sports (Bailey et al 2005). There is limited support in terms of funding and media coverage for womens’ sport (Parliamentary Committee Council of Europe, 2005). Media support for men’s sport is greater than for women’s sport. This situation tends to undermine women participating in sports (Duncan and Hasbrook 1988). Alongside dealing with problems related to stereotyping, women athletes can expect less financial reward than their male counterparts - there are pay inequities (WFS 2011) and extremely unequal funding (Women 's Sports Foundation 2011). Liang (2011) argued that due to socialization, parents seek out male coaches for their daughters because of a general belief in the superiority of male knowledge in sports. Theberge (2000) suggests excellence in sports has been narrowly defined in terms that generally suit male athletes and hence, the perpetuation of male authority (Watson 1993; Messner 1994). Due to the nature of socialization and stereotyping, it seems that women equally hold to the belief that men know more about sports (Burke 2001). The notion that women face challenges because sports is predominantly a man’s world is supported by Woodward’s (2008) experience of not being welcome in the boxing gym because she was a

During this century women have been able to break out of the traditional female mold. Women have broken the chains that bond them to the home and have emerged into all sorts of male dominated arenas, including sports. Women have become athletes in their own right. In the last ten years there has been validation for the female athlete. The WNBA was created giving women a professional league in a mainstream traditionally male sport for the first time since the All American Girls Professional Baseball League went out of existence in the 1950s. And recently a woman made the cut and participated on the professional golf circuit with the men. Today, we see women athletes in the media regularly. Women's college basketball is given airtime on weekends just as men's is.

Similarly women are receiving less attention and media coverage than men. When someone puts on the television and turns on a sports game, it is most likely going to be a men’s sport. Even when females get their coverage, the commentators are usually talking about their body rather than their skill. In an article, “Examination of Gender Equality and Female Participation in Sport” by Joshua A. Senne, he talks about how women are referred by their appearance rather than their skill. During a study about the media, the commentators mostly talked about the women’s hair, make-up, and body figure, rather than their ability. This also occurred after the 1996 summer Olympics, where there was a lack of promotion for female athletes and the marketing of women’s sports. These athletes were also only recognized by their physical appearance instead of their ability. The tone of these broadcasters was proved in a study that men 's events were the standard in the society rather than the women’s. They would list the event as “other” rather than saying it is a women’s sport. In the study that was conducted, it states that the gender marketing showed that the woman sports were marked as “other” on an average of 27.5 times, but it 's never happened in the men’s sporting events (Senne). There is still coverage of women 's sports, but it rarely covered. The title IX project made a pie chart about the comparison of men’s and women’s sports media coverage on the show SportsCenter on