Should Women be Allowed to Play Sports With Men?
When a person thinks about professional sports, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Is it baseball, football, basketball, or soccer ? These sports all have one thing in common, this is, that all are predominantly played by a single gender, males. In the world of sports, it all started off with only men allowed to play sports. In 1972, a law called Title IX passed, which allowed women to play sports, but not with men. Today the question is, should women be allowed to play sports on the same team as men? Some argue that men are naturally stronger and taller than women and they would dominate sports. Others may believe that if a woman is willing and has the ability to play on an “all boys” team, she should not be refused the chance to play for that team. By looking at statistics, real life stories, and other relevant information, women should be able to play sports with men.
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Because this is true, women should be allowed to play sports with men. Many people think that if women play against the opposite gender, they have a higher risk of getting injured, but even if women play against other women, they will still get hurt. Both male and female players are equally able to play all sports. “0.4% of the total commercial investment in sports go to women's sports” (Irvine). This shows how men's sports are “more important” to the peoples’ eyes than women's sports, but this is not true. Americans all have basic rights of freedom and to be treated equally. With that, equality should be the same, even in
Throughout history, woman have been fighting for equality with men. This fight isn’t over and doesn’t stop with the right to vote or the right to wear pants. The progressive movements of feminism are starting to creep into younger generations, including, but not limited to young girls wanting to play on predominantly male-dominated sport teams. There are a lot of controversies when looking at this topic, saying there’s a natural strength advantage, it would be uncomfortable for a male to compete alongside females, among other reasons but ultimately, if the drive and effort is present, there are legal rights and no legitimate reason for woman to not be given the opportunity to prove themselves and normalize the incorporation of females to male sports.
Women can be just as good as men in sports, they just have to work a little bit harder because of the obstacles presented to them. Also, women’s inclusion in male dominated sports like major league baseball have nothing to do with their performance but with sexism. In 1931, a 17 year old girl by the name of Jackie Mitchell struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in the same day. A few days later her contract was voided with the excuse that women were too delicate to play. If little boys and girls played in coed sports from the beginning other than a few choice teams in elementary school there would be
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
Sports is a powerful force in society today. People of all ages and both sexes watch and participate in different sports in increasing numbers. Equal opportunity to participate in sports seems like a right that is natural and would be a common sense issue, but unfortunately this has not always been the case. In 1972 Congress enacted the Education Amendments of 1972, this contains Title IX which was intended to ensure that discrimination based on sex was eliminated. The area that this has had the most contentious impact is sports. Has Title IX increased women's opportunities to participate in sports during college equitably and fairly? Title IX has increased opportunities for women to participate in college sports programs
Men believe women are weak and don’t have what it takes to play a sport. Women are not weak at all the most painful feeling (child birth) women have to do not men. And without women willing to go through that pain there would be no more human race, so if they can do that we can definitely play a sport. Still women would not let men keep them down, in the 1800’s and the 1900’s women started to form informal athletic clubs; which help states like new york and new Orleans get popular sports like tennis, croquet bowling and archery. Even though they were forming groups they did not have any women clubs of their own. But, some men’s clubs actually let women participate in their clubs, but would not let them have full membership. Also, to all the many discriminatory women had to fight against the biggest was if they became pregnant in school. They would be sent to alternative education programs and they had no way to fight this. In the early stages of women sports they had no respect.
The first and foremost reason why girls should be able to play with boys is, most girls sports are just built off of the boys sport. Take softball for instance, it is just built off of baseball. There are only few differences in the rules. Basketball is the same for boys and girls. If girls can play the same exact sport with the same exact rules why can’t they with and against guys.
In the world of sports it started off that girls could never play sports and then in 1972 a public law called Title IX came to existence which allowed girls to play sports but not with boys. Today the question is asked should girls play on boys’ sports teams? One would think that girls should not play with boys on a sports team because boys are just naturally taller and stronger than women and they would dominate the girls in a fully contact sport. Another may think that if a girl is truly capable to play on an all boys’ sports team, then she should not be denied the opportunity to try out for an all boys’ team. Some other people may believe that sports at younger ages should remain co-ed because boys and girls body types are still
Through the movies viewed in this course this semester, we saw women who were able to play against men and still keep their femininity. Nothing is lost when playing sports not traditionally meant for a particular race or gender. Society must become more understanding when it comes to the sports different types of people play and hinder from stereotyping anyone when they participate and perform well in that sport.
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.
As a matter of fact, professional male players have much less to lose when standing up for equal pay for female athletes: They have a huge viewership, lucrative salaries, numerous sponsorships, secure contracts. In the male-dominated sports industry, if men’s teams stood up and said women deserve equal pay, equal attention, equal programming, it would only push the fight forward faster, and the sports-obsessed world would be forced to pay attention. As we saw with the women’s hockey and soccer teams, women can go it alone, but why should
Sexism limits our country. In a world where sexism still exists, women face challenges every day as they choose to embark in athletic activities. Even with the efforts of Title IX, which was established in 1972, there is not equality in sports for men and women. Sexism is real with stereotypes and discrimination on the basis of sex. Even with the high level of success reached by numerous female athletes of many different sports, male athletes always seem to have the upper hand. Whether it is pay, media, support, gear, or playing grounds, one sex always has the better of the two. Male athletes dominate a field that truly is shared by both sexes. What if we treated male athletes the way we treat female athletes? That is a world hard to imagine, and honestly, it shouldn't be. Through female athletes sharing their stories of unfair treatment and pay, sexism and generations of inequality in sports can be overcome.
Men Vs. Women in Professional Sports Ever since the ancient Greece, men have held athletic competitions or sports. It is only in modern times that women have had an opportunity to compete. Most sports still don’t have men and women directly competing against one another. In the past athletic instructors adapted the rules to make sports less physically taxing for women. For instance in basketball, to ensure that girls maintain proper decorum, they were forbidden from snatching the ball and dribbling it more than three times in row. Females would not be considered strong enough to play a full-court basketball game until 1971. Women have struggled to be taken seriously as athletes for more than two centuries.
How is it fair that a men’s college basketball team is able to be transported on planes and dine on steak, while a women’s team from the same college, travels in a van and eats fast food? It’s not, but this occurs often nowadays even with laws passed preventing this type of discrimination. In 1972, Congress passed Title IX, which prohibits discrimination against girls and women in federally funded education, including athletic programs (Kiernan 3). Many schools and colleges have not been able to comply with the Title IX standards mostly because of money. Some of the problems in high schools and colleges consist of insufficient scholarships for girls, not enough coaching jobs, a lack of equipment, and a limited amount of supplies. Not only
People might still say that the segregation of genders in sports are making gender equality impossible, but the separation of genders in sports is not because one gender is better than the other. It is to ensure the fairness and equality. Women and men are naturally built differently and they both are both truly strong but in different ways. In order to keep sports fair, just and equal, the best thing to do is to keep sports separated by
Women have always been the minority in the world even today: that is in the work force or even in sports. Title IX, an act that was made by the United States Congress in 1972, said that no one should be denied to play, receive financial aid, or discriminate to any education program or activity that pertains to only one sex (Senne 1). This act was a step towards improving female participation and lessening discrimination, but the stereotypes that most of society believes in still exist. This is one of the main reasons why women are discriminated when it comes to sports; by limited payroll, limited media coverage, and stereotypes.