The Barriers Preventing Female Participation

Another barrier which women could face at performance level would be social barriers, again like in both previous levels because of the masculine nature of the sport, therefore women who are playing may come under scrutiny for playing in a male dominated sport, which as a consequence may force them to quit as some of their friends may criticize them for it.

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 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

Australia is widely regarded as both characterised and united by sport. Sport has an elevated place in Australia's official and popular national culture, and the country’s reputation for being a 'paradise of sport' has become a largely unquestioned aspect of the Australian way of life. Gender is a social construct that outlines the roles, behaviours, characteristics and actions that a specific society deems appropriate for men and women (WHO, 2014). The established relationship between gender equality and sport is a widely regarded issue in not only Australia, but all around the world. Gender equality is achieved when women and men enjoy the same rights and opportunities across all sectors of society, including sport and physical recreation

Across all areas of society increasing gender equality has become an important and popular topic. Many industries are taking action to help create equal opportunities for both men and women, although Myers and Doherty (2007) suggest there is ,“ A considerable amount of work still to be done to achieve equality for women in sport” (p.323). Placing emphasis on the role of sport and societal issues Mulholland (2012) claims, “Sport is a viable tool for addressing gender inequality and empowering girls and women.” (p.17). The inequality of male to female participation is especially present in snowboarding, as stated by the Women’s Snowboard Federation, “Female participation rates in snowboarding are significantly lower than the distribution of the general population” (Women’s Snowboard Federation). This paper will discuss the Canadian snowboard industry, and why it is important for their organization to reach out into the Canadian sport community and increase the number of female participants. Although the Canadian snowboard industry is predominantly male, the current changing tone of this male dominated industry presents an ideal opportunity to make changes effectively and efficiently to pursue gender equal opportunities and in the distribution of programming. Coakely (2009) claims that sport is a socially constructed institution that changes according to cultural context; affects other realms of our culture like

Woman’s sustained involvement in ‘male’ team sports has only occurred relatively recently. Woman’s participation in sport has been blunted by

It is expected that women were not very involved in athletics due to their domestic responsibilities, but as time progressed, more women stepped out of their separate spheres to pursue opportunities that were thought to be “masculine.” The Olympic Games was crucial to the emergence of women participation in societal events since it broke the social barriers that prevented them from gaining equality. Although the first modern Olympic Games only allowed male

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 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.

According to Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in [the] Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” Because of the establishment of this international document, much progression toward the equality of rights for all with inherited and acquired traits has been achieved over time. In particular, gender equality has made a great deal of headway since the Olympic Games in ancient Greece. Even though this may be the case, there is no doubt that female athletes are far from considered equal as compared to male athletes in modern sports. In today’s sports society, women athletes are still discriminated against based on lower salaries, less media coverage, and lack of opportunity.

The adverse topic of women in sports stems from society's disregard to viewing women as persons. Women were, and in other parts of the world continue to be viewed as property of men and have no significant role in society. Being allowed into the Olympics was a step in the right direction for women across the world, but it was meager attempt equality. Women were still restricted by what events they were allowed to compete in, how they were trained and coached and even limited as to what they could wear. A woman’s femininity played a large role in the way they were perceived by society; weak. Women were seen as incommensurate to men and it was something that has taken us centuries to reverse. Today, women are given the rights we should have

“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).

In the last one hundred years women have made tremendous inroads in many facets of life. Of that there can be little doubt. Women may now hold jobs, own property and participate in professional sports. Today women can compete in sports, once a vestige of male domination; there is now room for women in that arena. But even today women in sports are not portrayed in the same light as their male counterparts. To a large degree this is because of today's cultural ideal of women.

Women‘s equal participation in cooperatives is both a women‘s right and important for sustainable and people-centered development. If cooperatives are gender-responsive and inclusive, they can help women to overcome gender specific constraints to improve their self-confidence, knowledge, leadership skills, income, and access to agricultural inputs, social networks, and position in value-chains. When women are more economically and socially empowered, evidence shows that there are direct and positive impact on women‘s household and community decision-making power and on access to and control over productive assets. These changes lead to improved household nutrition, food and income security, broader development outcomes, and a more integrated production of both food and cash crops (Qui-sumbing, 2003; FAO, 2011; CSA and ICF International, 2012).

Sport England (2017) suggests that around 2 million fewer woman than men are doing a regular sport, a significant different on the number of sport participants. They may excuse on the lack of time,