The Inaugural AFL Women's Football League

An Additional barrier that women could face at this level could be an economic one, as the players at this level will need to be fully equipped with all of the basic equipment as well as travelling costs and coaching. This is a barrier because women do not get paid as much as men in football therefore they may have to acquire

Upon analysing equity and access in sport, it is important that I am aware of what levels of the framework have influenced my sport participation. In Queensland especially, the sport of AFL comes with primarily negative connotations. These preconceived notions about the sport and the cultural have had a negative effect on my participation and approach towards the sport. Gender stereotypes have also been a deterrent in my participation. Sports, such as AFL, require participants to be competitive, courageous, powerful and strong. These qualities are largely associated with male gender stereotypes. Sport reinforces hegemonic masculinity by celebrating stereotypically masculine and activities and attributes, and restricting the behaviour of women.

Society must begin to accept the variety of sports both men and women can compete in regardless of the

Since women have been allowed to participate in sports, the global community has become a closer knit. Scholars and organizations have acknowledged this and moved their focus to helping women gain equality in several different aspects. One being the passing of title xl, which protects individuals from discrimination under any education program or activity that receives federal funding. This one action has helped shift

It is true that some men's teams have been cut due to the inability to meet the requirements of Title IX. In actuality, It is not because of Title IX, but because of low budgets and administrative decisions. An alternative would be to reduce the funds that go into publicity sports, such as football and baseball. Many argue that adding women's teams does not work. While it is true that some schools have been unsuccessful in the past, A lot of schools have managed to accomplish this. Even Marbella and Wells cite that ¨Schools such as the University of Maryland Eastern Shore have started women's bowling teams¨. Though some people may argue that it does more harm than good, Title IX should remain in action.

When it comes to sports men and women are rarely given equal opportunities to excel. This is the case in soccer specifically, as many individuals over look women’s soccer. Women are having to play on turf fields which is causing more injuries compared to men playing on natural grass. Men also make more money per match and they receive money if they lose, whereas the women do not receive any money if they lose a match. While women are becoming more successful, the men’s team has been around longer and bring in more media coverage and endorsements for the league. Despite the discrepancies found in media coverage of both teams, the US soccer federation and Federation International Football Association should provide equal opportunities for both men’s and women’s soccer teams.

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.

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

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

Even colleges around the US attempted to find ways around the Title IX guidelines and threatened to take away specific women’s sports because, “they do not bring in enough revenue” like the boys’ teams

As stated previously, women have a much lower interest in competing in athletics, statistically speaking. For example, high schools must also obey the regulations put into play by Title IX by offering the same number of sports teams for each gender, thus giving high school students equal opportunities to participate in athletics. However, even though both male and females are offered the same opportunities, 1.4 million fewer females choose to compete in high school sports than males. Based on recent reports from the 2010-11 academic year from the state high school athletic associations from all 50 states, sports participation among genders is approximately 4.5 million boys, or 60% of total participation, as compared to approximately 3.1 million girls, or only 40% of total participation.(Toporek) Although this statistic clearly

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

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.

Title IX was signed in 1972 and states that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance” (Anderson). With the law being signed in, a 560% increase of participation at the college level and 990% increase at the high school level (“Title IX Myths and Facts”). This shows that women are interested in getting involved and playing and participating in sports but the lack of opportunity kept females from getting involved at both levels. Given the opportunity to tryout for a team or even play recreationally, women jump at the chance.

Women. Men. They are both a unique and special being that is on earth. In a perfect society, men and women would have the same physical strength and they would be completely equal. The idea of women and men being able to play against each other is wonderful but realistically it might not work out as great. Of course, women can do anything men can do, but in a competitive situation like this, the results of this change could bring forth more negative impacts than positive ones. In professional sports, women and men should be kept separate due to being biologically different and because of the possibility of the quality of the performances in the sports decreasing.