The Issues of Women in Sport Essay example

It is true that before Title IX, any positive images of female athletes were relatively few and far between, except for the rare Olympian such as Peggy Fleming or Nadia Comaneci. Title IX has substantially increased the availability of equal resources for female athletes relative to males on campus. However, parity has not been achieved in terms of the public's interest and respect for women's sports. Even today, the main excitement is over the NCAA men's tournament, not the women's. Team sports where women are celebrated in the U.S. are in low-priority sports like soccer; while some women in individual sports have certainly received media

The sports world has been a new area where women are recognized. In previous times women’s sports were almost non-existent. In schools many girl teams did not receive adequate funds for uniforms and equipment. Boys sports were much more popular, such as football or basketball. If a girl wanted to play a guy sport she would be labeled as a

What happens when society cannot accept women as athletes and feminine beings all in one package? This has a dramatic affect on athletes as Cahn (1988) points out, "the lesbian stereotype exerts pressure on athletes to demonstrate their femininity and heterosexuality." So, instead of athletes concentrating on training and competition, they have to spend their time defending their personal lives and sexuality, also reassuring their audiences that women involved in sports are indeed women.

According to sportswriter Paul Gallico noun, “It is a lady’s business to look beautiful and there are hardly any sports in which she seems able to do it”. An abundance of people today believe that women are not worthy of receiving the same treatment in sports as men for this reason. First of all, there has been a law signed which is against gender inequality in athletics, but a bountiful amount of schools, including high schools and colleges, are not in compliance with it, and have not lost federal funding from not satisfying with it. Secondly, it is rare to see women's sports be recognized in the news and media. Lastly, women do not earn nearly as much money as men do in sports. I pronoun strongly believe that women deserve to be treated equally to men in athletics.

sports. It made women sports strictly intramural games, or sports that are played within the college and between its students’. The National Association of Secondary School Principals, as well as many educators, fully supported the resolution and so they put pressure on high school sports association to end their tournaments. Educators wanted women to only play sports at their own college, between one another. Most educators saw women playing intercollegiate sports as unladylike and sometimes unsafe. Halfway into the 1930s women competitive sports had mostly disappeared in many states. The issue regarding whether or not women should be allowed to play sports would not be settled until Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 was put into law. Title IX stated 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 education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” It would open the door for new possibilities for women such as Margaret Wade, whose basketball career and story would not end after college. Margaret Wade’s life illustrates how the area you grew up in can influence your life, how the

Becky Hammon is a female assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs. Nancy Lieberman is an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings. What's so special about this? Until now, women did not hold positions as players or coaches in the NBA.

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

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

Gender roles are categories that characterize what it means to be feminine and masculine in society, on how people think about gender as they relate to one another (Adams et al., 2013). For example, women are expected to be accommodating and emotional, while men are usually expected to be self-confident and aggressive, this shows how men and women are to behave in society. However, these sayings were taught to individuals based on norms, or standards created by a society which is called Gender Socialization (p. 318). Growing up as a child, we were taught as girls to play with dollhouses, pretend kitchen sets, cleaning supplies and play dress up. Whereas boys are taught to play with cars, sports equipment’s, action figures, and weapons. However, if a boy was playing with dollhouses, or playing dress up, he would be considered gay, or not masculine and looked down upon by society, and families. The same goes for girls who play with boy toys, or dresses as a tomboy, this is what we are taught to play with at a young age. Our families tell us how to behave, our schools tell us what

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

Throughout the years women have fought for voting rights, marriage rights, owning land, working rights, and now it's time to fight to be equal when playing sports. There are women all over the world who play sports and get no recognition. They train just as hard, work just as hard, and still paid less, and less publicity. Why is it that men, who do the same training and hard work as women through sports, are paid millions more? There is no reason. Women have the same drive men do so there should be no difference. Men and women should be equal when playing sports.

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.

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.

Children learn as early as age two what it means to be a “boy” or a “girl” (Aina & Cameron). This is described as gender identity, a person’s sense of self as male or female. Gender stereotyping emerges hand in hand with the development of gender identity in Early Childhood (Halim). Gender roles are society’s expectations of the proper behavior, attitudes and activities of males and females. When babies are born they are either put in pink or blue, as they grow up they still maintain the same “gender” colors. As young children start to socialize, they are playing with either “girl” toys or “boy” toys. When they get older they

Through the socialization process, children learn gender roles at birth. In our society today, we buy boy infants blue and girls infants pink. We even apply these color-coded gender labels while a baby is still in the womb. Gender socialization occurs through four categories: family, education, peer groups, and mass media. Each category reinforces gender roles by creating and maintaining the norm expectations for gender-specific behavior. At an early age, children have an understanding that there are distinct expectations for them based off of their gender. Studies show that children are very much conscious of what gender roles are and how their role is supposedly portrayed by the age two or three; at four or five, most children are appropriately displaying their specific gender role (Kane, 1996). Most boys are given toy car, guns and action figures, all toys that promote aggression and introverted playtime. Girls are often given dolls and dress-up apparel that foster nurturing, social closeness, and role play. These gender roles will continue on throughout their life. Thus creating a barrier for women and men, predominantly women to have to try to break through. Always facing scrutiny if they step outside of the gender specific spectrums society has set for them.