The Issues of Women in Sport Race, gender, history and sexual orientation play major roles in women's participation in sport. Through out the history of women in sport, opportunity has increased. Many athletes and coaches are presented with the issue of sexual orientation throughout their sporting career. Regardless of sexual orientation, all female athletes are affected by heterosexism. One's racial or ethnicity background greatly shapes the experience they may have in sport. This essay explores the many issues women in sport face today. Historically, it has been understood that the "natural order of the universe" consisted of man to the marketplace, woman at home with her family, woman the mistress of domesticity, man the master …show more content…
In 1972 Title IX is passed creating opportunities for girls and women to participate in sport. In 1973 Billy Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs in the "battle of the sexes" tennis match. In 1973 the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) awards the first academic scholarships to women athletes at the collegiate level. Jackie Joiner-Kersee sets the new heptathlon world record and wins a second gold medal in the long jump in 1988. In 1991 Judith Sweet becomes the first woman president of the NCAA. Soccer and softball make it into the Olympic debut in 1996. In 1997 professional basketball debuts with the WNBA and ABL. In 1999 the U.S. Women's Soccer team defeats China for the World Cup win in a record seating of 90,185 people (Cohen, viii). Gender role is defined as the socially constructed and culturally specific behavior and appearance expectations imposed on women (femininity) and men (masculinity). Many girls are subjected to gender role stereotyping and different treatment Through socialization, individuals learn to behave in accordance with the expectations of others in the social order (Hult, 83.). Gender ideology is involved when one attaches a color such as pink and blue to sex and when one designates types of toys as male, female or neutral. Most play behavior is an outcome of gender role stereotyping that stems from cultural ideology. Early research provides that by first grade, boys recognize sports, whereas girls recognize grades
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
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
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.
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.
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
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
Gender role expectations are inescapable in our society as we naturally tend to sort humans into categories, the easiest one being gender. Upon first meeting a person, most people automatically classify the other’s gender. With this classification come the inevitable gender role expectations. Even for those who consciously try their hardest not to cloud their perceptions of others based on “traditional” gender role expectations, it is almost impossible not to subconsciously succumb to these expectations that are ingrained in our minds virtually since the day we are born. These expectations often influence how one interacts with another. This is especially important when taking into consideration the effects that gender socialization of children through gendered toys, media, and parental affects child development.
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
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
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.
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
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.
From the moment we were born, we are labeled as a specific sex. We were welcomed home with blue balloons if we were a boy and pink balloons if were a girl, these colors are strong indicators for gender roles and categories. In early childhood, gender roles begin to form and will negatively or positively affect a child’s behavior, interactions with peers, and their choice of toys, actives, and later on career jobs. This type of gendering is called gender socialization, which is a process by which we learn the norms and values of masculinity and femininity. Our first exposure to gender socialization is through the toys we were given to play with when we were young and when our brains were still developing. This concept of gender roles is, in many ways, socially constructed and impacts the way we behave due to the characteristics considered to be appropriate for a lady or a gentleman.
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.