The Pros And Cons Of Female Athletes

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. Over the years, females have

From all corners of the globe, news headlines are becoming much more attentive to the issues surrounding women in sport. Female athletes are gaining more notoriety in the sports’ arena. However, the attention they are receiving, usually pertains to their appearance, rather than their skill. Further, they are continuously being over-sexualized and objectified and for these reasons, there is a need for sweeping change in the representation of female athletes in the media. This paper will discuss the portrayal of female athletes in the media, the coverage that women in sport receive, the current impacts that media has on women in sports, and what measures can be undertaken to curtail the current trend of the media.

All over the nation girls are breaking records and beating guys in Wrestling. For an example, "in 2005 seventeen girls nation wide qualified for high school state championships" which required them to wrestle boys, (SI Page 2. Quote by Kent Bailo) Even with this some people don't think girls should wrestle for reasons such as girls aren't as dedicated , they can't produce enough testosterone so they have different muscle mass , they aren't as good , or other lame reasons. A lot of the reasons used are excuses, stereotypical and or false statements just for someone to be sexist. I believe that girls should be able to wrestle.

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

My first point is when do we decide boys should play with boys and girls should play with girls. Everyone develops at their own rate, which means that some girls develop at a faster rate than boys and could be able to compete fairly. A 12 year old girl named Makhaela Jenkins took this idea to court in 2013. She was fighting for her right to play on a boys only football team. She won her case, and that year there was more then 1,500 girls playing on boys football teams, which is a 17% increase since 2009, according to the National Federation of State high school Association.

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.

Beginning with the most prevalent controversy, the obvious physical advantage males have over females. “Weight, shape, size, and anatomy are not political opinions but rather tangible and easily measured.” (Connor) This is a strictly a fact, that men have natural, biological, and evolutionary advantages in many aspects of physical exertion, however, it wouldn’t be fair to say that woman have no hope in physical dominance over any man in the 21st century. Females in male sports aren’t just sitting ducks waiting to be beaten, they have a similar polar edge including speed, flexibility, and quick thinking. Looking at an example of this, Massachusetts high school wrestler, Danielle

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

Swoosh Michael Jordan scores a basket. The crowds in the stands, sports bars, and in their homes go wild. Swoosh, Sheryl Swoopes ( known as a female Michael Jordan) scores a basket…silence. Female athletes are very driven and work just as hard male athletes. Many females are constantly in the weight room to make sure that they have the strength to excel at their sport. If they’re having trouble in a sport, they will relentlessly work and practice at it until they get it right. They won’t give up. Society praises male athletes while female athletes tend to remain unnoticed. Women have been discriminated in sports because society has always viewed males as being more dominant in sports, there are more resources available to the men than the

People think that football is to hard and physical for females because of them supposably being very delicate and fragile due to the stereotype that everyone thinks about girls. That football is a male sport due to the intensity of the sport and the repetitive physical contact throughout the game. Football is known for for being a very hard sport to play and very rough sport as well which also make it a male sport because the fact that it is rough so females shouldn 't be able to play because it is to rough and physical for them. The thing is that some girls can hang with they guys and compete in some of these sports not all girls fall into the stereotype of being fragile and too sweet to play the sport of football. These are all issues that fall into the problem of gender logic because people are making these sports gender specific because the quality that you should have to play this sport fall under on that should be played by just male athletes. These are all things that happen and make people think that football is a males sport because of the perception that has been made, that football is a male only sport due to the stereotypes and are associated with it.

December 11th,1995 was a much different time compared to today. After deciding to explore the New York Times sports archives I discovered that articles have drastically changed over twenty years. It was extremely surprising when comparing the number of articles written daily in 1995 in relation to how many are written on a daily basis today. Twenty-one stories were covered on December 11th twenty years ago compared to the astonishing 155 written on December 11th, 2014. Out of the twenty-one stories not one had any reference to females within any sport; all twenty-one of the articles were directed toward male professional sport. The majority of the articles were tailored towards Football, Basketball and Baseball, all mainstream sports. The

Most importantly I think a lot of people say girls could get hurt but at the end girls can get back up and go back in the game without crying. I think they can be as good as the guys. Girls have the right to do what guys do.

Some women athletes are still not accepted. Women who body-build are not given the same respect as men who do. While many

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.