The Role Of Women In Sports

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.

While participation of women in sports has increased, the media representation of women in sports remains problematic. Even the most talented elite female athletes like Michelle Kwan and Monica Seles are portrayed in a sexual fashion, as a way of deemphasizing their athleticism and neutralizing any possible threat they might seem to pose to male viewers. Very few male athletes are portrayed in such an objectified manner; they are portrayed as competitors first and foremost, not as personalities. Also, the media coverage of athletes is disproportionately focused on male athletes. The coverage of female athletes tends to stress individualized female sports where women can be sexualized like tennis and figure skating, versus competitive team sports like basketball and soccer.

Traditionally women were viewed as equipped to participate in sports, and their involvement was viewed as unfeminine and undesirable. This Article Examples the women were viewed as unfeminine to the sports that men play and undesirable. Young girls who are given an early opportunity to participate in sports may be more prepared for the male in classrooms. Even though women have often been relegated to second-hand citizenship in the same socializing, integration, statues, and recognition that benefit male athletes. (By; Sandra L. Hanson)

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

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

Male sports receive more recognition than female sports. “Additionally, in a study of four major newspapers--USA Today, the Boston Globe, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Morning news--women-only sports stories totaled just 3.5 percent of all sports stories.” (Collins Live Strong). Has one ever heard of Lisa Leslie, Kerri Walsh, or Chris Evert? Lisa Leslie is a WNBA basketball player. Kerri Walsh is a famous volleyball player for Team USA. Chris Evert is a tennis player. Has anyone heard of David Beckham, Derek Jeter, Eli Manning, Michael Jordan or Lebron James? Those well known names do not need any explanation. However, those female athletes have worked just as hard and have achieved so much for their team that they should receive just as much recognition. Whenever an individual searches through the sports section of a newspaper they are bombarded with news about male sports, but what about female sports? Mckenna Peterson is a twelve year old athlete who plays basketball. While she was reading the Dicks Sporting Goods Magazine, she realized that there were no female athletes featured in the magazine. “McKenna added in her letter that the only women featured in the catalog are sitting in the stands, or dressed as cheerleaders in the coupons” (Murray ABC). Editors of sports magazines need to take a closer look at their content and not be so discriminatory and realize that they could draw in female readers by including female athletes. Currently, it is so hard to imagine that a sports magazine would not feature female athletes along with male athletes. More people would run up to famous male athletes in public than famous female athletes. For example, more people would take notice of Derek Jeter than Jennie Finch if someone saw them in public. People are glued to their TV screens while watching

In today’s world, men’s sports seem to always be in the spotlight while women’s sports do not draw much attention, as if women who play sports are not taken seriously. This happens on all levels of sports, and I have personally experienced it myself through basketball in high school. While the gym would be full for any of the boys’ games, our games had very little support with almost empty bleachers. When it comes to the professional level, when women’s sports do get covered by the media, most people judge female athletes more on their looks rather than their athletic skill, which is negative and unfair.

“Somewhere behind the athlete you’ve become and the hours of practice and the coaches who pushed you is a little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back, play for her.” -Mia Hamm. Female athletes and female sports is a topic that is often debated upon. Many people feel as though female sports are not as much of a concern as male sports. Female athletes are treated unfairly as they get paid significantly less and they are rarely on regular tv.

In sports there is huge gender inequality in the media with women athletes often only receiving attention for having good looks or the best body, rather than their athletic abilities. Men, however, don’t receive this attention and people only focus on their athletic prowess. This report will review and analyse two examples of how the media portrays different genders in accordance with the following question: “How does the media portray men and women in sport?

Women are behind in the sports industry because they lack opportunity. Sports are created by men and for men, the leading gender in the sports industry is male. Take a look at any professional team whether it is baseball, hockey, basketball, football, even darts; all these events are male dominated and there are no associations remotely equivalent for women’s sports. Women have never been able to compete or try out for such leagues; NHL, CFL, MLB, NBA etc. I once heard of a woman who played a game in the NHL, so I decided to research her, Manon Rhéaume is her name, the first ever woman to appear in an NHL game. On Sept. 23, 1992 Rhéaume goal tended in a pre-season game for the Tampa Bay Lightning against the St. Louis Blues (Campbell, 2015).

Athletics is a profession dominated by men. Although there are many women athletes, none of them are as recognized as Kobe Bryant or Babe Ruth. The Women's Sport Report website shows different images of women winning trophies and competing in tight fitting clothing. Mariah Burton Nelson writes an article expressing the contrast in expectations for men and women in athletics. Men are encouraged to become competitive and aggressive in order to become professional athletes. On the other hand, if women act the same way the are seen as unfeminine. Opportunities for men are easily obtainable with hard work and recognized by others. While women who work just as hard are seen "out of their place" and get mad fun of for being manly. For example, everyone

During this century women have been able to break out of the traditional female mold. Women have broken the chains that bond them to the home and have emerged into all sorts of male dominated arenas, including sports. Women have become athletes in their own right. In the last ten years there has been validation for the female athlete. The WNBA was created giving women a professional league in a mainstream traditionally male sport for the first time since the All American Girls Professional Baseball League went out of existence in the 1950s. And recently a woman made the cut and participated on the professional golf circuit with the men. Today, we see women athletes in the media regularly. Women's college basketball is given airtime on weekends just as men's is.

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.

Similarly women are receiving less attention and media coverage than men. When someone puts on the television and turns on a sports game, it is most likely going to be a men’s sport. Even when females get their coverage, the commentators are usually talking about their body rather than their skill. In an article, “Examination of Gender Equality and Female Participation in Sport” by Joshua A. Senne, he talks about how women are referred by their appearance rather than their skill. During a study about the media, the commentators mostly talked about the women’s hair, make-up, and body figure, rather than their ability. This also occurred after the 1996 summer Olympics, where there was a lack of promotion for female athletes and the marketing of women’s sports. These athletes were also only recognized by their physical appearance instead of their ability. The tone of these broadcasters was proved in a study that men 's events were the standard in the society rather than the women’s. They would list the event as “other” rather than saying it is a women’s sport. In the study that was conducted, it states that the gender marketing showed that the woman sports were marked as “other” on an average of 27.5 times, but it 's never happened in the men’s sporting events (Senne). There is still coverage of women 's sports, but it rarely covered. The title IX project made a pie chart about the comparison of men’s and women’s sports media coverage on the show SportsCenter on

“You throw like a girl” this observable phenomenon is intended as an insult. But what does it mean to be “like a girl”? When did being a girl receive a negative connotation? Because people live in a sexist society, all girls are considered almost physically handicapped. Oftentimes guys believe that they are better at athletics based on the fact that they are males. Reasoning that someone is better at something based on gender, is sexist. Sports empower women giving them confidence and strength in the face of discrimination, sexism and objectification in society. This Paper will explain how girls around the world are beating sexism by beating superstition. Showing how women are empowering themselves through sports. By doing sports women gain freedom, power, strength, respect and dignity. Women athletics are defeating discrimination and closing the gap between men and women around the world.