Women’s flat track roller derby, as it is now known, stems from theatrical, violent and entertainment based roots. In its earliest incarnation it was more reminiscent of speed skating than the high intensity sport known seen around the world (English, 2014). However, within ten years of the most recent reincarnation, 450 new leagues had been created. As one of the fastest growing sports for females in America, The Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) was created to act as a governing body in order to maintain order and unity in this rapidly growing field (WFTDA, 2014). Like most sports the growth of this leisure sport, brought about a shift in athletic ability. As the complexity of the rules developed and bouts became more competitive,
The story I chose to read was “The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved,” by Hunter S. Thompson. The story is about at trip in which Thompson was to cover the race mentioned in the title. He was to meet up with an English illustrator by the name of Ralph Steadman who in later years would continue to collaborate with Thompson. Their task was to write about the race and in Thompson’s mind he’d decided that he wanted to cover the “decadent and depraved” side of the derby.
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
Looking at the National Hockey League in comparison to the National Women's Hockey League, the quality of playing is far better for the men than it is the women. While both leagues were established for the same reason, to play hockey, the logistics are as different as they can be. Women are treated far more poorly than the men in about every aspect of professional sports. Even though it was born out of the National Hockey League, the National Women’s Hockey League is not only challenged, but compared to every aspect of the NHL, which includes: wages, rules and regulations, LGBT norms, and the overall questioning of why women and men cannot play together in one league. Despite the downsides the women league faces, the player
Mary Louise Adams’ “The Manly History of a 'Girls' Sport': Gender, Class and the Development of Nineteenth-Century Figure Skating” is an article that sheds light on the role that gender played on figure skating throughout the nineteenth century. It centers on how male-dominated the activity of figure skating was throughout the nineteenth century—a stark contrast to the sport we know today, which is populated largely by women. Adams unearths the shift in the sport by examining the concept of masculinity in relation to the human body during this period, which shifted in terms of its values. Ultimately, she argues that the reason for the shift from male-dominated figure
There isn't a lot of quarter horse racing in the race books of Nevada, at least not as much as thoroughbred and harness racing, but there is enough that I get an itch to make a wager. I spent some time working on this system and have found it to be profitable. It is not an angle that produces any high payouts, but it does have a high win percentage, so I'm cashing a lot of tickets.
Women’s equality is an issue that has been around for awhile. While women have been given many rights to increase equality, including the right to vote and go to college, the problem hasn’t completely vanished. One area that still sees this is in sports. Women’s sports do not draw nearly as many fans and are not covered in the media as much as men’s sports, pay differences between male and female athletes are large, and female athletes have to wait longer to start their professional career than men, which risks their professional career before it even starts.
At this moment, there are 469 female roller derby teams in the world. To make a team you need at least 12 people. Taking these numbers into consideration, if you multiply 469 by 12, you would have a minimum of 5,628 people playing roller derby around the world. This figure does not even include men's roller derby leagues or junior leagues. Junior derby is generally split into age groups of 5-12 years old and 12-17 years old.
Society must begin to accept the variety of sports both men and women can compete in regardless of the
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
Most people do not much about the origin, as well as, the evolution of drag racing in America. In that regard, they have limited knowledge not only about the evolution of the sport but also the manner in which it came to gain dominance within the sports industry. Nonetheless, upon watching the documentary about drag racing, which goes by the title ‘Slingshot’, one gets learn much about the sport. Due to lack of better words, ‘Slingshot’ can concisely be described as not only a slick but also a professional movie documentary. The featured old video clips, in addition to the photography have been excellently done such that one can easily focus on the storyline of the documentary, which happened to be based on the history of drag racing.
Women’s participation in sports has changed over the centuries. In ancient times, men dominated societies. Women were viewed as the caretaker, a provider for life. Women who did participate were criticized and were thought of as threatening. In 18th century America, women were considered inferior to men because of the belief that women are the weaker sex. A woman’s purpose in life was to take care of the house, children, and husband. When they did want to participate in recreational sport, they need to be able to negotiate with men and with other women because societies did not make it easy for women to participate. For example, there was a
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
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.
There are many repercussions that are projected upon both men and women when they enter into a sport that typically isn’t thought of as gender appropriate. Some of those cultural and social stigmatisms may be abandonment by your peers, and friends questions regarding your sexuality, and even in some cases criticism as to how you are living your life. In some cases, it may lead to you not being accepted by either group, theone whose norems you are not following, of as well as the one with whom you are trying to get involved. This paper will address all of these issues and how these seemingly negative situations can, will, and are, leading to growth. It will also discuss how this is a situation where repercussions are