Culture, Race, and Gender in Sports Essay

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

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

According to the organization, Women in Sport, “Only 43% of girls say they have the same choice as boys at school in sport and exercise; and amongst secondary school-age children, being ‘sporty’ is still widely seen as a masculine trait.” Girls are given the perception that it's not okay to be “sporty” because it's a male trait. More than a single sport (hockey) has inequality between genders. There are statistics in this research that proves that girls playing sports is looked down on. This causes a female athlete to think negatively about herself and the choices in

Since the 20th century, female athletes have made enormous strides to improve their status. Prior to these efforts and achievements, female athletes had to play in much poorer facilities under different rules and with stricter dress codes than male athletes. Society also ignored and discriminated against female athletes. This discrimination portrayed them as masculine rather than feminine due to the sport they play and the pictures

The abuse of power to exploit and dominate women within sporting bodies is not a new concept to society and may seem complex however, to gain insight on this topic one may observe the role of masculinity in sports. Sport has been a masculine domain where men are able to assert their dominance, strength, and bravery. Directly addressed by the three I’s: inferiority, injury, and immorality in Authors Eileen McDonagh’s and Laura Pappano’s article Playing With the Boys: Why Separate Is Not Equal In Sports women have been marked as physically inferior to men (McDonagh and Pappano, 2008, pp.181-187). Additionally, society feared that if women were allowed to compete in masculine sports it would promote damage to their vital organs, homosexual affiliations,

Another cause for concern over female sport is that professionally they are not getting anywhere near enough media coverage and money as their male counterparts. The media cover male sport in far more depth; in fact a study in 2006 by South Australian Premier’s Council for Women found just 4.1 per cent of coverage was about female sport () and on Foxtel approximately 10 per cent was about female sport (Senate Standing Committees on Environment, Communications and the Arts 2006). The chart below shows the volume of news coverage that all the different sports receive, which not surprisingly shows Tennis as being pretty much the main female sport that is being covered, with very little else in comparison to male sport, even horses gain more exposure than females. So while females are being

Sport has been one of the most important socio-cultural learning experiences for males and females. Sports provide an amazing release for people of all ages. People are requested and welcomed to play sports at any age. Sometimes there are many limitations due to personal reasons that restrain people from participating in sport such as money, peer pressure, location, etc. For the last century males are expected to be strong, independent, and athletic. Male athletes masculinity symbolizes an image of physical health, and sexual virility throughout their bodies as well. Nowadays, women’s participation in sports is becoming popular but it is still overshadowed by men’s. According to the Women’s Sport Foundation before the title IX “given equal athletic opportunities, women will rush to fill them; the remaining discrepancies in sports participation rates are the result of continuing discrimination in access to those opportunities” (“ Title IX Myths and Fact”). Under the title IX, female has the playing field been. Women now can participate in many sports, which were only played by men before. However, the main reason that female usually do not participate is due to gender inequity. Some of people believe that the inequity in sports has not changed over the years, especially opportunities and benefits. Although sports provide opportunities for both males and females, female participating in sports generally have less opportunities to

Women and men play various sports because they as Americans want to experience the excitement of playing for fun, and doing something they love. The idea of what men and women can do for fun in sports has been shaped by the American society in many different ways through the media, schooling and education, and professional sports organizations. America portrays women playing field hockey and doing synchronized swimming while men do boxing, and body building. If a woman chooses to do boxing because to her it is fun and if a man chooses synchronized swimming because he likes it, they face many cultural costs and benefits of choosing this sport. Society does not like change and

Gender in sport has been an ongoing issue, especially for women, with many factors influencing their participation in sport

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

In today's society the male figure dominate in most aspects, especially in sports. They receive a great amount of media attention, far greater than female athletes. Young kids grow up watching male sports being dominant which causes stereotypes around female and sports. While boys have something to look up to, young girls do not receive the same image.Feminist movements made enormous improvement on the status of female athletes since the early twentyth century. Before the feminists movements, female athletes had to manouver in poorer circumstances, different rules, and with stricter dress codes. Society has regularly segregated and disregarded female competitors, expressing that they were manly and gay person. Likewise, hindering ladies from taking an interest in games. After this issues were highlighted, society has attempted to invert these separations and improved open doors for female competitors to champion.

Throughout the history of sports, women have struggled to participate in various forms of competition. Discrimination for women in sports can be traced back to as far as Ancient Egypt and Greece. In fact, during the first Olympic Games only men were allowed to take part in the Olympic Games and women were not even allowed to watch the games under threat of death. In Europe, the practice of sports for women was practically non-existent until the 19th century and even then only wealthy women played games such as croquet, golf and tennis (Rostkowska, 2007). For centuries, this type of discrimination for women in sports has continued.

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

But even today women athletes are not on equal footing with men. Women are not permitted to be masculine, they can be athletes but they need to keep their femininity intact. Even a great athlete like Babe Didrickson was forced to change her image to suit our culture's sense of what a woman should be. And while a women may be given endorsements she is expected to look a certain way we she does them. She may sweat on the field or the court but not on camera.

However, female tennis players who have continued to portray the feminine image in addition to being athletes have never been victim to the sort of ridicule and prejudice that Martina Navratilova was subjected to. In fact, it can be seen that women in all sports who portray a very