Gender Discrimination In Sports

If it is said that an individual plays, throws, or hits like a girl these statements are often meant to be insults. Female athletes are usually viewed as less accomplished than their male counter parts. Athletics for women are considered hobbies, not a career path. While women’s sports have made great strides towards being equal, the stigma that women’s sports are inferior is still prevalent. While co-ed sports teams might not be the answer, allowing women opportunities to play the same sports as men is a step in the right direction. Sports such as football are not offered in their full form for girls in many areas. Degrading female athletes in inadequate opportunities, unequal media coverage, and lack of value is a concern because it continues a hideous cycle of discrimination.

As Eileen McDonagh and Laura Pappano emphasize in Playing With The Boys: Why Separate Is Not Equal In Sports “All women are assumed to be athletically inferior to all men” (5). This statement implies that when females are denied the right to play a sport they are lumped into one unconditional group. Instead of treating each athlete as an individual, athletes are categorized by their gender as strong or weak. The social constraints on women cause aggression, or dirt to be unladylike. In the film Run Like a Girl, young women talk about how it feels to play a sport where they are aggressive and how it gives them more confidence in their strength. Women in prominently male sports are often encouraged to sexualize themselves to keep their ‘femininity’ and gain popularity and