Gender Barriers inside Sports

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Gender Barriers inside Sports

Throughout the history of sports, there has always been a gender barrier. There are certain sports that are aimed towards females and others that are directed towards males. When men or women enter a non-traditional sport for their gender, it is not widely accepted. However, there are those few athletes that pave the way for the rest and eventually our society will change and accept the new ideas in sports. Some people will always make judgments about the athletes who cross that gender barrier. At the same time there are others who will respect and look up to these athletes as role models who they will someday follow.

In the movie Pumping Iron II, women bodybuilders are faced with judgments about their sexual orientation just because of their physical appearance. There is one character, Carla, who is always shown with her mother and sister, but never with a boyfriend or husband like the rest of the women. She does not feel the need to defend her sexuality and the audience never questions it, because she is more feminine than the other competitors. She wears girlish clothes and has a feminine face and hairstyle. Carla is also shown as a synchronized swimmer, which is an elegant and graceful sport. The manner in which she moves and her body frame differ from the rest of the women. One of the more "mannish" looking characters in the movie is Bev. Bev is the competitor with the most muscle. Her features, her hairstyle and her clothes are not as feminine as Carla's. Therefore, her sexuality is questioned. It is unfortunate that society links women's sports with mannishness and mannishness with lesbianism (Cahn 328).

There are not only stereotypes of women in sports, but also of men. What is you...

... middle of paper ...

... the future, sports will not be deemed male or female and athletes will be truly free to participate in whatever they love to do. Until then, athletes are still fighting with society and making breakthroughs everyday, creating an easier path for the generations to come.

Works Cited

Arnold, Gina. Synch Different. www.metroactive.com

Cahn, Susan. "Crushes, Competition, and Closets: The Emergence of Homophobia in Women's Physical Education." Sexual Orientation. A.Dalke.

Hult, J.S. "The Story of Women's Athletics: Manipulating a Dream 1890-1985." Women and Sport: Interdisciplinary Studies. Costa, M and Guthrie, S.R. Humant Kinetics Publ, 1994.

Newberry, Paul. Sydney-Martin Short, Olympian? Associated Press, Sept.14, 2000. www.canoe.ca/2000GamesSynchro/sep14_fin.html-29k

"Stereotypes are often overrated". http://idsnews.com/features/msjocks/page2.html

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