Essay On Gender Inequality In Sports

Up until recent years, men and women have always had very distinguished roles in society. Men were expected to be the main financial support of the family and women the caretakers. However, in the past century these expectations have been adjusted to accommodate the social changes that came with women’s suffrage. As these gender roles slowly started to become less defined, issues with equality surfaced. Although laws have been passed and other actions have been taken, equality has yet to be fully reached. Today, gender inequality makes an appearance in sports, the workplace, and the American Judicial System. There is a large difference when it comes to the way male and female athletes are viewed and treated by society. Whether or not they are capable of the same physical feats should be irrelevant to how they are portrayed and viewed. Unfortunately this is not the case. Men are often depicted as god like figures, capable of heroic

A certain school of thought suggests that psychological influences from being brought up in a gender biased society put women to a disadvantage during interviews. (Hsu). Similarly, the jobs that women are most associated with, such as nurse, flight attendant, and secretary, are often devalued because they are seen as assisting work. Along with this, some women work less in order to accommodate having a child. Whether they take maternity leave or just work a part-time job, it affects their hours (Weinclaw). As a result, employers often consider whether a women is soon to be or already a mother when giving promotions. Since mothers cannot work as many hours or may even go on maternity leave, employers are less likely to move them higher up in the workplace (Hsu). In conclusion, whether or not a women is as equally qualified as a man, she can expect to face more obstacles and receive lower wages because of the social stigma behind her