When asked as a class, why do some sports attract more interest than others? I decided to take more of a gender approach to this question to try to find the answer to, why men’s sports are more popular than women’s sports. Men are built more ‘masculine’ which make them better overall athlete’s. Although, women’s bodies were built to be more flexible and elegant to leap across a dance floor or flip over a beam it is just not common that women could tackle one another for the purpose of a sport. This is shown in the common interest in that of women’s gymnastics or volleyball in the Olympics but more interest in men’s track or swimming. Why is it that audiences are more drawn to the super bowl than a cheerleading tournament? In the book, Sporting
Most reality shows on TV make their plot lines very dramatic to keep the audience engaged in the show and coming back to watch more. The same goes with sports. If given the choice to watch men’s basketball or women’s basketball, more people would probably choose men’s because men tend to be more aggressive after something goes wrong. When speaking on the differences in men and women biologically, Hargreaves states; “the commonplace claim that men are naturally more aggressive, more competitive and therefore, better at sports than women suggest that these are inherent conditions and hence unchangeable” (146). With this quote, she is proving that since men are more aggressive, they are better able to play out the game. For example, when trying to defend the opponent in basketball a man would be more likely to foul due to the more aggressive nature that he was raised to
Women are more capable to being tossed into the air gracefully, which is what is needed to be a cheerleader. Whereas, men are faster and that is why watching a men’s basketball game is more entertaining than watching a female basketball game. Jennifer Hargreaves talks about how in the early 1920’s there was a popular demand to play Women’s football. There were many clubs formed and the game was enjoyed by both the players and spectators until the Football Association shut down women’s football saying, “the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and should not be encouraged” (142). In this we are shown that even when women tried to play a game as equally as possible to men, it was shut down simply because of the way women are supposed to act. We now have flag football, so the tackling and aggressive rough play as seen in men’s football. Audiences would be more inclined to watch men’s football because football should be played with tackling and aggression where flag football cannot be played in such a
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 holds female athletes up to ideals such as being beautiful, graceful, and healthy. Male athletes are held to ideals such as strong, aggressive, and powerful. People who choose to play non-traditional sports risk being judged by society as unnatural and homosexual, instead of being viewed as an athlete who is special and unique, they are often subjected to unwanted sexual advances and assumptions. The benefit of doing an untraditional sport is that you are able to do something you love. As a result of people who do non-traditional sports, they open the doors for future generations of women and men who might want do play an non-traditional sport.
When discussing why sports matter and the influence it has had over the course of history, many controversial issues have been whether or not sports have taught us to cultivate discipline. Sheed explains that sports can play an important role in the lives of people by helping them discover who they are and where they want to be. The lesson of sports goes deeper than just practicing or playing a game, they help build characteristics that will prepare you for many obstacles in life. Sheed mentions that sports were created and put into schools to teach discipline, patience, and honesty to male students. He continues to point out that sports are very competitive and that sportsmanship and discipline does not matter anymore, but instead the very need to win. In “Why Sports Matter,” Wilfrid Sheed, contends that “sports did not only outlaw cheating but drilled its participants to detect and despise it in each other”. This was a crucial lesson taught to a nation based on transactions.
Sport has always been the prerogative of the male. A double standard exists in society. Males are socialized to use their bodies to please themselves. While females are socialized to use their bodies to please others. Physical prowess, team sports, thats (always been) male turf. (Harris, D, 1987.)
Despite the struggle for success, males and females who choose to play sports that are non-traditional to their gender benefit socially and culturally. Those athletes who dare to compete are paving the way towards a society where gender acceptance and equality exist. However, for every benefit, there is generally a cost. In the world of sports, it is fairly obvious that people have experienced many costs including insults, ridicule, and lack of acceptance, but the benefits gained are much more vital to sports and the future of athletics. Competing in sports that are non-traditional to one's gender can only make society stronger, and our culture more unified.
Sports, in general, are a male dominated activity; every “real” male is suppose to be interested and/or involved in sports in the American society. However, it is not expected of a female to be interested in sports and there is less pressure on them to participate in physically enduring activities. These roles reflect the traditional gender roles imposed on our society that men are supposed to be stronger and dominant and females are expected to be submissive. As Michael Kimmel further analyzes these gender roles by relating that, “feminism also observes that men, as a group, are in power. Thus with the same symmetry, feminism has tended to assume that individually men must feel powerful” (106).
It goes without saying that a person's gender, racial and social origins influence their participation in sports. Particular races and genders often dominate certain sports. African Americans, for example, tend to dominate football and basketball, while Caucasians tend to dominate ice hockey. The same holds true for gender as well. Football is an entirely male dominated sport, while horseback riding, gymnastics and figure skating are much more female oriented. How and why did these divisions come about? Determining the origin of gender goes beyond the scope of this paper, however one can speculate about how gender classifications and stereotypes affect one's role in the sports arena.
Societal influence has the most affect on the differences of men and women. Men being superior in not only sports but all aspects of live hadn’t just one day been set in stone as Messner makes it out to be. He doesn’t include the reasoning necessary to explain how sports became male dominant. The article Becoming Members of society: Learning...
Society often labels an activity a sport if it is rugged, requires endurance, strength, and masculine qualities. Because cheerleading is a predominantly women sport and is characterized by attractive uniforms and cheers, society often shuns the idea of men participating in this activity. Often times the activity is not considered a sport and the males and females are not considered athletes. Both males and females have to fight to encourage others to perceive them as athletes. In 1997, only one all female division participated in the NCAA all-collegiate cheer and dance team national championships. This proves the point that despite the social and cultural costs involved, males are still eager to participate in the sport that they originally founded and feel many more benefits as well.
It has taken many years for women to gain a semblance of equality in sports. Throughout history, women have been both excluded from playing sports and discriminated against in sports. Men’s sports have always dominated the college athletic field, but women were finally given a fighting chance after Title IX was passed. Title IX, among other things, requires scholarships to be equally proportioned between men and women’s sports. Although this was a huge gain for women, gender inequality still exists in sports today. An example of this persisting inequality can be seen when looking at men’s baseball and women’s softball. In college, baseball and softball are both major NCAA sports. It is widely accepted throughout today’s society that baseball is a man’s sport, and softball is a woman’s sport. Very few people question why the two sexes are separated into two different sports, or wonder why women play softball instead of baseball. Fewer people know that women have been essentially excluded from playing baseball for a long time. This paper will focus on why softball has not changed the way women’s basketball has, why women continue to play softball, the possibilities and dynamics of women playing baseball with and without men, and the most discriminating aspect of women being banned from playing professional baseball.
When it comes to women's sports and popularity in the 21 century it has been little progress made toward gender equality for woman sports, now in the 21 century more kids and adults know who some of these females athletes are but as far as media coverage goes for female athlete are in the shadows of the male athletes dominance and the tradition that males developed in sport due to what gender establish athletics first, because women sports were brought up years after men athletics had been established.
Most people watch some form of sports, whether it be the Olympics or the highlights on ESPN. The NBA and NHL playoffs are underway and theyit seems to be the only news on ESPN. There is almost no coverage of the WNBA playoffs or any female athletics. Tennis isone of the only big sports on ESPN for women. While during the Olympics the coverage seems to be non-stop and close to equal. Women’s participation in sport is at an all-time high and has almost become equal with men’s, however,. sSports media does notfails to show this equality and skews the way we look at these athletes. Through the disciplines of sociology and gender studies, it can be seen that despite the many gains of women in sports since the enactment of Title IX, “traditional” notions of masculinity and femininity still dominate media coverage of males and females in sports, which is observed in Olympic programming and sports news broadcasts.
On the other end of the "field," television, radio, and written broadcasting of women's sports are at a great disadvantage compared to men's. How often do you turn on the television, or the radio, or open the newspaper and see coverage for women's sports? The answer is hardly ever. Now, if you turn on the television, radio, or open the newspaper, you are ten times as likely to be looking at coverage on professional or collegiate men's sports than women's. Football, basketball, baseball, and hockey to name a few are examples of men's sports being broadcasted all the time in comparison to women's. What about the women's sports? Are the less important than the men's? Why don't they get the equal amount of coverage?
Gender in sports has been a controversial issue ever since sports were invented. In the early years, sports were played only by the men, and the women were to sit on the sidelines and watch. This was another area of life exemplifying the sexism of people in which women were not allowed to do something that men could. However, over the last century in particular, things have begun to change.
For most of human history, athletic competition has been regarded as an exclusively masculine affair. Women weren't aloud to watch most sporting events let alone participate in them. Not till late 19th century did women really begin participating in sporting events. Although women were permitted to participate in many sports, relatively few showed interest, for a variety of social and psychological reasons that are still poorly understood. Title IX declares: "No person in the U.S. shall, on the basis of sex be excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal aid." Therefore sex should not deem females athletic ability as inferior in comparison to men. Women are physically, mentally, and emotionally capable of playing any sport just as men are.
The type of sport adolescents choose to participate in can be considered masculine, feminine, or neutral which causes stereotypes among peers. Society has set the stereotypes for competitive sports based on gender. According to Alley & Hick (2005), “despite legal and social changes, sexist ideology still pervades sport” (p.273). Sports are seen as masculine, male dominated, and males receive higher media coverage and pay than the majority of female sports. The gender stereotype is learned through socialization and “for certain sports appear to be learned by grade school” (Alley & Hicks, 2005. p. 274). Gender role conflicts may appear in some athlete depending on the sport(s) one chooses to participate in, but this can alter by demonstrating acceptance for the opposite gender in sports. It is important to indentifying the social effects of sports participation in both genders and how beneficial it can be to the adolescent. Through sports participation adolescents learn those gender roles are based on self-perception, and not social interactions.