It's Time for Girls and Boys to Plays Sports Together

It's Time for Girls and Boys to Plays Sports Together

On the athletic field, in the gym, or on the ice, there have always been standards for the athletes to follow. These standards range from what type of athletic equipment is not only necessary but appropriate, to who can play when, where, and how. This last standard is the one that is being challenged the most; can men play not only on women’s teams, but can they also participate in female dominated sports without being taunted? The same goes for women, can females, without fear, really participate in traditionally male dominated sports? Although the social costs to the individual participating in the non-traditional sport are many, the benefits, if played well and correctly, can be and are quite plentiful as well.

For men, this desire to participate in traditionally female dominated sports is not quite as great as it is for females. This is because, honestly, men have a wealth of opportunities for athletics, whether it be professional or not, for every one chance women have. But, in the case that a male does want to participate in a female dominated sport, he will have a hard time being accepted, not necessarily by his female teammates, but by the society watching the sport. Traditionally, male athletes are supposed to be in rough and tumble sports. They are supposed to be hard bodied, passionate about the game, and willing to play no matter what the circumstances. Most female sports, even the female counterpart of a male sport, is less rough and tumble and less aggressive than male sports. For a man to participate in one of these sports he is likely to get laughed off the field, taunted with jeers of “homo” and suggestions that he is “not man enough” to play with the “...

... middle of paper ...

...th men are unimaginable, especially with all the feminists behind her and supporting her, she will most likely never have to worry about money again. The one problem with all of this though, is that she will probably have to be defending her sexuality constantly from those that think all female athletes are gay. However, if any woman can get through the taunting, and succeed in a male dominated sport, then she truly will have “made it” in the world of athletics.

For men and women to participate in sports not traditionally dominated by their sex is probably a lot more difficult at first than would seem worth it, but in the end it could be a major stepping stone into the world of athletics as well as the rest of society. The costs to both seem, at first, almost insurmountable, but once they have become versed in the ways of the sport, the benefits out rule it all.