Gender is a social construct rather than biologically given that outlines the behaviours, roles, activities and attributes that a particular society agrees to be appropriate for men and women. The assignment of these roles and traits can create gender equities — the division of gender and favouring one group more than the other. Since gender hugely influences the foundation of our behaviours, characteristics, activities and roles, it can be concluded that everything people do, own or even think is systematically categorised into men and women. One of the areas that social constructions of masculinity and femininity play a significant role is sport. David Rowe has stated that “since the institutional establishment of sport as a regulated, professionalized …show more content…
In the past, people, if not all, often perceive sport as something traditionally associated with masculinity. Moreover, it is considered to be inappropriate for women to engage in sports in many societies. This is because many sport activities are often related to strength and aggressiveness. Thus, this portrays the traditional ideologies of how “men are commonly held to be more ‘naturally’ domineering, hierarchically oriented and power-hungry, while women are seen as nurturing, child-rearing and domestically inclined” (Barker 285). Nowadays, women has progressed to appear in sport media more and more. But the question is, does the appearance of women in media make them progress? One of the key moments that results in a significant rise in participation of women is the passage of Title IX in 1972. The passage of Title IX came at a time when women were seeking for liberation and more opportunities, discredit stereotypes, and combat sexualisation. Thus, It is considered to be one of the greatest achievements during the women’s movement in the 1970s that aims to create and conserve gender equity. This results in the increased number of girls and women participating in sports. In the early 1980s, aerobics became popular among women. However, Nike did not view aerobics as a type of sport and failed to recognise female interests. Nike’s approach to women’s fitness market was a failure at its first attempt. In 1987, the first advertisement campaign was featured by triathlete Joanna Ernst with a hard, sweaty body enduring a seemingly spartan workout with Nike catch-phrase voice-over “Just do it” and ended with the tagline “And it wouldn’t hurt if you stopped eating like a pig”. The ad displayed a very powerful, strong and aggressive side of women which transfixed the viewer at that time. As a result,
The influence of sports activities on boys’ identity and socialization experience remains a major interest in gender studies today. Michael A. Messner wrote an article called Boyhood, Organized Sports, and the Construction of Masculinities. The article examines the way sports focus and define what it is to be a masculine, studies variation in sports’ influences across social classes, and depicts lessons sports participation impacts for relationships beyond sports. Each area Michael A. Messner examined directly relates to three key concepts of psychology theories. The concepts consist of observational learning (social learning), conformity, and social identity. The research methods in the article are also a major factor contributing to the
Society has always had the idea that males should participate in masculine activities and females in feminine activities. These activities define the lifestyle that person would have. It was also believed that if a male was not involved in masculine activities, that male was not a man. Sports is a field that has been dominated by males in the past years, and more recently has had a lot of females take part in it. But does playing a sport define one’s masculinity? Michael Messner, the author of Boyhood, Organized Sports, and the Construction of Masculinities, discusses the effect sports has on upcoming young men of different races. The effect of being introduced to a sport at a young age allowed males of different races to gain a sense of masculinity,
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).
Girls are told to stay indoors and play with their dolls or bake, while boys are encouraged to go outdoors, get dirty, and be adventurous. Wade and Ferree also state “sports are squarely on the masculine side of the gender binary” (Wade and Ferree, 174). Hence, we are brought up with the understanding that playing and talking about sports is a boy’s thing, which further promotes the notion that sports are a very masculine thing. Furthermore, as playing sports is competitive and is a way to show excellence, young boys are considered as “real boys” and “real men” later on. However, when boys do not talk about or play sports, they are considered feminine or “not real men.” The same rule applies for young girls. If young girls are too into sports, they are considered to be “too masculine.” This is true for me too. When I was younger, I was told to not play too much outdoors and to behave “like a girl.” The stigma that only boys should be allowed to play sports and it is not a feminine thing needs to be erased for us to welcome a more gender-equal
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.
In a society where the sports marketing industry predominantly targeted men, Nike sought to go against the status quo and empower young girls to encourage them to participate in sports. Nike identifies the social issues of gender inequality by attacking the stereotype that young girls should not be encouraged to engage in physical in sports. The campaign identifies that young women will have a greater self-esteem and self-confidence if involved in sports.
“Boyhood, Organized Sports, and the Construction of Masculinities” by Michael Messner seeks to explain how participation in organized sports results in the manifestation of masculinity in males. Messner also uses feminist analyses to explain that masculinity
For the past twenty-five years, we have seen one of the most popular brand sayings become a part of our daily life. Nike started its “Just Do It” campaign in 1988 with the simple commercial advertisement of an 80-year-old man, Walt Stack, who runs seventeen miles each morning. This campaign is said to be one of the simplest slogans, but yet one of the most effective ones. While athletic apparel companies are struggling to captivate the attention of potential buyers, Nike has influenced the minds of its consumers with three simple words. As a consumer, we are persuaded though this campaign by several high-profile athletes throughout the years such as, Ken Griffey Jr. and Michael Jordan in the 90’s to Tiger Woods and the Williams sisters in the 2000’s. After too many celebrity scandals, Nike decided to campaign their “Just Do It” ads with everyday athletes. The media has interpreted the ‘Just Do It’ ads in many different forms, but mainly contributing a negative connotation with the athletes Nike selects and their irresponsible behavior. Ethically, this advertisement has been provided a confidence boost to a younger generation. Whether it was bad or good, this has been the outcome from this campaign.
The existence of hegemonic power related to gender roles in sport limits the participation of students in Sport Aerobics. This hypothesis is supported by the data gathered from a survey that 24 Nambour High students took (Appendix 1). The survey included 2 female and male students from each year level. This survey revealed that only 16% of students have participated in Sport Aerobics and the majority of the students were from the senior year levels. When the students were asked what gender Sport Aerobics is for over half the students said both male and female. However, 37% of the students said that Sport Aerobics is for women only and 6 out the 9 students that answered women were male meaning that the majority of male students believe that Sport Aerobics is a feminine sport. None of the students believed that Sport Aerobics is an only male sport. Seventy percent of students throughout all the year levels believe that men are stronger than women. The only students that said women were female themselves. It is fixed in to student’s minds that men are stronger than women because of the lack of recognition to female athletes on the media. Students only see strong male athletes such as rugby league players presented on the media. This accounts for the 70% of students that do not watch any women’s sport and the only students that do were female. This result is due to the lack of women role models in the
Within todays sporting community, certain aspects of sport and its practices promote and construct ideas that sport in general is a male dominated. Sports media often provides an unequal representation of genders. Women athletes are regularly perceived as mediocre in comparison to their male equivalents (Lenskyj, 1998). Achievement in sport is generally established through displays of strength, speed and endurance, men usually set the standards in these areas, consequently woman rarely reach the level set by top male athletes. Due to this, the media significantly shows bias towards male sports while we are ill-informed about the achievements in the female sporting community. On the occasion that a female athlete does make some form of an appearance in the media, images and videos used will usually portray the female in sexually objectified ways (Daniels & Wartena, 2011). This depiction of female athletes can cause males to take focus solely on the sexual assets of the athlete in preference to to their sporting abilities (Daniels & Wartena, 2011). Sexualisation of sportswoman in the media is a prevalent issue in today’s society, it can cause physical, social and mental problems among women of all ages (Lenskyj, 1998).
Connell states that masculinity is the end result of socialization and can, therefore, differ according to gender relations in regards to particular social settings (West, pg. 2, 2011). Historically sport has been an ideal means of addressing questions and concerns regarding hegemonic masculinity. Within the Western World, sports have been regarded as the most masculine institution, regardless of the recent progress within female involvement in sports, it is still largely organized, reported and run by men. The growth and development of organized sports since the turn of the 19th century, can be seen by some, as a means for men to regain the wavering ideology of male dominance after the integration of women into the labour force (West, pg. 5, 2011). Previous to the First World War, women were not eligible to work and were expected to stay and keep watch over the home while the husband was the bread maker. This all changed when men went to war leaving no other option than to employ women to work within the factories. As some might assume, this did not necessarily sit well with men as they had always been the ones making a living, and in some ways, by women entering the workforce, they felt as though they had been
The first perspective is that women are disadvantaged at any sport. Some people reiterate the difference of men and women in sports. This is influenced by strength and the natural power men hold, comparable to women. Rodriguez questions “Is this because female athletes don’t have what it takes to make it in the world of sports or could it be more of a social issue?” This perspective seems to be a social issue based on the notable skills women acquire vs. the apparent judgments of gender issues. The second perspective is the idea that women deserve and inherently earn their right of equal attention and equal pay. “Sometimes, the secret to equality is not positive discrimination, it 's equal terms. It 's the shrug of the shoulders that says "what 's the difference?" The moment worth aspiring for is not seeing people celebrate the world-class female cricketer who competes at comparatively low-level male professional cricket, but the day when people are aware that she does, and don 't find it notable at all” (Lawson). Lawson makes it a point to confirm the biased notions against women in sports and relay an alternative worth working toward and fighting for. Both outlooks can be biased but only one has factual evidence to back it up. The second perspective reviews an ongoing gender issue. This problem is welcome for change depending on society’s
Krane, V. (2001). We can be athletic and feminine, but do we want to? Challenging hegemonic femininity in women's sport. Quest, 53,115-133.
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.
Whether its baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey, or tennis, sports is seen all over the world as a representation of one’s pride for their city, country, and even continent. Sports is something that is valued world-wide which has the ability to bring communities together and create different meanings, beliefs and practices between individuals. Although many people may perceive sports to have a significant meaning within our lives, it can also have the ability to separate people through gender inequalities which can also be represented negatively throughout the media. This essay will attempt to prove how gender is constructed in the sports culture while focusing on female athletes and their acceptance in today’s society.