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More handpicked essays just for you.
women in present society
impact of gender in sports
Gender inequality in sports
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Women in Sports
In the last one hundred years women have made tremendous inroads in many facets of life. Of that there can be little doubt. Women may now hold jobs, own property and participate in professional sports. Today women can compete in sports, once a vestige of male domination; there is now room for women in that arena. But even today women in sports are not portrayed in the same light as their male counterparts. To a large degree this is because of today's cultural ideal of women.
Since the beginning of this century women like Babe Didrickson and Billy Jean King have brought female athletes into mainstream acceptance. In earlier times women had not only not been encouraged to be physical it was thought to be harmful for them; females were thought to be weaker than men and not able to stand the physical rigors of sport. Many thought excessive physical activity would damage a woman's reproductive system leaving her unable to have children. Others believed that too much exertion, mental or physical would make a woman more and more manly. Of course women whose families...
There are many “first frontiers” for women. There has been the first female doctor, mathematician, astronaut, scientist, and nobel prize winner. The first female novelist, CEO, Senator, Supreme Court Justice, and PhD. Each of these women have changed the way females are perceived around the world, and have paved the way for women in each of their fields. In her essay “One of the Girls” Leslie Heywood explores the idea that the first female athletes are just as important as these other “first” women.
Turn on ESPN, and there are many female sports reporters, and many reports on female athletes. Flip through Sports Illustrated, and female athletes are dotted throughout the magazine. Female athletes star in the commercials. Female athletes are on the cover of newspapers. Millions of books have been sold about hundreds of female athletes. However, this has not always been the case. The number of females playing sports nowadays compared to even twenty years ago is staggering, and the number just keeps rising. All the women athletes of today have people and events from past generations that inspired them, like Babe Didrikson Zaharias, the All-American Professional Girls Baseball League, Billie Jean King, and the 1999 United States Women’s World
Celiac disease is when the lining of the small intestine is damaged due to ingesting foods that contain gluten (WebMD, 2014). It is an autoimmune disorder which means, that the body attacks healthy cells and tissues by mistake. The body forms antibodies to gluten and this causes the attack on the small intestine. As a result, inflammation occurs and this damages the microvilli hairs within the small intestine (WebMD, 2014). Without villi, nutrients can no longer be absorbed. Gluten is a protein and is found in all grains except for corn and rice (Hoehn & Marieb, 2013, p.898). It is often found in foods such as anything with wheat, cookies, cakes, donuts, pizza, muffins, rye, and sometimes canned soups (Celiac Disease and Gluten sensitivity, 2014). Gluten can also be found in products. Medicines, lip balms, and vitamins are all products that gluten may be found in (NDDIC, 2012). As I explained, the small intestine is damaged as a result of celiac disease. The small intestine plays a big role in absorbing nutrients. Damage to the small intestine results in lack of nutrient absorption. Some of the nutrients included are fats, calcium, and iron (WebMD, 2014). This can become a serious issue and must not be left unattended. It can lead to the onset of other diseases such as neurological disorders, other immune disorders, and cancer (NFCA, 2014). Often times when one family member has celiac disease, other immediate family members have it as well. Celiac disease can affect anyone, no matter their age, race, or gender. About 1 in every 100 people has celiac disease (Hoehn & Marieb, 2013, p.898). This is equivalent to about 1% of the population nationally. There is no particular demographic group that is affected.
The reason I chose this topic is because my younger brother was diagnosed with this disease in 2002, and I find it very interesting and how it is well known now compared to 12 years ago when it was rare and there were hardly resources and the amount of people diagnosed and to find gluten free food and restaurant they are able to prepare gluten free foods. The whole concept of this paper is to understand what celiac disease is about and what are the new scientific studies that have come along currently.
“The past three decades have witnessed a steady growth in women's sports programs in America along with a remarkable increase in the number of women athletes (Daniel Frankl 2)” From an early age women were thought to be “Lady Like”; they are told not to get all sweaty and dirty. Over 200 years since Maud Watson stepped on the tennis courts of Wimbledon (Sports Media Digest 3); women now compete in all types and levels of sports from softball to National racing. Soccer fans saw Mia Hamm become the face of women’s soccer around the world, Venus and Serena Williams are two of the most popular figures in tennis, and Indy car racing had their first woman racer, Danika Patrick. With all the fame generated by these women in their respective sports, they still don’t receive the same compensation as the men in their respective sports fields.
Women are becoming a bigger part of the professional sports world. The number of professional sports for women is growing at a very fast rate. Right now though, the comparison of women's professional sports to men's professional sports still varies greatly. For example, men's professional sports range from wrestling to football to skateboarding. Women on the other hand, do not have the opportunity to participate in these professional sports. But this is changing quickly. Women are beginning to receive the same opportunities in sports as men.
In 1970 only 1 in 27 girls participated in high school sports, today that ratio is 1 in 3. Sports are a very important part of the American society. Within sports heroes are made, goals are set and dreams are lived. The media makes all these things possible by creating publicity for the rising stars of today. Within society today, the media has downplayed the role of the woman within sports. When the American people think of women in sports, they think of ice skating, field hockey and diving. People don’t recognize that women have the potential to play any sport that a Man can play, with equal skill, if not better.
Throughout history, women have had to struggle for equality in all elements of our society, but no where have they had a more difficult time than in the area of athletics. Sports is a right of passage that has always been grafted to boys and men. The time has come for our society to accept women athletes and give them the attention they deserve.
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.
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.
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.
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
...her heritage and the rich history of womankind. The female athlete must be sensitive to this and show that, even as she succeeds in a traditionally male arena, she can satisfy this most basic of feminine ideals.
female athlete was still considered to be passive and weak, some would say women’s sports is a waste of time because women aren’t supposed to be playing sports because of the original stereotypes that woman are too feminine and too easy going to actually be a dominate figure in their sport.
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.