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essays transgender in sports
essays transgender in sports
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According to Heather Skyes in her article “Transsexual and Transgender Policies in Sport”, the vast variety of genders that make up our society today including transsexuals and transgender are still not accepted into the world of sports due to anxieties from large sporting organizations. In our culture, there is a ‘binary structure’ which separates male from female. When a person is transsexual or transgender, the binary structure becomes challenged. There are so many exceptions to the binary structure, that it becomes nearly impossible to universalize “gender inclusive policies”. These individuals increase the ‘anxieties’ that Skyes suggests sporting organizations have, because transsexual and transgender people do not fit the norm. Sports organizations find it easier to ignore equal opportunity, because classifying ‘non-binary’ genders is a nearly impossible task. Skyes acknowledges that it is difficult for sporting organizations to classify transsexual and transgender as male or female, therefore there are tests which are performed to confirm the gender of athletes. Unfortunately, these tests are often seen as offensive to athletes and may violate the basic human rights of an athlete. The position Skyes takes on this matter is that sports organizations need to understand that each person is different and they need to be understanding towards the unique circumstances of each individual athlete.
Within “Transsexual and Transgender Policies in Sport”, there are both strengths and weaknesses. Skyes makes an excellent suggestion for sporting organizations to be accepting of all athletes as each person has a different circumstance. In Medscape Women’s Health Journal, Myron Genel wrote an article about gender testing in the Olympics....
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...rticipate in activities which they enjoy. At the high school and inter-collegiate level, I believe that whichever gender an athlete claims, they should be allowed to participate with athletes of that given gender. When it comes to a more national level of sporting, I believe that there should be a separate category for transsexual and transgender athletes.For example in the Olympic Games they would have male, female and transsexual/transgender games. Some may think that this excludes non-binary athletes even more, but I believe it would allow these athletes to feel comfortable with their gender and sexuality. Although this might be a difficult task in the first few Olympic Games due to ostracism and gender bashing, I believe it could be quite beneficial for our culture to accept the fact that we are a culture made up of a wide variety of genders and sexualities.
Her ideas challenged my previous opinion in that I believed that in order for a transgender athlete to play for their non-biological sex was solely to undergo a complete sex. Prior to researching this topic, I was unaware of other methods such as hormone therapy that were available to transgender athletes. Through Castillo’s informative article, I was able to understand that other options are available in order to maintain the fairness and equality throughout athletics. While Castillo argues that transgender athletes must complete at least one year of hormone therapy, Canadian Blogger, Keph Senett, argues otherwise. In her essay, “Where Do Transgender Athletes Fit Into Sports?” which was published in newsletter Matador Network, Senett argues that transgender athletes must complete a full sex change before even considering competing for the opposite sex. Senett’s article did not add much more to my original opinion, nor did it challenge it in any
Following on from the quote i found that female athletes in traditionally masculine sports do so by challenging the social dictates about proper behaviour for females, therefore focusing so much on the sexual orientation has unfairly been denied opportunities in sports.
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.
Unintentionally, a lot of us have been boxed into institutions that promote gender inequality. Even though this was more prominent decades ago, we still see how prevalent it is in today’s world. According to the authors of the book, Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions, Lisa Wade and Myra Marx Ferree define gendered institutions as “the one in which gender is used as an organizing principle” (Wade and Ferree, 167). A great example of such a gendered institution is the sports industry. Specifically in this industry, we see how men and women are separated and often differently valued into social spaces or activities and in return often unequal consequences. This paper will discuss the stigma of sports, how gender is used to separate athletes, and also what we can learn from sports at Iowa State.
Gender discrimination is prominent in every industry, but it is as though the sport industry is one of the worst. Women in the work force currently receive only 80 cents to every man’s dollar (Holmes, 2016). However, female athletes both in America and internationally receive a far lesser compensation for their attributes. The only difference of the sports being played is who plays them. There should be no reason why a male athlete receives better pay simply because he had a 50% chance of being born a man. At birth, no one controls the gender, but as they grow and mature, they control their personality and development. Payment should be on personal skills and not gender. As a female STHM student focusing on sport management and a former athlete,
Sports usually bring people together and celebrate diversities, however, transgender athletes are often left out and treated unfairly. The Olympics for instance, require many athletes to take “gender tests” which basically shows if they are the gender they claim to be. If they fail the test, their medal is dispossessed; this happened to Indian athlete Santhi Soundarajan in 2006. It’s quite unfortunate that even in modern times; gender identities are still preventing athletes from excelling.
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).
In the sports world, homosexual athletes are often forced to hide their sexual orientation and to keep it as a private matter. This is mainly due to the hegemonic masculinity associated with playing sports. Homosexuality is considered the direct opposite of this and therefore is not associated with sports. Also the way athletes talk to each other in the locker room makes it more difficult for gay athletes to come out. Guys jokingly call each other homophobic slurs or pump their chest by talking about women to express their masculinity. Female athletes, unlike their male counterparts, are considered to be more free to talk about their sexual orientation. But, there still exists the misconception that women who participate in sports are assumed to be gay. In college and professional men’s sports it is beginning to become more common for athletes to be more open to talking publically about their sexual orientation. This brings up the question as to whether or not things are changing in our society so that the acceptance of gay athletes will be more common. More acceptance by our overall society as a whole will lead to more gay athletes – both male and female – feeling free to step forward and be open about their sexual orientation.
Transgendered people in America have made many great strides since the 1990s. They have encountered violence, lack of health care, and the loss of homes, jobs, family and friends. There have been many phases of the struggle of being transgendered in America over the years. The current phase we must be in now is equal rights. There are many variations of discrimination against the transgendered community. In our society we simply do not like what we do not understand. It is easier to discriminate than to try and understand. We are all created different and we should appreciate our differences. The change must come by addressing the views of the public. There is much justification in the unequal rights of transgendered peoples. The Human Rights Campaign has been started to achieve equal rights for all Americans including the LGBQ community. A serious injustice is in the world of sports. Professional sports are one of societies major traditions totally based on rules and regulations that are meant to preserve the integrality of the games, but may not be inclusive to all its players.
The concept of hegemonic masculinity, as described by R. W. Connell, is becoming more applicable than ever, namely in the world of sport. This notion was developed nearly twenty-five years ago, yet remains highly influential in the social construction of gender roles. In current Western societies, there is an automatic assumption that women involved in sports are all lesbians, and men posses more masculine traits than one who is not involved in sports. This double standard emphasizes the inequalities within the athletic community. The emphasis on masculinity brings forth different consequences for men and women, where men are regarded as strong and powerful, while women are intrinsically seen as more masculine (Baks & Malecek,
Many people in society argue about the unfairness of transgenders competing in sports. Transgenders should be able to be on the sports team that matches their gender identity with medical documents proving they have gender dysmorphia. Many other athletes would argue that transgenders being able to compete in sports is unfair. A transgender woman who has higher levels of testosterone than the other women might seem to have an advantage over the other female athletes. Transgender women might have a little bit of an advantage, but they truly feel as if they are women, so they should be able to compete as women.
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.
Although women have been accepted within the participation in sports and physical activity, there is still constant controversy surrounding the topic of whether or not female sports can be “considered a ‘real’ sport” (Hall, M. Ann, 2007, pg. 56) or if the female participants can be “viewed as ‘real’ women” (Hall, M. Ann, 2007, pg. 56). This is due to the fact that sports and physical activity has invariably been viewed as strictly for males, to aid in validating their masculinity. It is constantly vocalized that sports considered to be ‘feminine’ ones such as