Gender Consequality In Sports

Throughout American history, both men and women have survived in “separate spheres” with established positions and expectations. In the “public spheres” of employment, military and politics, were men. Known as protectors of the home and morality, women were in the “private spheres.” For centuries, society has allowed gender to socially construct and assign an understanding of what it meant to be male and what it meant to be female. Sport was a dominant form for men to be able to prove their masculinity through competitions that demanded strength, courage, discipline, fortitude and belligerence. Women continuously maintained a certain appearance that society considered appropriate. Society considered women in sports to be problematic because

This idea was aimed specifically for men, in hopes that sport could train men for modern life and the “American way.” By providing boys and young men- but not young girls and young women- the knowledge about American values and masculine caliber, sports were a key for instituting modernization in the United States on a principle of sex segregation and the overruling belief in female weakness. The gender apartheid within sport can be vindicated by beliefs surrounding the “three I’s:” inferiority, injury, immorality (McDonagh & Pappano, 2008, p.182). The idea that men are assumed to be physically superior to women is what influenced society to put restrictions on what a woman can and cannot do. This idea was due to a male-based society deciding what specifically would be considered morally correct and acceptable for what activity, or in general, the opposite sex could do to continue to have a modest flow about her. What also influenced society’s beliefs, attitudes and the values citizens had on themselves and others, was the mass media (Koivula, 1999, p.

In some sports still, like tennis, women’s field hockey, and women’s volleyball, women are required to wear very feminine uniforms. In tennis and field hockey women wear skirts, and in volleyball women wear tight short shorts. A reason behind this could be that network companies force women to continue to wear skirts and short shorts for appearance as to show off their legs and not fall out of tradition and for publicity reasons. Network companies want their teams to have a certain appearance so they can attract the viewers more into watching the teams play, and as a result, the network companies finish up with receiving more