The general argument made by author Susan K. Cahn, is that in" today's' society there are women athletes who are media celebrities and a source of inspiration for many. But not long ago, being serious about sports was considered appropriate only for men and boys". Throughout the 20th century, women's increasing participation in sports has challenged our conception of womanhood. Some celebrated the female athlete as the embodiment of modern womanhood, but others branded her "mannish" which was liked to being a lesbian. Ultimately, she altered the perception of sport as an exclusively male domain. More specifically, Cahn focuses on the decades between 1920 and 1960, Cahn argues that at the beginning of the century, the debate centered on the…
held against them ("Masculinity and Gender Roles in Sports"). As the role of women has progressed, a…
In Mariah Burton Nelson’s article I Won, I’m Sorry, the relationship between women and athleticism is put into perspective. Athletes fight to dominate while a feminine woman fights to appear nonthreatening and beautiful. Female athletes must battle to display a balance between these two different worlds. Nelson reveals the struggles of a woman attempting to establish herself as a fearsome competitor while maintaining a feminine grace in order to gain the acceptance of the public and more importantly, the opposite sex.…
One of the key points to evaluate here is the argument that males biologically have an advantage in the majority of sports. In the vast number of cases this is true, however this should not be a reason why females are either discriminated against or feel pressurised to not participate in a sport. In a study done by McArdle, Katch & Katch in 1981, it was shown that among Western adults, men are around 50 percent stronger than women1. One thing that is important to point out here is that the average female has not been encouraged to participate in activities that would develop the growth and potential of muscles in the same way men have been encouraged to do. The stereotype that women should be slender and with little muscle does not aid this particular viewpoint on women’s sport. This leads on to the point of the history of female sport and the view on women’s roles in society. The earlier you go back in history, the more the viewpoint has existed that women are there to aid the husband in the house and bring up the children whilst he is out earning the money. This was very much the case and still is in some cultures, which inhibited and inhibits women from participating in sport because they simply do not have the time for it. As Spears (1978) said in his study, “Only the exceptional woman was involved in sport”2. I think it is fair to say however, that this viewpoint is quite clearly changing because participation in female sport is at an all time high at the moment. According to…
An issue that I have always been concerned with is how much attention male sports get, while female sports get pushed aside. Males and females put forth the same amount of effort and the same amount of hard work towards the sports they play, and in return males dominate the limelight. Arguments opposing this show that males are obviously better athletes than females. According to Mariah Burton Nelson, controversial activist and author, football, baseball and other manly sports in the United States are not games, but a culture which offer a pre-civil rights world where white men, as owners, coaches and umpires, still rule. In the manly sports, men learn to think about and talk about women in contempt. It is common practice for boys to be belittled as "wusses" or worse if they are not tough or brutal enough or willing to deny their own pain or the pain of others.…
Rogers touches on gender issues and stereotypes related to gender in the essay. He makes that clear by discussing the differences in behavior exhibited by male and female participants in the sport. He points out how the two genders are perceived by fans of the industry as well as the significant difference in the way the athletes view the sport. The females are more sportsmen like and accommodating as they see that the sport is “for fun.” The men on the other hand, are more aggressive and mean-spirited toward one another as they see the sport as one in which they must compete for dominance and prove their superior abilities.…
Cardiac muscle is essentially limited to the heart, though it extends slightly into the nearby blood vessels. It too, is striated, but it differs from skeletal muscle. As far as the features, the cells are much shorter, so they are called myocytes rather than fibers. Cardiac muscle is considered involuntary because it is not usually under conscious control; it contracts even if all nerve connections to it are severed.…
There are many aspects why female and male athletes should not compete together. Although one reason may be because of physiological differences, societal barriers also prevent female athletes from competing with males. What it means to be male or female is one of the hardest things to decipher. This is one of the more bigger struggles between masculinity and femininity. One institution that specifically targets this idea of gender differences is professional sports. Women are challenged because of these gender differences to be accepted into a male dominated institution. Female athletes are encouraged and in many cases forced to under appreciate themselves by the media because of sports. Our society tends to under appreciate women who play…
The orphaned Felicite is treated badly in her youth, first by a cruel master and later by jealous fellow servants. Disappointed in love at age 18, she leaves her neighborhood to become cook and general servant for a widowed mother, Madame Aubain. In that position, she lives a life filled with duty, devotion, and affection. Flaubert tells the story in a simple manner which emphasizes the value of Felicite’s humble life.…
First, sports must remain gender specific. Sports exist as gender specific by the type of sport, such as football or bodybuilding.…
“I don’t want to be a great female athlete. I want to be a great athlete” (unknown). Taking a look back on history, we could not possibly keep track of the number of times women were not given equal opportunity as men. It started off with rights as a whole, and then moved to voting, and even to this day we continue to battle with equal pay. Due to our biological makeup, men are key to our survival. As we have come to evolve and expand our knowledge, our past does not align with our present or even our future. Women have now moved themselves up the ladder and are making leaps and bounds just for a sense of equality. There is one roadblock that still to this day we have not been able to battle through. This is the world of sports. This is a world of blood, sweat, and no room for tears. This is an industry where it…
There are several impacts on female athletes and women’s sports of being sexualized and hyper-feminized in the sport media. First, “Sports Illustrated lack of respectful coverage of female athletes tends to “minimize the opposition that strong women represent” by only including very little coverage of women” (lecture, p.6) This is kind of disrespectful for women, and will mislead women. They might think that strong women are not able to play and get attention. Second, “women are being objectified and viewed as a potential object for sexual gratification.” (lecture, p.7) This will mislead women to value their appearance rather than their abilities as an athlete. Ultimately, fewer and fewer women will think their body as an object of another…
This is positive in sport because it's getting females to participate, have enjoyment, being active and making new friends regards of the differences between women e.g. Sexual orientation ( Tomlinson, 2007). Scraton (2001) suggests also that radical feminists need to look at reconstructing or recreating sport into ways that doesn’t have the masculine, aggression or competition but it would rather celebrate women’s values. This may give females more reason to participate in…
The sports industry works against females as only 4% of sports programming and 5% of media print are devoted to female athletics. Even within these small percentages, females experience sports coverage that consists of anything but their actual athletics because the media considers their “competition outfit or hair” the most engaging aspect of their athletic ability. Furthermore, 99.6% of sponsorship money goes towards the male sports industry.…
Women: soft, emotional, loving, motherly, and a supporter. Men: aggressive, hard-working, fatherly, leader, strong, and inexpressive. These two genders are very different and are in fact opposites. When women try to break the stereotype, it does not typically go well. There is a borderline within gender that should not be crossed. In a 2004 film entitled “Million Dollar Baby” directed by Clint Eastwood he is trying to define the rules of gender. Eastwood creates a movie where the main character is a female and the female is trying to dominate a male dominated sport, boxing. The movie “ Million Dollar Baby” portrays that Clinton Eastwood is trying to protect male masculinity in the sporting world by showing the rise and fall of women in a male dominated sport.…