women have the access but not without repercussions. Women come face-to-face with backlash from society and have it much harder to progress as an athlete.
A time that personally stood out to me, in which I witnessed on live television was during the 2012 Olympic Games in London. “In 2012, for the first time in history, every country participating in the Olympic Games sent female athletes to compete” as noted in the article, “Female athlete’s still face inequality, despite 'Title IX Olympics'” by Annie Massa. During these Olympics, Russia sent out more female participants than male. Another significant event that finally took place during the 2012 Olympics, was the inauguration for woman’s boxing. This meant that women could now participate in every single sport available in the Olympics, like their male counterparts. Historically that was outstanding, however women are still not stepping on the same scale as men. Another example in the article by Annie Massa, involved Cuba.
“Cuba has long been recognized for its powerful performance in Olympic boxing, and refused to send a women’s boxing team to the Games. Cuban coach Pedro Roque justified the decision by saying women should be “showing off their beautiful faces, not getting punched in the face.” This shows that machismo is still present and men will always want to feel superior to women. Women are either shamed for how they dress, how they act, or for wanting to be something that is created “only for men”. Women and men in sports are never put up against each other to compete because of the gender binary. When we look at the bigger picture, we tend not to see women and men both competing each other in a game of football because the logic of society is that “men will win”. However, I think women can go further into breaking boundaries if we allowed it and it could be that men fear the possibility of losing at something that was “made for them”, which then hurts their pride and self-esteem. Furthermore, if women started taking over the football scene, men can start to find it unappealing and take off to something else exclusively for them, which is called male …show more content…
flight.
In Brazil, football was dominated by men and strictly prohibited for women.
Women were forbidden to play that sport up until 1975. The first official women’s team called Federal Club, was established 2 years later in 1977. It took a big rise in popularity in women and by the 1980s in gained support from big companies such as, Coppertone, Cinzano and Unibanco. “Unfortunately, during the championships of 1984, fighting broke out between Radar and Bangu. The media and educational authorities used this to attack women's participation in football and financial support from big companies was withdrawn”. (“Women’s football in Brazil: Progress and problems” by Ludmila Mourão and Sebastião Votre) This drastic turn of events affected women negatively, however that did not stop them from continuing in breaking boundaries. Although, they received national discouragement throughout their beginnings in Brazil and gender prejudice, with much success they internationally became recognized and won first place at the First Women's Football World Championships in 1991. The inequalities have progressed through the years for women, and unfortunately they still face the difference in their paychecks. I as a male, always ask myself this question. Why do women get paid less, if they do the exact same thing as a male? It happens in the workforce and in sports. Female athletes make much less than their male counterparts. They make less money, get less attention from the media, and work just as hard.
The inequalities have diminished through time but as a society we still need to fix many cracks along the road for women.