The Inescapable Reality Of Gender Ideology: Being A Woman In Sport

Julia Wang 10148983 Tutorial 003 - Friday 12:30 T.A.: Marty Clark
The Inescapable Reality of Gender Ideology: Being a Woman in Sport Today’s society believes that gender equity has been achieved in sport, yet the socially constructed normality of gender stereotypes is still prevalent even in today’s society. As a woman in sport, society has created the belief that women’s capabilities are lesser than those of males. In this essay, I will argue how gender stereotypes of women and society’s expectations of me as a female have negatively affected my enjoyment of badminton. Society’s deeply rooted social image of women is that we are weak and unable to produce results which are similar to men; this opinion has made
it difficult to enjoy badminton as I am constantly judged purely because of my gender. Although society’s opinions of women in sport have changed over time, we have a long way to go from achieving true gender equity. Many will continue to suffer from gender stereotypes so long as we do not change the ways we think about gender ideology. I have personally felt the discrimination of gender stereotypes from my time on the high school badminton team. I first joined the team in grade nine as the only female in my age division. At that time, my skills were nowhere close to the males on the team, and I was soon labelled as the weakest member of the team. It was a frustrating experience to know that my team mates did not see me as an equal, primarily because of my gender. They had already expected my skills to be less than theirs, and when their initial expectations were confirmed, they showed no surprise. It was clear that my physical strengths lacked greatly in comparison to the males on the team, so I focused on the technical aspect of badminton in order to improve. Over time, I greatly improved and was eventually able to compete in matches against male members on the team. I was confident in my physical ability as well as my technical skill from the effort I had put into training. During a match in an inter-high school tournament, I had an opportunity to smash against my opponent, so I smashed as my coach had previously taught me. As soon as I did, some boys from the bleachers shouted in surprise: “Oh my gosh! She knows how to smash! What is this?” Initially I ignored their words and continued to smash when I had the opportunity. Invariably, they continued to shout: “She’s still smashing! It’s not a fluke! She really knows how to smash!” Due to those comments, I became very agitated and upset by their words and had difficulty calming down. I was extremely troubled by their words because I realized the boys had judged me the moment I had stepped foot on the court. The gender stereotype that females are frail has caused males in today’s society to believe that they are better and that females are incapable of achieving results similar to theirs (Coackley & Donnelly, 2009). Those boys did not question their own surprise because the gender stereotypes are so deeply rooted in their psyches, as well as the way they live their lives (Coackley & Donnelly, 2009). I was subjected to the false label of being frail and weak as a result of the organization and ideology of society, rather than the actual difference of skill between genders (Millington, 2015). At the beginning of my badminton career, I had to challenge the stereotype that had been placed on me; by the end of my badminton career, I was sick and tired of trying to break that stigma. Ultimately, it was the social construction that females are lesser than males in sport that made the experience of badminton less enjoyable for me, as I was constantly proving the inaccuracy of gender stereotypes in sport. In today’s age we would assume that society has made great changes in the way people see and treat females within sport, yet there are historical gender stereotypes which are still prevalent in today’s society.
The idea that “females do sports, but not the same way as men so therefore, by logic, they do not do them well enough to receive equal support” is still prevalent in today’s day and age (Coakley & Donnelly, 2009). Prior to the early 1970s, most people did not question the male dominated/identified/centred organization of sports as they believed that females were naturally frail and unsuited for most sport participation (Coackley & Donnelly, 2009). Over the past fifty years, female athletes have demonstrated clearly that notions of female frailty were grounded in ideology, rather than nature (Coackley & Donnelly, 2009). And yet, I was still subjected to the notion of frailty as it was as a shock to others that I was capable of smashing as a woman in badminton. Through the social organization of sport, male identified-orientations and actions are used as standards for defining what is right and normal (Millington, 2015). Because I could perform actions that mirrored men, I caused surprise and disbelief in those boys. It is clear that without continued efforts to achieve gender equity, there is a tendency in cultures to give priority to men’s sports and male athletes (Coackley & Donnelly, 2009). Although this situation has improved since the 1970s, we are still being affected. Gender ideology continues to influence how we think and relate to others (Millington, 2015), and if we do not persist in the pursuit of gender equity, more and more females will avoid
sport. Gender ideology has influenced how others perceive me as an athlete, which affects my enjoyment when playing badminton. With the current gender ideology, I feel uncomfortable participating in badminton as others have created a false idea about my skills based solely on my gender. I feel pressured to prove my worth as a female in sport, and I feel hurt when my hard work is dismissed as simply “being a fluke”. Despite society’s opinion, gender equity has not yet been achieved in sport. In order to achieve true equity, gender ideology must change and current normativity must be challenged (Millington, 2015). As a society, we must continue to talk and advocate these issues or else society will continue to diminish the worth of talented female athletes in sport.

References
Coackley, J.. & Donnelly, P. (2009). Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Millington, R. (2015). Gender II. Kingston, January 22.