The Olympic Games: Gender Separation, And Media

The Olympic Games have been around since ancient times. The games have been used as spiritual, religious, as well as entertainment events. These games began with the Greeks, the division between the male and female sexes were relevant as early as 10th century B.C. Olympic games among ancient times didn’t allow females to participate within the games. In fact, the games didn’t even allow females to attend and watch the games. In 1896, Baron Pierre de Coubertin resurrected the Olympics and still no changes had made for women participants. This form of ancient sport and ceremony may have been a very long time ago and some believe that today this gendered inequality within the Olympic games is not an issue. Although women may be able to participate within the Olympic Games today, there is still
The two places that could find improvement is gender separation and media. The Olympics is still separated based on gender, even though women have been making great advances within their levels in physical ability. There are only a handful of sports that allow men and women to compete together and against one another. In further years coming if women continue to advance their physical abilities maybe the Olympics will further abolish the binds between gender. The second issue within the Olympic world is the way the media portrays women. Women are being portrayed as sex symbols within the media as opposed to athletes like men. Sports broadcasters often don’t refer to the physical abilities of some of the female athletes, but instead comment on their physical attributes. Magazines and advertisements also, illustrate men and women in different lights. Yes, women have gained many rights within the Olympic world, but their right to compete equally with men has not yet been established. Our societies views on women as strong, competitive athletes has not changed