It also stimulates the economy and tourism leading to interaction between different cultures, for example the Olympics, and sport role models. Sports clearly are an important part of cultures and societies around the world as such events as the Olympics and soccer’s World Cup capture the interest of billions of people. Sports and sport images have become a “pervasive part of our everyday lives, especially for those living where resources are relatively plentiful and the media is widespread” (Coakley, 2003, p. 2).
Gender refers to the “female and male differences created by social, cultural, historical and political expectations about behaviour, interests, abilities and attitudes to men and women in sport” (Jarvie, 2006, p. 309).
Throughout history, society has clearly defined the roles that men and women were expected to play. In these roles, men were seen as both physically and mentally stronger, and women were seen as more gentle, caring and physically and mentally weaker than men.
Men participating in sports which demonstrate grace and elegance was not, and to some extent, is still not considered to be what society terms “norm”. Because of this, male athletes can be placed under pressure to succeed so that they can maintain an image of masculinity. For example, one of the most commonly used insults is to say that “so-and-so throws like a girl” or “so-and-so runs like a girl. ” Poor male performance in sports is compared with a female’s natural performance.
The Essay on sports vs women
... Within society today, the media has downplayed the role of the woman within sports. When the American people think of women in sports, they ... not yet been removed off marketing male-associated sports, television advertising of women athletes and their sports has greatly increased in the past ... Monster, or hover over the line of scrimmage. Men have always had sports heroes of the same sex to look up ...
Likewise, a woman participating in sports which demonstrates or requires a great deal of physical strength is considered to be un-ladylike and from this the idea of femininity and athletic excellence could not be put together and it led to describing women athletes as lesbians. “Women who play men’s sport have constantly to negotiate their status in traditional cultural contexts of men’s power and privilege, and in a general discourse of femininity, patriarchy and compulsory heterosexuality” (Craig & Beedie, 2008).
An example of a female athlete being ridiculed for portraying society’s idea of non-femininity is Martina Navratilova. Martina was the first female tennis player who began to play tennis more as a power sport than a sport of technique. Subdued by an oppressive communist system that controlled the Czech Tennis Federation, she was seen to be playing in the style of men instead of playing women’s tennis. As she did not fit into society’s image of how a woman should look, behave and play tennis, she was ridiculed and branded as the proverbial ‘bad egg’ when compared to her contemporaries.
Additionally, she was branded as a lesbian, which caused more hardship for her as she was forced to face a world which was much more homophobic at that time than it is now. Her sexual orientation is not a prime issue; it was something that was used against her and something that was assumed simply because she did not portray the feminine image that is expected of women. Another example includes Dutch Olympian Fanny Blankers-Koen, also known as ‘the flying housewife’, who was deprived of defending her high and long jump world records due to “the restriction of women track and field athletes to three individual events.
The restrictions placed upon her capacity to enter all the events she was capable of doing well in is indicative of the male-dominated sporting world of the time” (Craig & Beedie, 2008, p. 34).
The Term Paper on Time When Women Sports Men Olympics
... the housewife image, and allow women to become the multi-million dollar sports athletes that men are today. If women never had the opportunity ... of the greatest females athletes of all time, who helped shut down the stereotype of women not being equal with men, was Billie ... participation before Title IX was only 294, 015 girls, but after the title there were ten times the females-2, 240, 461 athletes ...
As sport is traditionally associated with masculinity, female athletes can often be defined as ‘invaders’ and can be deterred from participating in sport and, in some societies it is considered as inappropriate for women to participate in any sport. Sports can become a battleground where gender stereotypes can be shaped and reaffirmed, or contested and challenged” (Craig & Beedie, 2008, p. 104).
Stereotypes can allow greater participation in certain sports for females such as gymnastics and dance where grace, beauty, coordination and artistic interpretation is emphasised. Alternatively, a female athlete who wishes to participate in ‘rough’ power sports such as rugby, hockey or football are most likely to be labelled ‘tomboys’ therefore, decreasing one’s willingness to participate in such sport.
The difference in the participation of men and women linked with gender inequalities and participation opportunities, in the modern Summer Olympics, can be seen in Appendices 1 and 2, the data in Figure 1 and Table 1 illustrates the number of events open to men is much greater than to women, and men have always had greater participation in the games than women. Increasing participation of women in sport can be linked to five factors according to (Coakley, 2003).
These include; new opportunities, government equal rights legislation, the global women’s rights movement, the health and fitness movement and, increased media coverage of women in sports which has enabled women to become world class athletes. One well known movement which came about in the US is Title IX. This states that “no person in the United States, can be excluded on the basis of sex, from participation in, can be denied the benefits of, or can be subject to discrimination in any educational programme or activity receiving federal financial assistance” (Jarvie, 2006, p. 310).
This increased not only participation of women in sport, but also in funding and athletic scholarships from practically zero to 33 per cent. Gender ideology is traditionally reproduced in many men’s sports. However, gender ideology is changing as new ideas about femininity become more accepted and women have become involved in sports, previously being excluded and overcoming societal barriers. Social class is a term used to “identify specific groups of people through economic considerations that emphasise groups’ differences on the grounds of wealth, income and status” (Craig & Beedie, 2008, p. 4).
The Essay on What Do Women Want From Men
Where did all those romantic fellas go? With all that can be, all that is within us, romance lives forever! So why not take advantage of it. Did you ever look around and wonder why a woman will chose another man over you? Maybe you are more handsome, intelligent, richer and so much more than that other plain fellow what's his name. But he's romantic and obviously knows how to treat a woman and ...
There are three main divisions of social class, upper, middle and working. Many people believe that participation in sport Coakley, J. (2003).
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Sport Sociology. Exeter, UK: Learning Matters. Jarvie, G. (2006).
Sport, Culture and Society: An Introduction. Abingdon: Routledge. Messner, M. A. (2007).
Out of play : critical essays on gender and sport . New York: State University of New York Press. Mewett, P. (2000).
Sociology: Australian Connections 2nd edition. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
