Breaking the norm: the rise of women in sports.

    

Let's face it. Sports fans overall have more interest in men's sports than women's. Growing up, boys in sports often feel pressure from peers, parents, and coaches to play hard and be tough otherwise you will be compared to as a girl. "Crying is for girls" and "you throw like a girl" are often said to young athletes in motivation of not being weak.

Gender in sports often portrays women's beauty and looks, rather than their talent and abilities itself. Nike created the "I feel pretty" ad starring Maria Sharapova to break the "Just a pretty face" motto.
Women often don't receive the recognition they deserve, like in Joan Ryan's book Little Girls in Pretty Boxes.

Women will never be equally comparable to men in sports, but Title IX attempts to cut off gender discrimination and create equality in collegiate sports for men and women athletes. However, schools often find loopholes. A federal court last year ruled cheer-leading as not a sport; this can not be used as a way schools expanding women athletics.

League names also show differences of gender in sports. There is the PGA and LPGA. There is also the NBA and WNBA. Men's sports don't show gender in the title while women's do. Even the participation in the leagues differs with thirty teams in the NBA and only twelve in the WNBA. Down hill skier Lindsey Vonn requested to participate in the Men's World Cup. The International Ski Federation rejected the request, stating "Men ski in the Men's World Cup, Women ski in the Women's World Cup." It was nothing personal to Lindsey, just the league would not let one gender cross into the other's tournament.

While women fight for equality in sports, one sport has really made an improvement in accepting minorities of race and gender participation. Former NASCAR driver Janet Guthrie was not accepted well among other drivers in the late 70's, but current driver Danica Patrick is. Patrick is the first woman to win the top spot for any race in the top circuit of NASCAR; the Daytona 500. Since winning the pole, Dan Gelston explains that Patrick received a hug from Tony Stewart and hand shake from Jeff Gordon.

Years ago, women were not even allowed to enter garages. NASCAR has shown improvement for equality in a sport, with women competing with men while gaining acceptance. Will we ever see total equality for gender in sports? Jeff Gordon's statement after Danica Patrick's pole winning states how every sport should view its athletes, regardless of gender.

"It's not about the color of your skin or gender, its about your abilities. You have to prove that. I think Danica's a talented driver." - Jeff Gordon

http://espn.go.com/blog/olympics/post/_/id/3570/rejecting-vonns-request-the-right-call-for-fis
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/50842923/ns/sports/
Images found on flickr

Why Does Society Judge An Athlete by Gender?

 

In the past many people have had the general idea that girls are to be cheerleaders and boys are to play sports. Society has pressured a lot of female athletes into thinking that many sports like; football, boxing, wrestling, MMA, and basketball are to only be played by men. The past few decades this idea has been slowly fading from our society, but in the past women who played sports were looked at as an exception to society. According to AAUW (American Association of University Women) the number of female high school students that participate in athletics has increased nine hundred and fifty percent since 1971. At my high school we had a female wrestler that competed at the 105lbs weight class and she ranked in the top three in the state for that weight class her senior year. This same girl went on to try out for the U.S. Olympic team, and she was competing against males. Another high school in our conference had a female quarterback on their football team freshmen year. Female athletes had previously been denied the right to pursue their athletic desires. A good example of this would be from the Friday Night Lights book on page 45 "The number on the white jersey each girl wore corresponded to that of the player she had been assigned for the football season." This quote may suggest that these Pepette’s had been denied the right of individualism due to the fact that they wore jerseys that had a male football players name on and that not of their own. The link below to the statics for participation in women’s high school and college level sports participation. (Skip to page 31-33)

Title IX allows for women sports of equal opportunity for both genders but society still assumes that girls should not participate in certain sports. Women’s sports at every level have become more popular and many women athletes have the ability to perform just as well as men do. According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, girls are permitted to participate in high school level boys’ sports if no equivalent girls’ team exists as long as they have equal size, strength, and skill to participate safely. There are many stories of how girls are starting to play football and ice hockey with boys even at the high school level. The link to the video below is about the first female high school quarterback in Florida, who proved to the coach that she can compete with males. Many sports do not have an equivalent girls’ team but sports that due have them have become a lot more popular in recent years. Many women’s teams have been able to draw larger crowds and a lot of media coverage. The 1999 FIFA women's World Cup attracted a larger crowd than the Rose Bowl of the year prior. Women have been participating in sports like MMA, wrestling, football, and ice hockey. Women athletes have been accepted by society, the question is, why does society still continue to judge athletes by gender?

http://juliefoudyleadership.com/jfsla_media/wsf_facts_march_2009.pdf

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7420338n

http://espn.go.com/blog/high-school/girl/post/_/id/462/girls-tackling-football-across-the-country

Women Deserve Respect Too

It is no surprise that in today’s society men are viewed superior to women in all aspects of life, especially sports. Joan Ryan states in her book “Little Girls in Pretty Boxes” that women’s gymnastics year in and year out attracts television audiences in record numbers. I am one of those viewers that fix their eyes on these incredibly talented girls who are barely old enough to drive. After reading Ryan’s book I have an even greater appreciation for these young girls and for women’s athletics in general. Ryan sheds light on the grueling year round training these young girls go through and the insurmountable pressure put on them by coaches, parents, and Americans as a whole. This pressure and training leads these girls to revert to such things as using laxatives and throwing up after they eat to keep themselves in the perfect form that they are constantly told they should be in. The time table for these young athletes is smaller than any sport, male or female. The training these young girls put themselves through and the pressure they are put under by themselves and others often times leads them to finish their careers with not only physical problems but psychological ones as well. This alone should have American’s hold a much higher respect for women and women’s sports as well.

In her article, Kelsey Manning explains that this past year’s women’s Olympic gymnastics team averaged an age of 17 while the men’s team averaged 21.5. The difference between the two genders is the race against time; men’s gymnastics welcomes puberty while women’s gymnastics fears it. Manning further explains that the intense training these girls go through stunts their growth and pushes the age they reach puberty back. Because men hit puberty at a later age, they ultimately have longer careers and more time to prepare. Women on the other hand have a small window to make or break their careers, they can train for years to be at their peak at a certain Olympics but not making the team or suffering an injury could wipe away all those years of training. They may not have a second chance because the next Olympics could come too late for them. The intensity seen on their faces during competition shows it all, they know that a single moment can determine their fate, whether they will be known as an Olympic hero or an Olympic bust. How are these girls not suppose to be celebrated as top men’s athletes are, there is no male sport that demands so much at such a young age. ( http://www.thegrindstone.com/2012/07/20/career-management/why-male-gymnasts-have-longer-careers-than-females-nastia-liuken-age-gymnasts-730/ ) 

 The physical and mental abuse these girls go through can affect them long after their careers are over and it is not uncommon for these girls to retire as early as 20 years old or sometimes sooner. An article by the American Academy of Pediatrics explains the multitude of injuries that athletes of high intensity training such as gymnasts experience and further explains how detrimental it can be to a young person’s growth. Proper nutrition is essential to everyone but is more so for athletes and as Ryan explains, elite gymnasts do not get it because they are trying to fit the mold of what a gymnast “should” look like. The physical and emotional stress is what could be the worst of it all. Young gymnasts could miss social and educational opportunities, are put under unrealistic parental expectations, and are exploited by their coaches. These things, amongst other can cause these girls to develop deep psychological problems. Little Girls in Pretty Boxes opened my eyes to a world that is not seen during the bright lights of the Olympics and shows what these girls go through to make it to this big stage, the lone sport of women’s gymnastics should put women up there with the most famous of male athletes. (http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/106/1/154.full)

Ryan, Joan. Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite      

 Gymnasts and Figure Skaters. New York: Doubleday, 1995. Print.

Starving for a Win: The Role of Eating Disorders in Female Athletics

 

     As a little girl I used to sit on the floor with my eyes glued to the TV as women in beautiful, sparkling outfits floated effortlessly across the ice and jumped and twirled with nothing but absolute grace.  I had the same admiration for my ballet instructor whose every move was fluid and gentle.  I idolized these women, and aspired to one day not only be able to move like them but also to look as perfect as them.  What I didn’t realize at the time, at least not consciously,  was that all of these women had one thing in common: they were thin.  It wasn’t until I watched a movie during health class in middle school about ballerinas that struggle with eating disorders that I realized my idols may have been suffering underneath of the smiles and glitter.  As Joan Ryan illustrates in her book Little Girls in Pretty Boxes elite female athletes face such enormous pressure to be thin that they often suffer from major physical and emotional health problems.  The reason that I never saw anything but beautiful smiling faces as a child is that female athletes do a great amount of emotion work.  When a female athlete fails in her performance she must not show even the slightest bit of frustration; she must remain the composed and professional athlete that the judges and her coaches expect her to be.  For this reason, eating disorders are often hidden by female athletes who do not want to risk losing their spot in competitions and being dismissed by authoritarian coaches.  A USA Today article documents how coaches often warn their athletes about gaining weight and contribute to the soaring number of female athletes with eating disorders (http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-02-05-women-health-cover_x.htm).

     Although female athletes disguise their problematic relationships with food, there have been increasing reports of women who have shared their stories. One of these stories is about track and field star Sarah Sumpter, whose untrained high school coaches did nothing to aid her in battling her disorder.  They may have simply been uninformed about eating disorders, or they may have ignored it because for every pound Sarah lost she ran faster and faster.  The article points out that while NCAA coaches receive nutritional training, high school coaches are not required to receive training and do not have nutritionists on hand to turn to with questions (http://espn.go.com/blog/high-school/girl/post/_/id/1648/does-a-hunger-to-win-fuel-eating-disorders).

    Sarah Sumpter’s sport is included in the list of sports that encourage thin bodies.  These sports, including gymnastics, dancing, and figure skating, are often flush with female competitors.  However, there are many men that also compete in these sports.  So why don’t they suffer from eating disorders as often as women?  The answer lies within sociocultural factors that shape how men and women view themselves. While men are encouraged to get bigger by gaining muscle, women are encouraged to be thinner.  Unfortunately, our culture reinforces the image of the slight, petite, skinny woman rather than the healthy, strong, self assured woman.  Although awareness is increasing, there are still little girls all over the country that watch with their eyes glued to the screen as their tiny idols flip, twirl, and dance across mats, rinks, and stages and aspire to one day not only perform like them but also to be thin like them. 

 

Hellmich, N. (2006, February 05). Athletes' hunger to win fuels eating disorders. Retrieved from  http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-02-05-women-health-cover_x.htm

Ryan, Joan.  Little Girls in Pretty Boxes:  The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters.  2000.

 

Savacool, J. (2012, February 29). Does a hunger to win fuel eating disorders?. Retrieved from       http://espn.go.com/blog/high-school/girl/post/_/id/1648/does-a-hunger-to-win-fuel-eating-disorders

 

Sports: For Women Too.

Sports and athletics are both an important part of every culture across the globe. Travel to any place and you will easily find both men, women, adults and children engaging in some sort of sport.  So why is there a higher value on men playing sports than women? With all of the physical, social, and emotional benefit of sports, why is there so much stigma attached to women playing at the professional level? Women will always be less than, not as good as, and weaker than men.

However, there have been recent movements in women's sporting equality. The formations of a national women's soccer team, the government actions bringing in the Title Nine movement, and big company campaigns supporting women athletics have brought women out of the dark, but there is still a ways to go. According to Jean Cassel of Livestrong, "male athletes get $179 dollars more in scholarships each year than females do." And colleges, on average, spend only one fourth of their collegiate athletic budget on women's athletics. The simple fact is, female athletes are looked down upon. Many of the world's best female athletes are virtually unknown and unrecognized. The Olympics brings about some recognition for women, but not as much as they deserve. This is what the girls in the book, "Little Girls in Pretty Boxes" worked for. Title Nine was put in place to give women equal opportunities in athletics and to stop gender discrimination. The object of this is to make sure any government funded institution is supporting women and in compliance with their "no discrimination" policy. There may be ways to beat the system, but at least there is a system put in place. That's more than there was twonty years ago.

Another interesting point Cassel makes in his article is about how men's and women's sports are set apart verbally. Language is important in the impressions it brings. If you think about the different sporting leagues, The NBA and WNBA, the LPGA and PGA, the WTA and ATP. Men's sports are not defined by gender. The effect of defining women's sports by gender makes them seem like oddities and against the norm. As Sarah Spain says in her ESPN article, women are just looking for respect. You can see from a quick google search of women sports, that female athletes are recognized not for their ability or talent, but for their looks. The google search brings up links to the "hottest female athletes" before anything else. Where is the respect in that? Athletes want to be recognized for their talent, not treated like cheerleaders for men's sports. The book "Friday Night Lights" only recognizes the girls that serve the boys football team, the "pepettes."

Women's sports have come far, but still have a ways to go. Recognition of women should be higher and more celebrated, great female athletes shouldn't have to worry that because they excel at sports that they will be seen as a lesbian. That sort of stigma is unfair and uncalled for.




http://espn.go.com/espnw/commentary/8191225/women-battling-equality-sports
http://www.livestrong.com/article/247625-gender-discrimination-in-sports/