Woman and Sports; Will it Ever be Fair?
Even from the very beginning of the wonderful entertainment industry that we call sports, society ranked women and the sports that they played much lower than the sports played by males. In this Timeline of sports, we see that public, competitive sports began in 776 B.C. This first public competition was in the format of the Olympics yet women didn't begin to compete in the Olympic games until 1900. During this historical installment of the Olympics, there were a grand total of 997 athletes. Out of these 997 athletes, only 22 of that large number were women! They were only allowed to compete in five sports at this point; tennis, sailing, croquet, equestrianism and golf. It obviously took society a really long time to adjust to the simple idea that women are capable of doing something as trivial as "playing" just as well as men.
Progressing as a society to the point of allowing women to leave their aprons and dusters to condition for something other than a pie making contest is great, but society still has a long way to go. In the article Huffington Post- Gender Discrimination in Sports, Sarah Collins brings up the little known facts that differentiate men and women athletes such as the differences in wage as well as the invention of Title IX. She even includes information about how to file a complaint related to discrimination for both men and women. Unfortunately, women and sports have a very long way to go before they are respected on the level of their male counterparts but at least the world is on the right path. My hope is that one day televised tailgates will be held for women's sports just like they are for men and they will be equal in funding and excitement.
-Sarah Jump
Hi Sarah!
ReplyDeleteI did not know that women began to compete in the Olympics in the year 1900, and that the only sports they were allowed to compete in were tennis, sailing, croquet, equestrianism and golf. That sounds so crazy to me considering I am a woman and I have participated in and excelled at sports my whole life, like softball, basketball, lacrosse and swimming. The sports that I grew up playing are also typically considered more aggressive than the sports women were initially allowed to compete in during the Olympics in 1900. I think you are right; society has come a long way in that respect. However, I personally have never felt like I have been discriminated against because I am a woman in terms of athletics. Growing up, I went to schools that had more than enough funding for women's teams, so it is difficult to identify with what your article was saying regarding funding. Perhaps the reason why men seem to get more funding for sports and athletic related scholarships is simply because even today, more men play sports than women. I just wonder if that was taken into account for the statistic that "male athletes get $179 million more in athletic scholarships each year than females do".
-Bridget Thomas
I agree that there is a lot of discrimination in the sports industry towards women. As a female athlete myself, I would definitely agree. For example, at my high school the men's sports would be highly advertised particularly the football team and baseball team who both had poor records while our softball team would have no advertisement although we were undefeated in our league and were champions the previous year. Also just by watching sports on TV, it is highly dominated by men and it seems that there are just more men playing sports than women.
ReplyDeleteIf you think about it, men are more predisposed to have an interest in sports as opposed to women so it would make sense that more men would show an interest and play sports.
I completely agree that there have been huge advancements for women in sports and that there's still a long way to go. I feel that women are entirely capable of doing all the sports that men do and the fact that there isn't an NFL or MLB for women is really disappointing. I also think it's rather ridiculous that professional sports refer to men's sports while women's sports need to be specified in the title. It's really not fair, and even with all of the advancements you've mentioned, you are very right in saying that there's so much more to do. I do however, have faith that in time this might not be a problem anymore. Thank you!
ReplyDelete-Casey Coulter
Oh my, there is so much discrimination when it comes to girls in the sports industry. Being a female, I used to get called a sissy or told that I threw like a girl ALL of the time in P.E. (it took a lot of perseverance to stick with sports). Thankfully, I've seen progress for girls' sports just while growing up. I mean, my mother wouldn't have even seen many clothing advertisements of females looking tough in work out apparel-- So, I'm pretty lucky.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you chose to write on this topic, and I agree, it feels like we, as a society have a long way to go. You said that your hope is that one day televised tailgates will be held for women's sports just like they are for men. I'd like you all to imagine watching a game of women's football when half time comes around, and you get to see men dance teams twerking and dancing provocatively on the sidelines, instead of women.
-- Josephine Hicks