Judith B Stamper's Face-Off On The Playing Field

Equality is something that our country has been striving to achieve for centuries. From the 13th Amendment to the women’s suffrage movement, there has always been a battle to creating a balance society. Title IX is the new attempt to influence equality; this battle is between men’s and women’s athletic and educational opportunity. According to Cathryn Claussen, a director of the Sports Management program at Washington State University, comments that “prior to Title IX, only 295,000 girls played high school sports compared to 3.7 million boys.” We have all seen this trend since the Roman games in the colosseum; men competed center stage while women sat as spectators. Although, today you will see an unbelieveable change in pace. Women’s sports

Women have faced discrimination and stereotypes for thousands of years. What many people did not know though, is that it would take only one of them to transform not only the sports industry, but the outlook on women in everyday activities. Babe Zaharias Didrikson would not only become the greatest, and first, outstanding female athlete of the 1930’s, but would also be the leader of a movement in a time where being sexist was accepted, and where men dominated every aspect of life except for cleaning the house. Babe, being a physical power-house, dominated and participated in almost every sport imaginable to the mind. Through determination, strong will, and the persistence to overcome obstacles, Babe Zaharias Didrikson changed the world of sports forever by overcoming all common perceptions of women in her time and giving hope to all competitive souls of the sports world.

Women athletes and women workers do not get the recognition they deserve. Men especially, look down upon women when it comes to their appearances, their knowledge and a women's physical and mental strength. In certain cases, a woman loses out on a job in the sports industry because she is exactly a woman. A male trainer can refuse to train women because of the parts her body has. Men and women have grown up in a world with the mindset that women know less than men when it comes to sports. They have grown up with the ideas that, if someone is a woman she cannot train a man or do a man's job. The NFL has just made a difference in sports today with the first female assistant coach, yet there have been negative comments about that decision. Female athletes get vulgar tweets and other comments sent to them every day. It is extremely rare that a female athlete is held to the same standards as a male athlete. Delle Donne has proved that a female is just as great as a man, her free throw record is 95% while a male basketball player Steph Carry is only 90%. Sexism in sports is a continuing problem that our women athletes have to deal with every

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, sports and the culture that surrounds them almost certainly reflect each other. This is especially apparent in the 1970s when there were many changes in the ideals and mindsets of people all around the world, and we can observe in retrospect how these changes affected sports in that same decade. One example of an ideological shift in the mind of americans is the push for gender equality on and off the field. IN 1972, congress implemented a section known as Title IX as part of a large Education amendments act. This act forced schools nationwide to provide equal opportunities for women in athletic programs. In the years following Title IX, female participation in sports skyrocketed(Sabino 1). Money also

There 's been real growth in the number of women who participate in sports, receive scholarships, and benefit from increased budgets. There are more opportunities to compete at elite levels through competitions like the Olympics, World Championships and professional leagues. Opponents of Title IX claim that there is a negative impact on boys’ and men’s sports arising from attempts to increase opportunities for girls and women in athletics. These criticisms are based on misinterpretations of the law and are not supported by the facts. Title IX has revolutionized athletics as it continues to impact the world today. Before Title IX, women were given zero to none opportunities to participate in

“ No person… shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination” ( Wong). Within sports, many females get discriminated due to being “weak” or less interesting to watch. Some get less pay for having not equal amounts of participation as men do. The main issues are whether or not females and men should receive equal pay grade and whether if one does not participate as much which should they get the same attention. Equal pay grade may determine whether females play just as much as men and participate. Sports should not be based on whether you are more interested in girls or guys sports; it should be based on which sport brings in more revenue and has the most participation

In the article, “Title IX defeats male athletes” by Ann Coulter, she says that male’s teams are being decimated in pursuit of an insane feminist dream that has morphed into feral policy: to make women’s sports equal to men’s, but really this shouldn’t have happened. Women play different sports than men do, sports are all different, and they shouldn’t have to be equal. Some sports are for men, some sports are for women, and some sports are for both. Some of the sports that are for men, could be too competitive or too complicated, but the sports that are for women exist so that women don’t have to play a sport that might be too hard for them. So in a way, men’s and women’s sports are already equal if you think about it because there is something for men to play and something for women to

Women have come a long way in the fight for equality – in the 1970s women fought for things like equal pay and equal opportunities in the workplace, yet this is still an issue today. This is even relevant to sport as sportsmen earn more than sportswomen for doing the same job. For years’ gender inequality has plagued professional sports, with people suggesting women’s sport is of a lower quality and women will never be as good as their male counterparts.

As of today, people are generalized to specific ideas, and life choices because of their gender. Despite being more open-minded, the general public still manages to keep each other limited to doing certain things just because of their sex. This is prevalent in the development of younger children. Jane McManus authored the article, “Gym Class Heroes—Making It Better For Girls Who Just Wanna Play Football,” where she highlights one common stereotype branded on girls. The article includes a prominent amount of personal experience, tone, and pathos making it credible to only a certain extent.

Although over time gender discrimination has grown progressively over the years, one place that gender inequality is not fully present is in the sports world. Gender inequality in sports has been an issue in the industry for centuries. For years and years women faced the issues of lower pay, not as much publicity and not being appreciated as a female athlete. Clearly, even in this prevalent era of alleged equality and impartiality, most sports still remains as a male dominion, as there still is an unnoticed barrier between sport and woman. Through this analysis, I wanted to investigate some of the initial causes for the above circumstances.

Women are portrayed as weak, that they should stay inside, work around the house, and look pretty. In the movie, A League of their Own, a man says, “Why can’t you be pretty like your sister?” The two sisters were playing baseball; how does beauty affect how well they played? It does not affect how they well played at all. Later on in the movie once their team was formed and they began their first official baseball game, their coach, Jimmy Dugan said, “I don’t have ball players I’ve got girls!” It should not matter what gender one is to play a sport; the only

Gender Inequality in sports is an issue as old as sport itself. I choose this topic because we as a society seem to sweep it under the rug time after time. Women in sports however, try to address the issue only to have it go on deaf ears, leaving them to continue in the sport hoping something will change. Over the last few decades, strides have been made, but he sport remains an institution dominated by men. These women, whether they are in sport or in the business world, want a fair chance to be on the same level as their male counterparts. If society stops to understand the struggles these women have been facing for decades will have a clearer picture of what steps to take in order to make a change in the sports industry. Men need to put their masculinity aside and advocate giving women a voice. The purpose of this paper is to explore the issues women in the sport world have faced through history, wage gaps, current issues today, and to discuss findings and recommendations for future research.

“You hit like a girl”. This statement connotates women being the weaker sex which summarizes what gender discrimination in sports is. Dictionary-wise, it is the discrimination of one’s athletic abilities based on their gender. It is seen in every sport at any country around the world. Both men and women are victims of this but research proves that when are those who are mostly affected. Women receive less recognition than men and are classified as weak. Women too are called “tomboy” for joining a stereotypical male’s sport or for joining any sport in general. With that said, it also prevents people from discovering their true passion for the fear of society’s perception. Since gender discrimination in sports foes not give men and women equal rights and opportunities, promoting sports without gender divisions will lessen this.

Rather, female’s well-being and success is a major part Title IX was put to achieve. The educational, sociological, psychological, and physiological benefits of sports and physical activity to women is what really matters. According to “Physical Activity and Health: a Report of the Surgeon General” (1996), girls who play sports are more confident, have higher self-esteem, better body images, and are less likely to get unwillingly pregnant as a teen or be involved with drugs. As stated by Inger Thune (1997), “Sports participation reduces the risk of developing heart disease and helps control weight, build lean muscle, reduce fat and prevent osteoporosis. As little as two hours of exercise a week on the part of a teenage girl can reduce her lifelong risk of breast cancer”(p.1269-1275). In inclusion to having a good body image and being healthy, women participating in sports gives them a higher chance to graduate from school or college than those who do not play sports. Furthermore, athletic participation gives several students a chance for a higher education where it helps many middle/low-income students who may not be able to afford college, giving them access to this higher education. According to “Her Life Depends on it II” (2009), involvement in sports teaches women important professional lessons that have lifelong influence. For example, 80 percent of women identified as key leaders in Fortune 500 companies had participated in sports while growing up. Furthermore, 82 percent of executive businesswomen played sports, with the major part saying lessons learned on the playing field contributed to their success. Females who participate in sports grow more professional work ethic, good school manners, developed thinking skills, higher self-esteem, and better college aspirations and ambitions. According to Brad Wolverton (2006), college graduation rates for female athletes are notably

From my early childhood, I have been exposed to many examples of gender construction without realizing it, some of which I have experienced for myself. I remember one time in middle school when I tried out for the track team, I was deemed to be less proficient in the sport compared to a male that was trying out. The track team was a co-ed team. To me, it seemed like an opportunity that promoted gender equality since many sports are separated based on one’s gender. However, I remember a few boys giving me downgrading looks as though girls weren’t allowed to play the sport. I enjoyed running; it was an escape from the stress that I have endured, but the judgement from my peers made me feel uncomfortable and even unworthy. This is a direct reflection