Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Women in sports
When it comes to women in the world of sports I find that women not only are viewed in a negative way they are also associated with lesbianism as well and sexual promiscuity. Women in sports do not get the respect that they deserve nor do they receive the glory they should receive for their work. For example, more people go to men basketball game as opposed to women basketball game based on the simple fact that the individuals that they are watching are of the female sex and that in and of itself is totally wrong. Women work just as hard as men to reach athletic success and they should not be limited to sports that portray them as weak and dainty like cheerleading and gymnastics. Personally I love a woman who can get down and dirty with the guys and at the end of the day, can clean up rather nicely. My favorite athlete, male or female, is Sanya Richards a world class runner. She is my favorite runner because of the fact that she knows how to “be a man” when needed and know how to turn into a lady when she needs to. If women in sports learn to separate these two worlds, and society comes to understand that women are just as good of athletes as men if not better. We will, in the end be able to tear down the sexual barriers between men and women in sports and promote equality, but we are far from that point.
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I agree with most of what is communicated in this particular Blog entry on Women’s sports, however there are certain Women’s sports that are indeed more popular and have a larger viewership than the men’s equivalent sport.
ReplyDeleteWomen’s volleyball along with Women’s Tennis are 2 sports which are very competitive and not to be considered dainty at all. Just because the women are not using full contact to mutilate the opponent does not mean that they are not equally engaged with the mental ferocity that is required in any highly competitive sports whether it is male or female.
Mental toughness is required by all female athletes’ to overcome the public perception of the “difference between Men & Women” in sports.
Therefore you should not think that Women’s sports are dainty because it requires both physical and mental toughness to overcome the Male dominant sports perception that exists today.
Taylor Cook
kIN 339i
I'm going to have to disagree with the original blog. It is very unfair to suggest that people chose the NBA over the WNBA because they believe women playing basketball is wrong. Humans, like all mammals, are naturally going to engage in an activity that they believe is intriguing and captivating. If I have a slice of pizza and a piece of celery in front of me, I'm going to chose to eat the slice of pizza. It is not because I believe celery is morally wrong or because society tells me I should not enjoy it; I am going to eat the slice of pizza simply because it tickles my fancy more.
ReplyDeleteMany women's sports are not as mainstreamed as men's sports because people believe the latter is more exciting. Simple fact. The majority of the people watching the mainstreamed sports are men, so naturally men's sports are going to be more popular. Spike TV is a cable network aimed at a male audience. It has a plethora of sports shows. Oxygen Channel is a cable network aimed at a female audience. It has never had a sports program on. Networks like ESPN and FOX Sports are going to broadcast the sports and games that have the most lucrative fan base. Just look at how many NFL games ESPN has broadcast vs the number of NHL games it has broadcast. The reason why women's sports are not mainstreamed has nothing to do with a lack of respect for its competitors, but has everything to do with a lack of female viewers.
Women's tennis does have a larger viewership than men's tennis. However, men make up 55% of the viewers for the WTA. Can i suggest that the ATP (men's tennis) is suffering because of the simple fact that the individuals competing are male and "that in and of itself is totally wrong." I could, but that would be absurd.
-Quijada
KIN 339I, Mon 7pm
I would have to disagree with some parts of this blog entry. In the beginning of the blog there was the part where society goes to men basketball games "based on the simple fact that the individuals that they are watching are of the female sex". I think that society might have influenced more mainstream attraction towards male sports, but i don't think its correct to say SIMPLY because it's females. I'm a male and I enjoy watching and going to women's basketball, volleyball, soccer, pingpong games and more. However, on the brighter side of the blog entry, I do agree with the statement that "women work just as hard as men to reach athletic success". There are definitely different levels of competition for male and female athletes and I believe that the training athletes go through are interchangeable with the male and female sex, not limiting specific training to only a certain sex. I do wish that society and the media did pump up the intensity that female involved sports brings to me and show it to the world.
ReplyDelete-Pierpoint R.
I agree with the point that women in sports are underappreciated, mostly because they are women, but this is a mindset that both women and men both have. For it is not only the men who more often then not frequent mens sporting events, but it is also the women. Why men frequent mens events is beyond my knowledge too. You would think, especially in our society, that it would be considered gay, but then I would be going into the double standards that surround men and women, which is far too long of a debate. I will say though that women do work just as hard as men to be good at sports, maybe even harder. For they know the pressures they are under to actually get noticed, so alot of female althletes feel as if they have to go above and beyond perfection to be considered equal to a good male athlete. It is unfair, but that is life. I think the only way to overcome this is to start integrating male and female sports, so then their will be no barriers. Everyone will be treated equally and put up to the same standards, then and only then will we see who is the better athlete. Or maybe just maybe if we combine male and female sports we will stop looking at gender and judge each athlete solely on their performance. Who knows Martin Luthur Kings dream is slowly coming true, why can't that one?
ReplyDelete-Candace Goutermont
kin339i m7pm
At first, I did not feel that your blog was that offensive. Ok, yeah I am a girl and I play basketball, so I am going to fight for the girls. I am a little iffy with your statement on men and women’s basketball. I don’t think society has a problem with women playing basketball and that’s why they don’t attend professional ball, to be honest I think that people feel men’s basketball is just more exciting. People who truly like and know basketball will watch a women’s game and enjoy themselves because it is more fundamentally sound and true basketball players like that. In addition, I took great offense to the statement of “dainty” sports being Cheerleading and Gymnastics. There is nothing dainty about either one of these sports especially when you do them Competitively. One of my favorite cheer quote says “Wimps lift weights, cheerleaders lift people”. I do appreciate you saying it’s a sport tho, just take the dainty off!
ReplyDeleteC. Johnson 339I
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ReplyDelete