The Issues of Women in Sport Essay Example

📌Category: Gender Equality, Social Issues, Sports
📌Words: 952
📌Pages: 4
📌Published: 14 June 2021

Sports in society introduces many new opportunities for athletes to expand their mental and physical wellbeing. However, when focused on women, sports tends to be a place filled with mental and physical harms. In American society, it is plain to see that women are usually seen as weaker than their male peers both physically and emotionally. Issues within women's sports are caused by the fact that society's progression only goes so far as to allow women to be seen as fragile, feminine, and submissive. The struggle of women in sports is centered around society as a whole, leading to serious topics such as abuse, identity issues, and sexualization rooted in the women’s sports industry.

First, women who engage in sports often cause others to discover the vulnerability of athletes. Although it may not seem visible, women and young girls are likely to deal with negative comments or even physical abuse from either teammates, coaches, or peers. “Jealousy was the main issue… This was often disguised through taunting and name calling...” (The Conversation 2015). In society, jealousy within a “female-dominated” industry is something that is expected. However, its reasoning is embedded in society's need for women to be better at something. Taunting and name calling others due to jealousy refers to a girl's need to strive for acceptance in a male-dominated world. Females are seen as the sex with the most drama, despite the fact that the male gaze is something that affected and continues to affect this gender the most with its unrealistic standards and downplaying of a womans abilities. Bullying is not only between jealous peers, but can also reside in a coach’s need for control. “These verbal attacks were mostly behind closed doors… Where she could get you alone and tear you apart.” (Taugher 2019). Coming from a place of such power, coaches are expected to lead their team like a family. However, this control can become exciting for some coaches, especially when it is over the gender deemed as soft and vulnerable. Manipulation, humiliation, and degradation are evident in many coaches behaviors, so much so “to the point where practice was dreaded.” (Taugher 2019). The effects of such abuse is something that sticks with those abused, leading to worsened mental health issues. “‘The Hillary that started at Cornell was a strong, very confident person... Now she questions herself at every turn. I think it absolutely has broken her.’” (Dodgson 2020). A history of abuse and bullying is not an uncommon thing for girls going into and pursuing sports. The mental and physical abuse that comes with such bullying often leads to women questioning their self-worth and their ability to continue in sports. The issue of bullying remains a large topic within the female sports industry, as society continues to struggle with its internalized misogyny and need to overpower women who empower themselves.

Next, athletic women, especially younger girls, tend to have identity issues while in sports which leads to large amounts of self-esteem issues and loss of self-worth. “Low self-worth and a predetermined sense of failure – 50% of girls feel paralysed by their fear of failure at puberty which stops them trying new things.” (“Women in Sport…”). The “sports system built by and for men” (Fleshman, 2019) automatically puts girls on a higher expectation than men due to the obvious social and gender differences. Because of such a high standard in girl sports, many women feel as if they could not meet these expectations that reside around being skinny, strong, extremely talented, and attractive enough for society. This eventually drives many women away from sports, whether already participating in sports or not. The pressure of being enough doesn’t stop at simply not engaging in sports. “A big part of this problem is that women and girls are being forced to meet athletic standards that are based on how men and boys develop. If you try to make a girl fit a boy’s development timeline, her body is at risk of breaking down.” (Cain, 2013). Cain, being a victim of an eating disorder due to her time working with Nike, speaks about her troubles trying to fit into the standards of women's sports. She felt she “found herself choosing between training… or potentially developing osteoporosis or even infertility” (Cain, 2013) while under the pressures of working for such a large program provided by Nike. Many women, including myself, can agree and relate with this statement due to the fact that society has been and will continue to see women as people that should be neat and respectful to others, submissive in other words. Because we are shown how the male gaze is so important from a young age, women easily fall into the insecurities and appearance-obsessions provided by this issue. The fact that girls have to even worry about what they look like through sports provides society with a glimpse of how a male-dominated society and their standards are placed in communities that are supposed to center around women. “We need visible role models of female athletes excelling on the field of play and reaching the Olympic podium, so that girls see, and believe in their own capabilities.” (Mlambo-Ngcuka, 2019). Representation in the media is something so powerful, but overlooked by society. In athletics, sports are automatically associated with men because of the amount of media coverage and because of its male-dominated industry. Without this coverage of women, young girls feel as if participating in sports is useless and difficult. Young girls begin to believe that women's sports is something that requires extreme talent in order to be recognized, which puts off many young athletes rather than motivates them. However, when seeing someone you can relate to being appreciated by the media and society alike, it becomes something of inspiration and shows “girls, boys, women and men alike what female athletes can achieve.” (Mlambo-Ngcuka, 2019). The serious pressures of society on women athletes starts very young, and ends up being ignored due to it being so normalized. The gender bias in society, being as prevalent as it is, is something that would require years of work and unbiasing, but is not impossible if society takes accountability and owns up to these certain issues.

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