Posted on behalf of Kate Ryan:
The public complains that women’s sports are underrepresented in the media and female athletes try just as hard to compete in their sport and are just as skilled and qualified to play college and professional sports as their male counterparts. But I feel as though this issue about women’s sports is a no win situation in the eyes of the media. The relationship between female athletes and the sports world is directly correlated to the ideals our culture has created around what is feminine and what is masculine; and furthermore, that if these lines are blurred or crossed, it is not something that generally accepted. And things that are not accepted in our society receive little to no recognition.
The issue that many female athletes have to deal with is that of homosexuality because they play sports in the industry that is so heavily associated with male power and heterosexuality. Chapter 29 of the Handbook states, “The WNBA, for instance, has strategically represented itself in such a way as to counteract the American public’s fears about the players-and thus, by association, the sport- being homosexual.”(486). So to counteract that, women in professional sports tend to overcompensate by becoming overtly sexualized in the media. And all this does is reinforce the roles that men and women are supposed to fulfill in our society- men as powerful and aggressive, and women as feminine, graceful and submissive. What do you think about this idea, and is this kind of a cycle ever going to end in the world of sports?
In Dasna Woitkowski’s article, “The Sex of Sports” (http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/local/scisoc/sports02/papers/dwoitkowski.html)she writes “when the ABL and WNBA, particularly when the WNBA, started up, many people questioned whether women could play professionally and handle the pressure of living up to the NBA.” This already brings up one part of a multi-layered argument with gender and sports- why do you think there’s this established notion that women would not be able to handle playing in the same league, the same sport, as men?
Woitkowski goes on to further explain in her article that “As soon as commercial ads came out for the WNBA league, it was done in a fashion to show that the WNBA did consist of straight women and it was not a league for lesbians. Even though basketball is not a traditional sport, the idea of women playing a men's game at the professional level was a big deal. So even before the league started, someone felt that he/she had to prove that not all aggressive female athletes are gay. It's funny, but in a sad way, that women have to prove their sexual identity, but the men's are never questioned.” Why do you think women have to bear the burden to proving their sexuality, and men don’t? Do you think it’s even necessary to include or incorporate sexual orientation in the sports world? How much do you think the sports world discriminates against homosexuals?
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The world of sports is a very masculine world, for that reason, the issue of women sporting events doesn't appeal to men because women cant do hat men can. (not writers opinion, just stating the majority) They dont want to watch women play sports such as basketball at a high level either because its not entertaining to them and or the fact that men feel inferior to the pro women athletes because they couldn't cut it in the professional level.
As far as homosexuals in the sporting world, it all goes back to masculinity of sport. Homosexuals are viewed as weak and "unmanly" to straight men. (once again just a comment, not opinion) For most men to be beat out in a sport or loose their starting position on a team to a women would be degrading, now replace that women with a homosexual, its magnified 100x's.
There is a great deal of discrimination regarding this in the sports world, i feel it will be this way for a long time until something, I don't know what, if i did, we wouldn't have this problem, comes along an changes the idea that has been like this for years.
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