Still Fighting

Women have been fighting for their right to participate in sports for years while they were forced to watch men play from the sidelines. I didn’t realize that women today are still battling to take their place alongside men. It surprised me to see that there is not widespread acceptance for this application because I thought Title IX was something that everyone was really for and supported. Though after reading the two excerpts from our book, I realize that that is not always the case. It was interesting to see that they thought that sports made women masculine. I understand that when a woman plays a sport, her muscle mass is going to increase, but I wouldn’t consider her masculine just because she is stronger. I found some very valid points in the Sport, Media & Society blog when they mentioned such frames may stem from increased media coverage of women’s sports that focuses on athleticism rather than femininity. I believe that this is a huge step in proving that women are more than just objects, but actual athletes. All too often women are portrayed on T.V. as sex objects about how they look while competing, and not actually how they compete. Women can’t be taken seriously as athletes, when all people see in the media is their bodies. There are a lot more to women than how they look, and actually showing them as athletes who have talent and skill would be a huge step in turning that around. Also the blog talked about that if visibility of women in sport authority positions were shown, then it would help to deconstruct the notion that sport belongs to men. This has been a huge problem throughout history that sport is solely for men and not a place for women, as either athletes or coaches. Society has always pinned sports as being masculine and not something a woman should do. For people to see women as authority figures in sport is a huge step in showing people that it is okay for women to hold such a high status and that we have a place in this so called ‘man’s world.’ It is going to be a slow process, but I think that these are some great strides forward in putting our foot in the door for women in the sporting world.