Gender Barriers in Athletics Essay -- Sports Feminism Equality Essays

Gender Barriers in Athletics2. What argon the social and ethnical costs and benefits of an individual (male or female) set downing a non-traditional sport for their gender/sex (eg women who enter body building, power lifting, boxing men who enter synchronized swimming or field hockey)?Throughout history it is lightheaded that not only women, but both(prenominal) genders have faced ostensibly insurmountable barriers when attempting to break into a sport that is not proper or stereotypical for their gender to participate in. though as a auberge we be making strides towards compare in sport, much(prenominal) as the climax of Title IX, it is clear that we still have a long focus to go. Though breakthrough policies such as this are base in the right direction, other evidence points towards the fact that as a fiat, we are still more comfortable with women in traditionally female sports such as field hockey as opposed to boxing, and men in traditionally male sports such as bod y building as opposed to synchronized swimming, since these activities fit with our preconceived notions of what is normal for a special(prenominal) gender. Supporting this idea is the fact that though we seem to be moving towards comparison in sport with many coeducational universities and colleges having sport opportunities for both sexes, funding is still extremely unequal, as states by the Womens Sports Foundation in 2001 But women and girl athletes have yet to reach parity with men. Women are still only about one-third of interscholastic and intercollegiate athletes. In addition, women college athletes receive less than 26% of college sports operating budgets, and less than 28% of college recruiting money. Though as a society we are making progress towards equality, in that location is no way... ...n of both sexes, as described below by Sandi Bittler, managing director of womens sports marketing for NikeIts not like when the boys used to play sports and the girls play with dolls. instantly there is crossover in appeal. The first time I sight it was in 1995 when I traveled with the womens national basketball team lap to 30 universities. For the first time I started seeing these female athletes pinch younger kids and it didnt matter if it was a young boy or a young girl (http//www.reporternews.com/1999/features/sport0822.html).In this manner, it is clear that these athletes are taking strides towards equality by affecting the in store(predicate) of our society, youth. Though as a society we face many remaining obstacles in striving toward gender equality in sport, it is important to look at what has been accomplished, and also look to the future for what can still be done.