For decades, gender ideology has had a tremendous impact on the way people view the game and its athletes. A strong majority of ahtletes and fans believe women don't belong in sports but rather in the kitchen cooking and cleaning. This way of thinking has been passed down from generation to generation and slowly the barriers have been breaking. Female ahtletes are far more accepted now than 30 years ago but there's still quite an obstacle ahead for female athletes to reach the same equalities and opportunities as male athletes. In terms of the media, ESPN rarely shows games of female sports because they feel that if women aren't wearing bikins or playing lingerie football then the ratings would definitely be low and therefore they'd be losing money. On the other hand, ESPN have been showing more female tennis and volleyball but they both have one thing in common, required uniforms for both sport involve showing a lot of bare skin and that's how they see potential in profit. In the media, sex is the way to sell the female sports and get a more stronger following and viewers. It's not exactly the right reason but in a way, it's the only reason why networks like ESPN would be willing to put on female sporting events. The strong belief that's also been passed down from generation to generation is that men are much stronger, faster and more capable than women and therefore are better at sports and are more entertaining to watch. Popular athletes like Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady and Albert Pujols all show the strength, competitive drive and most importantly, star power than can attract a massive following. There are popular female athletes like Venus and Serena Williams, Danica Patrick and Diana Tarasi but they possess nowhere near the star power and attraction like the male athletes. These are some of the beliefs that have been passed on for decades but now things are moving in a different direction than before especially most recently the young 2012 US female gymnastics team that brought home the gold medal. Although they competed in a female dominated sport, it shows that female ahtletes possess the competitiveness and desire just as male athletes in sports. The most impressive part about their achievement was that they're more willing to play as a team where as male dominated sports tend to focus more on individualism than team work. Times are most certainly changing for the better and it's important to not judge a book by its cover.
-Ibrahim A.
kin332I
1 comment:
Ah yes I finally found a blog about gender ideologies. I find it very interesting how no one really speaks about gender inequality maybe because it seems like old news. However, as I read your blog I find it also interesting that you think that change is involving and perhaps the rest of the nation thinks so as well since there has been very little light shine on this issue. Throughout this semester I wrote my theory papers from a feminist perspective and understood that women in fact have proven that they are as competitive as male athletes. Yet, women continue to be discriminated in the sport world. Women athletes are given less media attention, are paid less, and are judge by their sex rather than their athletic abilities. You would think that after tennis player Billy Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in 1973 the world would change their perspective of women athletes. Although, this event has change the perspective of many it has not made enough impact to change gender discrimination in our institutions. As I sit back and try to make sense of it all I had made a connection that woman will continue to be discrimination if these gender ideologies will continue to be reproduce and reinforce. In fact gender ideologies are constantly reproduce in the media like you mentioned ESPN covers have 99% male athletes and when little than less of a percent are women athletes they are portrayed in a sexualized manner. If we remember those who control the media consist of a small group of white powerful men. They want people to believe that men and women are different and should be treated differently. They want to continue these traditional gender ideologies because these beliefs make men superior over women. If gender ideologies were challenged and men and women were viewed in equal levels then men face more challenges and possibly even loss of power. Therefore, gender ideologies are not going to fade anytime soon. Unfortunately, women athletes will have to settle for five minutes of fame or even a summer of fame (Olympics). Yeah some praise of women accomplishments is better than none but it does not count if the media content is highlighting her sexiness rather than her sport skills. Even though millions of women athletes their capabilities of being elite athletes women have not received equal opportunities in sports. Oh the glory of being a woman!
Valerie A.
Kin 332i (tu/Th 12:30-1:45)
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