For quite some time,
there has been a debate over whether or not females should be able to
participate in male sports. There have been arguments made as to why women should
be allowed to participate in male sports and there have been arguments as to
why women should not be allowed to participate in male sports.
People have argued that females should not join in male sports
is because men are biologically stronger and they will get hurt. Another
argument is that if females participate in male sports then what will do about
the locker rooms and practices.
There have also been arguments made that if females
joined male sports then they would get equal opportunities to both participate in
the sport and get the media coverage and respect they deserve. Males are
offered higher paying jobs and scholarships in male sports than females are in
sports.
The question is prevalent in today’s society. Why do
males dominate in sports? One of the reasons that will help shift the attention
of this blog to the male perspective is that Sports originally started out as a
masculine concept. Males have been participating in sports for thousands of
years in Olympus. Males used to compete for fame and honor and women were not
allowed to compete in those sports.
One of the main reasons I think as to why men do not want
to share their sports with women is because they are worried about their masculinity
and what will happen to it if females join their sports.
Nick Trujillo wrote an essay on sports and masculinity. Trujillo
examines how male athletes are created in American culture. In his essay “Hegemonic
Masculinity on the Mound: Media Representations of Nolan Ryan and American
Sports Culture” Trujillo examines what hegemonic masculinity is. According to
Trujillio who built off of Connell’s work, “Hegemonic masculinity is the culturally
idealized form of masculine character which emphasizes the connecting of
masculinity to toughness and competitiveness as well as the subordination of
women and the marginalization of gay man” (1).
There are five features that represent the hegemonic
masculinity in American culture. Those features are physical force and control,
occupational achievement, familial patriarchy, frontiersmanship, and
heterosexuality. (2) The biggest contributing factor that build and create
these five features to hegemonic masculinity is sport itself. Throughout
history, as seen in Olympus and other ancient societies, sports has made a
large influence as to what people believe in and how to believe in something.
Over time, Americans have been persuaded to believe that “sports build manly
character, develops physical fitness, realizes order, promotes justice, and
prepares young men for war” (2).
Trujillo highlights Ryan’s resilience to pitch through
innings with injured bones and his determination to overcome anything while he
is on the mound. Through the play of sports, Ryan has created and protected his
masculinity.
The image above is one
of Nolan Ryan. Trujillo’s essay examines specifically Texas Rangers pitcher
Noal Ryan and his hegemonic masculinity on the baseball field.
As seen throughout this blog, body structure and type
play a role in female sports. Hegemonic masculinity could be one of the causes
as to why females are treated the way they are in sports.
To return back to the beginning of this blog post and to
answer the first question above that has been debated for some time now, I do
think that women should be able to participate in male sports. I think this
specifically because the treatment is between the male and the female gender is
not the same. The opportunities between the two genders are also not the same. According
to the NCAA, Males receive more scholarships, their scholarships are worth more
money, males have an easier time of finding a job in the sports field, and
there are more male jobs in the sports field than there are woman jobs.
There is this large gap between male and females in
relation to sports. If females were rewarded with the same scholarships, jobs,
media coverage, and aired time on the television then I would not see the
reason why females would participate in male sports. However, because they do
not get the equal opportunities, I think that women should have the chance.
While I was writing
this blog post, I came across a great YouTube video that works in tandem with
this blog post. I attached above the link to the video. This video reports on
the gap between male and female sports. The newscasters discuss closing the gap
between male and females in sports and how to close that gap.
Work Cited:
Trujillo, Nick. “Hegemonic Masculinity on the
Mound: Media Representations of Nolan Ryan and American Sports Culture.” Critical Studies in Mass Communication.
8.3, 290-308. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment