In the November 15, 2018 class, we discussed gender and sports, specifically women in sports. There is no denying that men's sports are more discussed, watched, and covered than their women counterpart. Women have been misrepresented dating back centuries, as well as men in terms of their roles in society. This is largely due to the topics we discussed in class including:
- Sex-Role Stereotyping
- Agencies of Sex-Role Stereotyping
- Participation and Equity Issues
While we are the ones at fault for this, we can't help that we learned this from a young age. Since we were born we have been taught how our gender behaves and vise-versa. In particular, this is covered in the topic area of the agencies of sex-role stereotyping.
- Agencies of Sex-Role Stereotyping
- Family
- boy or girl
- parents direct behavior towards masculine and feminine activities (i.e. toys, clothing color, activities)
- children develop gender-typed patterns of behavior as early as 15-36 months
- School
- reinforces differential expectations
- steers boys/girls to different activities
- perceptions of what men and women are good at
In a 2016 study, girls between the ages of 8-12 are 19 percent less active than boys. This is a result of the lack of encouragement from their family members and their teachers. The study also states that girls:
- take approximately 2,000 fewer steps than boys, which can result in health issues
- have 18 percent lower cardio-respiratory fitness
- 44 percent lower eye-hand coordination
- 9 percent perceived altitude in physical activity
- 5 percent more body fat
This gender gap in sports also affects the women who are in the professional sport industry, particularly the athletes.
Over the course of a 25-year study of women's sport coverage, three researchers from USC and Purdue have found that female athletes are belittled compared to their male counterpart. Over the course of their research, the three coined the term "gender-bland sexism," describing how women sports are talked about when televised. In more detail, networks such as SportsCenter use "bland" language to normalize their sports compared to men's. The authors also discovered that even when compared to women's sport coverage from 1989-1999, that even though it is respectful it is still lackluster. The research also concluded that highlights, interviews, and other coverage were relatively shorter in women's sports than in men's.
While we are still not where we should be in terms of equality of women in sport, people like Leah Robinson have provided hope for the future. Robinson has developed a curriculum, CHAMP, in order to help develop motor skills and physical activity for girls and boys ages 3-5. While there are still differences in terms of participation, the fact that more girls are active and have a support system should help eliminate sex-role stereotypes in the future.
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