One issue faced by female athletes in their chosen sport, is the perception they lack physical capabilities and the issues surrounding this myth. Before the 1920’s women were only allowed to participate in sports that required little to no physical activity (Simri 40-48). Women at a young age were taught that their bodies are physically weaker than males. As a result, women would not use their bodies to their full capability in fear of being socially ostracized or causing bodily harm to themselves. Thus, perpetuating the false notion that they were inherently weaker than male athletes. These ideas of female frailty emerged during the beginning of the twentieth century and are only now being proven wrong. Physicians and physical therapists have proven that there is very little difference in physical ability between female and male athletes given equal training. Many women have begun to realize their natural abilities and have started to take part in more physical demanding sports. However, there is still the lingering impression that women cannot produce the aggression that certain sports require. This notion is popular among women as well as men (Dowling).
The media’s depiction of female sporting events, also have a direct impact on the success of female athletes and their selected sport. The general media, consisting of photographers, editors and journalists, shapes ones thoughts and ideas on sports and athletic competition. All three groups, regardless of sex, were found equally responsible for the under-represented coverage of female athletics (Pederson et al. 376). These views and opinions expressed in the media are then considered to be the norm amongst the dominant society according to that representation. The ability and power to shape the viewers opinions by presenting what’s culturally acceptable has led to viewer preferences for men’s sports. Without a similar level of support by the media, women’s sports have been very slow to develop an audience of their own. The audience that does participate in spectatorship consists of family members, friends and male viewers more interested in the women’s physical appearance then their athletic capabilities (Farhi).
The general public and specifically women want a personal connection to sports. Marketers of professional sports are aware of this and so female athletes are encouraged or in some cases, required to make themselves accessible to their female fans (Farhi). Despite all the efforts made by corporate figures, accessibility alone isn’t enough to solve the decline in female adolescent sports participation. The goals obtained by elite female athletes are often viewed as extraordinary achievements in the media, which gives the illusion that it takes an exceptional athlete to produce the same results. If the goal is perceived as being near impossible to reach, then it will be less likely that that particular athlete would be considered a significant role model to an adolescent girl (Vescio et al.).
When young girls do become seriously involved in sports they are in danger of sexual harassment and abuse. These hidden problems are more likely to occur because female athletes find themselves under the jurisdiction of male coaches and organizers. When an abusive act occurs, the female athlete is placed in a predicament, unsure of whether or not to report it or to whom. As a result of this many incidents of sexual harassment go unreported. This abuse serves to undermine the ability of the female athlete to continue in their chosen sport. This essentially leads to the female athlete being forced out of the sporting organization (Kirby et al., 132).
Only in the recent few decades have women managed to make headway into the male dominated field of sports. Despite these progresses into the sports arena women are still considered to be unwelcome. The always-present masculine ideal has undermined the female athlete’s ability to gain professional recognition in their sports. Through a lack of media representation women’s sports have experienced a lack of social acceptability. Not only does the insufficient media coverage allow women’s sport to be of unequal value compared to men’s sport, but the under-representation in the various levels of athleticism become more apparent with respect to adolescent girls. This perpetuates the cycle of fewer female athletes, small audiences and little public attendance. As long as these problematic situations exist, sports will continue to be a male dominated field.
Works Cited
Dowling,
Farhi, Paul “Women’s Pro Sports Marketed to Participants.” Marketing to Women 14 (2001): 1089-2958.
Kirby, Greaves, and Hankivsky. “Women under the dome of silence: sexual harassment and abuse of female athletes.” Canadian Women Studies, 2002; 132.
Pederson, P., Whisenant, W., & Schneider, R. “Using a Content Analysis to Examine the Gendering of Sports Newspaper Personnel and Their Coverage.” Journal of Sports Management (October 2003): 376-393.
Simri, Uriel A Concise World History of Women’s Sports Netanya: Jerusalem, 1983
Vescio, J.A., Crosswhite, J.J., & Wilde, K. “The relevance of sporting role models in the lives of adolescent girls.” ACHPER Healthy lifestyles journal, 2003: 31-36.