From birth, there have been social concepts planted into our brains that women do not have the same physical abilities as men. Therefore men and women should compete separately from each other in sports.
As a young girl, I always heard that boys were more aggressive than girls, and therefore they should not be able to play any type of sport together. During gym class, my teacher always did boys and girls teams, so that we did not mix. I was under the impression that I was never going to be as good at sports as boys were.
But as I grow up, I see the problem with men and women being separate from each other,
because it's beginning to have a growing effect on society. A problem I see is that women who compete in sports are less supported because in the world of stereotypes, which is women are not meant to play sports competitively. The unsupportive nature of society is then carrying over, and making it seem like men and women are not able to play in the same category, because men are praised for sports where some women are shamed for them. But this type of behavior does not just exist in the professional world, it is seen in the high school level sports as well.
The social stigma is not the only thing that is playing a part in this problem, but also high school coaches are treating them this way. For the most part, I thought that my high school was an accepting and diverse place. I believed it was a place where boys and girls were treated equally, but my opinion changed when I witnessed a certain situation.
It was my second year running track at my high school, and practice was beginning to come to an end. It was a rest day for the girls, which included more stretching and strength training than running. I was relieved to hear that we would not be doing as much running, but there were other girls who wanted to get more of a workout in before they went back home.
As we sat there drinking our water, we noticed that the boys were still working out and I noticed from my peripheral vision that one girl, who was younger than me, began to get up and walk over to the boys. She got in line behind one of the boys and began to run with them.
All of the other girls, including me, watched with envy in our eyes. We watched as the girl kept up with the boys, and even ended up being in front of them. But then she was stopped by our coach. He pulled her to the side and what he said to her shocked me. He told her that she was not able to run with the boys because she was a girl.
All of the other girls, including me, watched with envy in our eyes. We watched as the girl kept up with the boys, and even ended up being in front of them. But then she was stopped by our coach. He pulled her to the side and what he said to her shocked me. He told her that she was not able to run with the boys because she was a girl.
My eyes switched between looking at the angry face of my coach and disappointment in the younger girls eyes. Watching this scenario play it made me realize that there needed to be a change in the idea of gender in the sports world. It also showed me that it was because of the people like my coach that women and men were so separated in the sports world, professionally and at the high school level.
I always saw a problem with the boys and girls being separate from each other because there isn't much of a difference between us as humans. Although there are some minor differences such as the weight of boys basketball being heavier than a girls basketball. Overall the rules of sports are generally the same for boys and girls teams. For many sports, such as track, basketball, baseball/softball, and lacrosse, there are separate teams for the boys and girls. But is there really a difference in the way that the game is played?
According to an article written by Sports Rec “Men and women’s competition is almost identical, with only a few rules differences, in sports such as basketball, swimming, and diving, track and field, soccer, tennis, and golf” (Rose 2018). Besides the slight differences in the rules, men’s and women’s sports seem to have more similarities than differences.
The main stereotype of women is motherly, and some believe that every single woman should have the ability to cook and clean. Whereas men are meant to be tough and aggressive because they possess the hormone testosterone. Because of these stereotypes women are dissuaded from participating in activities such as sports, weight lifting, sweating, and being aggressive. “Many girls stop playing because they are bullied, isolated, or feel unsupported. Boys are supposed to play sports. They are supposed to get some injuries from their games. Girls are supposed to support the boys by watching their games” (Jenkins 2019).
The way that girls are treated in sports is different than the ways that boys are treated. As long as the two genders are treated differently, people will not recognize their ability to collaborate together or compete against each other. Girls and boys should be able to play the same sports, compete on the same teams, and against each other because girls have the same physical and mental ability as boys.
Girls and boys should be able to play the same sports, compete on the same teams, and against each other because girls have the same physical and mental ability as boys.
There have been many articles and essays written about why girls should be able to play the same sports as boys, which shows that it's a chance people would want to see happen. I would like to see a change happen as well because of the events that I have witnessed, but also for the reasoning that the world is evolving.
Long ago women and men were not seen as equal. Men were the ones that provided, while the women stayed home and took care of the house and the family. But now there are plenty of families where both the parents work, and even somewhere the dad takes care of the house and the mom provides. At one point women weren't even allowed to have an opinion, one example is them not being able to vote. Society has made a lot of progress as time goes on, men and women being able to collaborate in sports would be another step in the right direction.
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