It can be hard to figure out how to get more women into the athletics departments and sports organizations of America; often, there is a combination of old-fashioned social concerns about women in sports and women's reticence to enter sports administration as a result that prevents this from happening. However, I think that women who excel in these departments should be fairly and deservedly recognized, and their responsibilities increased in order to grant them these opportunities. I think a number of things are lost from this lack of women administrators and coaching. There are a distinct lack of female coaches as role models, and this often dramatically affects athlete's perception of them, both male and female (Frey et al., 2006). What's more, not having enough women in authority positions sends the message to both sexes that women are not there for a reason, and perhaps should not be trusted as sports authorities. I do sincerely believe that co-ed teams can happen, where the coach's gender does not necessarily match with the gender of the team. Both teaching and coaching styles are perfectly valid, and the gender of the coach should not interfere or be perceived to affect their ability to coach (Frey et al., 2006). Given the reticence by which many coaching programs seem to not want to talk about these issues, it is possible for sports organizations to mandate seminars, events and initiatives that force the conversation toward gender inequality. Male teams visiting women's sports team practices, hearing from and talking to female coaches, all of these things can open up perspectives and discourage judgmental or misinformed thinking about women's ability to coach.
I think there are a number of things that contribute to the perception that women's sports shouldn't be financially supported. First, people believe that they should not fund something that only a few people will enjoy. However, the issue is that the reason so few people express interest is because it is not there. Furthermore, there is such a drought in effectively marketed and received women's sports that it can be discouraging for women who want to participate in them to not see a greater "supply" of women's initiatives.
The main reason that women develop the Triad is a pressure to remain beautiful while still being athletic and working hard. To that end, societal representations of women should be more welcoming of healthy, fit, and athletic women without making them seem "butch" or "aggressive." This can send the message to women that they do not necessarily have to be skinny to be attractive, and they may be less likely to malnourish themselves and develop eating disorders. Because male ideas of beauty and attractiveness revolve around notions of physical prowess and strength, there is less of a temptation for men to starve themselves or be malnourished; they are also not as openly seen as sexual beings by the sports-going population, nor objectified in the same sense that women usually are.
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I feel as though these measures are incredibly restrictive and demeaning to women - it is not unlike the segregation that plagued schools and communities with blacks and whites before the Civil Rights Movement. If these situations were seen with the same gravity as separate bathrooms and drinking fountains, more attention would be paid to them.
The issue of transgender sports is a tough one to handle; it addresses the idea of segregated sports based on physical prowess - an all-boys team would be seen as physically stronger than an all-girls team. I personally believe that, for the individual's sake, they should be able to play on whichever side they identify with. However, that opens up more questions about whether that's fair to put a biological male onto a biologically female team.
Fanny "Bobbie" Rosenfeld was Canada's woman athlete of the first 50 years of the 20th century. She eventually coached the Canadian women's track and field team in London for the British Commonwealth game, and was a significant advocate for women being involved in sports. She was one of the earliest female athletes to achieve notoriety, and for that she deserves to be studied by those interested in women's sports.
I do not believe that men, for the most part, feel as uncomfortable playing in front of females - there is not the same stigma regarding shyness and demureness that is placed upon women. Men are told to show off and demonstrate feats of strength and agility, especially in front of women. There is not the same association placed on women.
Other benefits of physical activity include greater muscle mass, agility, prevention of depression and release of endorphins, stress relief, lower body fat percentage, and more.
References
Frey, M., Czech, D.R., Kent, R.G., and Johnson, M. (2006).An exploration of female athletes'
experiences and perceptions of male and female coaches. The Sport Journal 9(4).
