I will analyze Helen Lenskyj’s work Out of Bounds: Women, Sport, and Sexuality, on its ability to expand my knowledge on how past medical and societal ideologies impacted women’s aspirations and involvement in sports. Beforehand, I did not completely understand that less than a hundred years ago, women were not even allowed to play sports. The primary concern then was the fear of sports damaging their reproductive organs (Lenskyj, 1986). While today’s society has become more accepting of gender-neutral roles, more improvements still need to be made when compared to their male counterparts. The historical context and authenticity that this book offers in regards to women's evolution of gender equality in Canada and the United States enlightened
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Her work suggested that the past social construction restricted women, and it was a very unpleasant place for them to reside. Women were told what they could or could not say, do, think, and wear. Women could not choose their sexuality for many years. Females became confined into the formality that the only sexuality that was normal was heterosexuality and that anything else was forbidden. If women were too muscular or did not have enough fat on their chests, their male counterparts would consider them as unattractive and implied that they were trying to steal roles of the men within their culture. Similarly, doctors would label women who did not fit into society's norms as mentally ill and sent away from their families to sanctuaries. Also, she proves that the struggles that women encountered were certainly not a result of their helplessness, but the fear of what they were capable of accomplishing in a highly male dominated society. This lack of support resulted in women being physical, verbally, and mentally subjugated for many years because they were unable to reach the same goals as their male counterparts. Similarly, women sports programs and leisure facilities were not sufficiently funded back then as well as
Her work suggested that the past social construction restricted women, and it was a very unpleasant place for them to reside. Women were told what they could or could not say, do, think, and wear. Women could not choose their sexuality for many years. Females became confined into the formality that the only sexuality that was normal was heterosexuality and that anything else was forbidden. If women were too muscular or did not have enough fat on their chests, their male counterparts would consider them as unattractive and implied that they were trying to steal roles of the men within their culture. Similarly, doctors would label women who did not fit into society's norms as mentally ill and sent away from their families to sanctuaries. Also, she proves that the struggles that women encountered were certainly not a result of their helplessness, but the fear of what they were capable of accomplishing in a highly male dominated society. This lack of support resulted in women being physical, verbally, and mentally subjugated for many years because they were unable to reach the same goals as their male counterparts. Similarly, women sports programs and leisure facilities were not sufficiently funded back then as well as