The participation of women in sports has increased enormously since the inception of Title IX over 30 years ago. However, women’s sport still have not reached the size and passion of the fan base that men’s sports draw. There are a number of factors involved that has caused the development of this contrast. These factors include conflicts in the view of American womanhood, fans only accepting athletes who meet the “white beauty queen” standard and athletic competition being seen as being a men’s activity. Before looking at why there is a contrast between the growth in the participation of women in athletics and the difference in popularity between women’s and men’s sports, it is useful to look at the contrast itself. The growth in women’s
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Women had, for a long time, been considered frail and not as capable as men. This view of women’s inferiority is no longer an outright part of the views of the majority of Americans, but some remnants and connotations remain. Commercial entertainment puts forth a view of womanhood that emphasises sexual appeal. This contrasts with women athletes because athletics are focused on an individual’s athletic ability and not just their appearance. So women’s athletics that bases its players on their skill level and not just appearance may have trouble attracting …show more content…
This perception may be propagated by men’s sports get more attention, so more men than women participate in sports, causing men’s sports to get more attention. And even if the perception is not consciously there, there is a disparity of athletic heroes between boys and girls. “When they’re [men] are little, the dream about the NBA or the NFL or Major League Baseball. Women don’t have that” (Grundy and Shackelford pg 244). Relatedly, even if athletic competition is perceived as being acceptable for women, there may be views that men are better athletes. This would help keep men’s sports more popular than women’s sports due to the perceived better play, in the same way the NBA could draw fans over collage game due to the higher skill of the players providing an more exciting game. The participation of women in sports has increased enormously since the inception of Title IX over 30 years ago. However, women’s sport still have not reached the size and passion of the fan base that men’s sports draw. There are a number of factors involved that has caused the development of this contrast. These factors include conflicts in the view of American womanhood, fan’s only accepting athletes who meet the “white beauty queen” standard and athletic competition being seen as being a men’s
Women had, for a long time, been considered frail and not as capable as men. This view of women’s inferiority is no longer an outright part of the views of the majority of Americans, but some remnants and connotations remain. Commercial entertainment puts forth a view of womanhood that emphasises sexual appeal. This contrasts with women athletes because athletics are focused on an individual’s athletic ability and not just their appearance. So women’s athletics that bases its players on their skill level and not just appearance may have trouble attracting …show more content…
This perception may be propagated by men’s sports get more attention, so more men than women participate in sports, causing men’s sports to get more attention. And even if the perception is not consciously there, there is a disparity of athletic heroes between boys and girls. “When they’re [men] are little, the dream about the NBA or the NFL or Major League Baseball. Women don’t have that” (Grundy and Shackelford pg 244). Relatedly, even if athletic competition is perceived as being acceptable for women, there may be views that men are better athletes. This would help keep men’s sports more popular than women’s sports due to the perceived better play, in the same way the NBA could draw fans over collage game due to the higher skill of the players providing an more exciting game. The participation of women in sports has increased enormously since the inception of Title IX over 30 years ago. However, women’s sport still have not reached the size and passion of the fan base that men’s sports draw. There are a number of factors involved that has caused the development of this contrast. These factors include conflicts in the view of American womanhood, fan’s only accepting athletes who meet the “white beauty queen” standard and athletic competition being seen as being a men’s