Equality In Sports

1378 Words6 Pages
Should men and women compete against each other in sport?

In today’s modern society it is accepted that gender equality is aspired to in all areas of life. It is agreed that women should be paid the same wage as men, given the same job opportunities and have the same laws applied to them. So why is there still debate about gender equality in sport? Women and men compete in separate events in all sporting disciplines apart from Equestrian competitions and in mixed doubles teams in Badminton, Tennis and Ice Skating. My essay will look at the different arguments around whether or not women and men should be allowed to compete together in sport.

One of the most compelling arguments for why women and men should be allowed to compete against each other is that in today’s society in which women and men are equal and can do the same things, they should be given the same opportunities in sport. Women should be given the right to be able to choose whether they want to compete against men instead of being segregated by gender. When asked whether men and women should compete against one another in a recent poll the large majority of people (68%) said that they think women and men should compete against each other. In today’s world when race, colour of skin and religion does not separate us in sport why does gender? Many people think that this is a big issue in sport considering that we live in a supposedly equal world. A recent study in the US confirmed that only 1.6% of