Representation Of Women In Sports Research Paper

Along with Title IX, the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 was passed which prohibits discrimination against sex, race, and disability, but this law prohibits the discrimination in non-school, open, amateur sports. This Act was generated by the underrepresentation of females, non-Caucasians, and those with disabilities in open amateur sports and the “unfair national team selection for Olympic, Pan American, world championship, and other international sports events” (Lopiano). In addition to federal laws, political pressures, the global women’s rights movement, expanding health and fitness movement, and increased coverage in women’s sports all contributed to the increase in women in sports. The global women’s rights movement “emphasized that females

Women are typically pushed into the sports of tennis and golf because they are non-contact sports in which women can continue to wear skirts and express femininity. When women play contact sports, society views them as masculine and usually labels the player as a lesbian. On the other hand, even though there are still high levels of discrimination in women’s sports, participation still continues to rise. In 1972 prior to Title IX, 1 in every 27 high school girls played high school sports and that number rose to 1 in every 3 by the year 1998

In a study conducted in 2009 over a six week period, on average, men received around 90% of televised airtime, while women received 1% and gender neutral topics, 2%. This information is lower than the information found in 2004 which found that 6% of airtime was dedicated to women’s sports. In 2009, ESPN’s SportsCenter devoted only 1.4% of its coverage to female activities, which was a lower percentage than both 1999 and 2004. During a newscast, the leading story is typically the most important and longest story of the segment. This study by Messner and Cooky found that 100% of the newscasts in the study led with a sport story related to men and these segments even focused on men’s sports that were not in season, rather than women’s sports that were currently in season (Messner 4-6). Overall, male sports continue to be more popular than female’s mainly due media coverage. Women’s sports are not typically sponsored by large companies because they do not receive enough exposure. Athletes who do not have a popular sponsor, will not receive as much time as someone who is sponsored by, for example, Pepsi. If women’s sports attracted a greater audience, more time and money would be invested into them, but with the age-old stereotypes that are still established in society today, the majority of humans will only watch the best athletes, which they