Stereotypes In Sports

Our society has many stereotypes about participants in sports. Gender stereotypes in sports affect females negatively; more must be done to encourage females to live up to their potential in any athletic/sport.

Traditional gender roles that are created by today's society cause stereotypes to both males and females (Greer). Gender stereotypes occur in athletic sports and can have a great effect on the participants and their performance. Sports participation is often seen as a masculine activity, which is perceived as male dominant. In my opinion, this is very unfair to the successful athletic women who have worked hard to make a name for themselves in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Participation in competitive sports violates

The barriers to women's participation in sports start at very early ages and carry all the way through adulthood. An example of this exact statement is in young United States tee-ball leagues, where young girls are being placed in less prominent field positions. For example, the prominent positions may include pitcher, first base, shortstop, and third base. It may be seen that young girls are put in positions such as outfield or second base and the young boys will occupy the prominent positions. Younger girls find themselves sitting on the bench more than the young boys, because of the gender stereotypes. Coaches choose to focus on developing male athletes rather than female athletes, especially in terms of young age (“Gender, Leisure, and Sport”). The stereotypes that young children are exposed to at a young age and raised into believing have a huge impact on their athletic performance and growth. Examples of stereotypes could be that boys are better than girls at sports, boys are more athletic than girls, and boys are stronger and faster than girls. These stereotypes can affect youth and young adults to the players at the professional level, women are stereotyped at every level (Greer). The perceptions of women often are shaped by societal gender roles, which are mirrored in media coverage (“Gender, Leisure, and Sport”). When the media shows stereotypes in sports, that encourages and promotes

Causing very young children to be influenced in a way that could limit their experiences and minimizing their opportunities to try different sports, that they could potentially succeed at. Gender stereotypes are categorized based from masculine, feminine, and gender neutral, because of the differences between the three. Power, speed, and strength are known as male activity (Alley). The stereotype also causes people to believe that masculine sports require risk and team spirit. Whereas feminine sports require cognition, advanced skills, and aesthetics. While, gender neutral sports require endurance. Anyone can gain endurance with practice so it seems logical that sports from any realm require endurance (“Gender, Leisure, and Sport”). Sports with a high level of contact are thought of as only appropriate for males “not ladies,” a few examples of these type of sports are ice hockey, football, rugby, lacrosse, wrestling, and soccer. Non-contact sports are acceptable for female participation such as golfing, swimming, gymnastics, and volleyball are a few examples. This is due to the “emphasize beauty of line.” Sports that are appropriate for women are individual rather than team sports, and sports that have a high emphasis on lean bodies. The stereotypes of girls/women having the “perfect body” can have a huge affect on their performance. For example, a girl with muscular legs may be stereotyped, because