Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Women and sports
1 comments
By: Colleen - from the series of guest posts written by Dr. Baldwin's students at Michigan State University.
As a college aged student athlete, I find that sports are very important to the health of anyone; both male or female. But it makes me very upset that high school, and college female sport teams do not get nearly the same amount of funding that men's sport teams do.
At my old high school, the all male (big surprise) football team members did not have to "pay to play" - when at the same time the all female gymnastics team was being downgraded to "club" status because they did not have "enough members" for the school to pay any costs; let alone recognize them as a team sport. The root of this issue lies in the assumption that the sports are designated for men - and the women who play them are treated as the second class in the world of athletics. And this, obviously, needs to be fixed.
As a college aged student athlete, I find that sports are very important to the health of anyone; both male or female. But it makes me very upset that high school, and college female sport teams do not get nearly the same amount of funding that men's sport teams do.
At my old high school, the all male (big surprise) football team members did not have to "pay to play" - when at the same time the all female gymnastics team was being downgraded to "club" status because they did not have "enough members" for the school to pay any costs; let alone recognize them as a team sport. The root of this issue lies in the assumption that the sports are designated for men - and the women who play them are treated as the second class in the world of athletics. And this, obviously, needs to be fixed.
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April 27, 2010 at 2:40 AM
It really bothers me that sports in high school and college are still unfair. As a matter of fact, it doesn't stop there. I feel like male sports with all be more popular. I don't think that women will ever get the respect that men get in regards to sports. Think about from the way high school students are treated in this example, then think about college. Few people go to women's basketball games, and tickets are free or very cheap. Then think about men's basketball. Games are usually sold out, always on TV, and people will pay a lot of money. Now think about professional sports. Almost any sport clothing sold is to support male athletes. Very, very little support women athletes and sports. Few people get together to watch a women's sporting event but there are always parties and social events watching and supporting male athletes. I don't think that this is okay, but I don't see things changing.