The Structure Inequality of Gender in Sports

This week in class we had examined the structure inequality of gender and sports and also looked at body images of male vs female athletes. In the beginning gender in the US is based on a 2 category classification system that assumes men and female are heterosexual. Men and women who do not fit those categories are pressures such as gay, lesbian, and bi-sexual. Society tends to use sports to celebrate traditional ideas about masculinity. What society believes is masculine is however in my opinion the opposite. The majority of the people filling seat to see these sport games are grown men. These grown men enjoy watching other men sweat and worship them because of their great skills in a game. In addition it is these grown men who end up purchasing the posters, shoes, shirts of these NBA players. If we really think about it there is nothing masculine about watching and cheering other grown men engage in sports. Society again believes sports should be for men, and create the idea that the female athletes are invaders. When we saw the clip of the women's football team as first I thought there were all men because their reactions were just like how men are when there play football. When we saw the female athlete's pictures of them not looking attractive with the heavy breathing and no makeup to the next of them there would be a highly sexualized picture of them being nude posing as a model would do. Society is afraid to see women looking manly not feminine. We want the girls to look attractive and pleasant. We also saw a picture of David Beckham who is a famous soccer player. Society especially guys who play football believe that the guys who play soccer are fags or gay because there couldn't play football. My brother also says this to his friend who plays soccer but I am 100 percent sure he is joking with him. However the difference between soccer and football is little. Both games require men to wear tights or short shorts and engage with physical contact. The irony is that football requires jumping, tackling the guy to the ground which to mean seems more abnormal then kicking a ball in a net. However the message is till clear, however when we see Tom Brady society we want to see him with short hair and a beard because it makes him look very manly and strong opposed to seeing him with curly hair. I think society should not categorized athletes in any way. In addition with gender inequality the I believe that men dominate sports because the overall population again watching and going to the games are men not women. Women from the start were discouraged from taking part in sports as many people feared their ovaries would fall out. I find these very humors as well because society from the start didn't give women any fair chances of playing. Most men love sports even those who do not play it while the majority of women don't really focus into it. So the media is going to concentrate on male sports since men dominate the market.