Mixed-gender sports Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Mixed-gender sports - Term Paper Example In the past women had no opportunity or even a chance to improve and develop their bodies. It was not preferable for women. Now the situation has changed and women took part in the competitions, but the amount of them is much less than the amount of men. It would take much time to improve the situation (Bryant, 2003, 140). Feminist movements made many attempts in order to gain the same rights and conditions for women. Only at the end of the 20th century the world saw the results. The sport was not considered to be a male privilege and from that moment women received the opportunity to participate in almost every kind of sport. For sure we cannot say that the full equality has not been achieved and now feminists turned their attention to the problem of segregation (Bryson 350). At first sight in the world of sport the segregation does not provoke any disputes; it is just accepted by its participants. And there are a number of reasons for that. Due to the physical peculiarities, women have less opportunity to demonstrate their skills. The trouble is that sex segregation in sports seriously influences not only the issue of discrimination in sports circles, but also on the sexual hierarchy in the society in general. So, this issue is very important and worth-discussing as it refers not only to sport but to the everyday life as well. Mixed-gender sports could help defend the rights of women, so it must be introduced as much as it is possible. There is an opinion that the main aim of feminists concerning sport is to get rid of men, especially in those kinds of sports where women suffer from men’s athleticism. To say more such evidence as gender segregation in the team sport is accepted by both women and men. The basis for such statement is the myth that men have privileges over women, because they are stronger from the birth. So, gender segregation in the field of sport contributes to the common belief that women and men belong to the different worlds. Now man y scholars is concerned with the issue what role the gender plays in sport and how it influences the position of women in the modern world. In order to find the answer to this question it is enough to recall the participants of different kinds of sport. Just remember the Olympic Games, where women and men have different competitions. People can explain it due to different physical abilities and as a result women usually compete with women and men with men. An interesting thing was noticed during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. The German team had different colors of jackets for women and men and it looked like the indicators of gender that automatically demonstrated the differences between them (Bryant, 2003). And here the important question arises if such separation takes part in professional sport and if the professional sport tries to emphasize the differences between men and women. According to the official sources a great number of sports are gender-segregated at a p rofessional level. On the other hand, researches show that a great number of men already recognize that women as athletic as they are. Anderson came to the following conclusion in his research: â€Å"thus, in the sex-integrated sport of collegiate cheerleading, even once sexist and misogynistic men were able to witness the athleticism of women, befriend them in