Gender Inequalities in Sports



Pat Summit (above) is one of the more famous women's college basketball coaches.

Sports offer an abundance of sociological advantages to children. Sports can offer children a chance to develop good character, social integration, achievement motivation, and competitive skills. All of these advantages help promote a better society, but what if only one gender really gets to reap the advantages that organized sports offer? Some girls are restricted to what sports they can and cannot play. If a little girl has the aspiration to become a professional football player, she may receive some strange looks from society because society perceives football to be a “man’s sport”. The same has been seen in baseball, despite many women’s baseball leagues that were developed during this nation Second World War. Based off of these two examples, girls are restricted in what sports they can and can’t play at a very early age. Despite the restrictions women face in sports, many of them are still extremely motivated to participate in many organized sports such as volleyball, softball, basketball, and soccer. But are they treated as equals.

Before the passing of “Title IX” which is a portion of the Education Amendments of 1972 which claims, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance”. Women were subject to unequal benefits in high school and colligate sports during the 1960s and 1970s. The most notable difference was in employment in these women sports, as men heavily outnumbered women on coaching staffs. Women were also subject to unequal funding and publicity for their sports. Because of the harsh inequalities faced by women in high school and colligate sports, many would have been unmotivated and unwilling to participate or seek job opportunities in organized sport in the 1960s and 1970s. Title IX has done a great job in increasing exposure for women’s sports in the NCAA and it has balanced out the power distribution in men’s and women’s sports in the sports world, but has it stopped societies view on women participating in sports? In modern society the world of sports seems to be still dominated by men and it doesn’t seem to be changing in the near future. This is a good example when studying gender inequality.