The Inequality Of Women In Sports

Women have and always will face inequality all their lives. It will occur in different forms as time passes, but there will always be something along the road to remind a women that she is simply “made to reproduce”. For example, in past times, it would be seen as something unnatural for a woman to participate in sports that were primarily dominated by men. Today, we are currently living in the 21st century and the differences among male and/or female athletes is huge. More than half of the world accept that women participate in sports, but they are still left in the shadows and must overcome many obstacles to make a “household” name of themselves. Men have much easier access to participate in sports and a far greater chance of success, whereas
“Cuba has long been recognized for its powerful performance in Olympic boxing, and refused to send a women’s boxing team to the Games. Cuban coach Pedro Roque justified the decision by saying women should be “showing off their beautiful faces, not getting punched in the face.” This shows that machismo is still present and men will always want to feel superior to women. Women are either shamed for how they dress, how they act, or for wanting to be something that is created “only for men”. Women and men in sports are never put up against each other to compete because of the gender binary. When we look at the bigger picture, we tend not to see women and men both competing each other in a game of football because the logic of society is that “men will win”. However, I think women can go further into breaking boundaries if we allowed it and it could be that men fear the possibility of losing at something that was “made for them”, which then hurts their pride and self-esteem. Furthermore, if women started taking over the football scene, men can start to find it unappealing and take off to something else exclusively for them, which is called male
Women were forbidden to play that sport up until 1975. The first official women’s team called Federal Club, was established 2 years later in 1977. It took a big rise in popularity in women and by the 1980s in gained support from big companies such as, Coppertone, Cinzano and Unibanco. “Unfortunately, during the championships of 1984, fighting broke out between Radar and Bangu. The media and educational authorities used this to attack women's participation in football and financial support from big companies was withdrawn”. (“Women’s football in Brazil: Progress and problems” by Ludmila Mourão and Sebastião Votre) This drastic turn of events affected women negatively, however that did not stop them from continuing in breaking boundaries. Although, they received national discouragement throughout their beginnings in Brazil and gender prejudice, with much success they internationally became recognized and won first place at the First Women's Football World Championships in 1991. The inequalities have progressed through the years for women, and unfortunately they still face the difference in their paychecks. I as a male, always ask myself this question. Why do women get paid less, if they do the exact same thing as a male? It happens in the workforce and in sports. Female athletes make much less than their male counterparts. They make less money, get less attention from the media, and work just as hard.