Free sample essay on Women and Sports

Common understanding about involvement of men and women in sports is that historically men dominated the sports field. The scenario is gradually changing due to increasing women participation in sports activities.

In ancient Greek Olympic games females were not only prohibited from participation in sports competitions, they were punished even if they were noticed watching the events.

Roman culture also looked towards women as the childbearer, childrearer, homemaker and to some extent sex symbol.

Historically most societies consider women to be non-aggressive, non-competitive, passive, dependent, submissive, emotional, supportive, unskilled and weak, while look towards men as aggressive, competitive, dominant, independent, active, skilled and strong.

Perpetual Sita-Savitri syndrom strongly works in our society even in this twenty first century stressing women to fulfill the ultimate goal of matrimony dedicating their lives for the wellbeing and comfort of their husbands, Children and other family members.

The great Hindu religious teacher Manu holds that women are to depend on their father first, then the husband and later the son. In Islam women are to put on “borkha”. And in Bible women are alleged as seducer.

Even the founder of modern Olympic games (1896) Pierre de Coubertin said, “we feel that the Olympic games must be reserved for the solemn and periodic exhalation of male athleticism, with internationalism as a base, loyalty as a means, arts of its setting and female applause as reward”. In Olympic Games their role should be as it was in the ancient tournaments, only to crown the winner with garlands.

Apart from above, non-participation or less participation of women in sports has been attributed to sex-specific anatomical and physiological characteristics of the female athletes.

No denying is the fact that anatomically and physiologically the females differ from the men in structure and function. Some of the differences are:

1. Women have lighter bones, heavy breasts and wider pelvis than the males.

2. Females have special organs for procreation which the males do not possess.

3. Problem of menstrual cycles and child bearing are very special to the females.

4. Females have lower center of gravity compared to males.

5. Females have less body height and body mass, lesser proportion of muscle cell than the males.

6. Females have smaller shoulder and more fat compared to the males.

7. Females’ cardiac output amounts to 55% of the males’.

Females have lesser O_z uptake capacity, lesser hemoglobin content, blood volume, lung capacity and vital capacity as compared to the males.

Sex specific characteristics which are determined by the genetic code of the individual play a significant role in sports performance of both males and females. These sex specific characteristics are different between males and females and place the females in an disadvantageous position in sport performance. The sex specific characteristics are:

(a) body build (size)

(b) organ specification (sex organs)

(c) Distribution of cell (e.g. fat cells)

(d) Cell volume (e.g. muscle volume)

(e) Cell composition (e.g. mitochondria)

(f) Growth and development

(g) Adaptation ability

(h) Psychological characteristics.

Some of these sex specific characteristics develop in the individuals from their early childhood and the females stand in a better position in respect of some characteristics compared to the males. For example females mature their nervous system earlier than the males, bones and teeth of females get matured earlier than males, the first word is uttered and first locomotors step is executed by the females earlier than the males.

In respect of bearing psychological loads and showing the ability for economic use of force the females exhibit better results than the males. But so far physical development which is very important for vigorous physical movement, females are in a poorer condition than the males.

Females have smaller hands and feet and lesser quantity of mitochondria in muscle cells and X-shaped arms and legs compared to the males. These differences definitely hinder the females in high sports performance.

Other conditional factors which contribute sports performance such as strength, endurance, speed, anaerobic capacity etc. females are poorer than the males. For example a female has only 60% to 80% strength of a male.

So far speed is concerned females have more unfavorable condition due to anatomical disadvantage (X-shaped arms and legs), lower C.G, less quantity of mitochondria in muscle cells. Regarding endurance at the age of 11-12 years cardiovascular efficiency of females is better than males, at 14 to 16 it remains stagnant and thereafter it reduces. Males improve this efficiency up to the age of 18-19 years.

As far as anaerobic capacity is concerned studies reveal contradictory results. As a general guidance males and females donot have any significant difference in anaerobic capacity. At 12-13 years, females are more efficient and at 14-15 years males become more efficient.

Regarding circulatory factors, as the females have smaller heart and faster pulse rate, they show greater and more rapid increase in pulse rate at the beginning of exercise, much slower recovery after exercise.

Periodicity of the females as a general understanding acts as a serious bottleneck on the way of sports participation. Even the medical experts advocated little or no-exercise during the menstrual period.

But modern medical opinion holds that females should restrict themselves from strenuous and vigorous physical activity during the first two days only. Evidences show that the best sports performances usually take place during the immediate postmenstrual period and the poorest performances take place during the immediate premenstrual period.

Effect of periodicity appears to the females as purely personal and individual. And of course, if there is any problem like cramps and nausea due to sports participation during menstruation period, then one should seek advice from a doctor to re-schedule the onset of the period by taking appropriate drugs.

The fact remains, as the records speak, that females won Olympic gold medals and established new records at all phases of menstrual cycles.

In respect of pregnancy and child birth, a number of research reports say that sports participation does not adversely affect pregnancy, and child birth, rather helps the females in a positive way.

Several studies ‘report that duration of labour is significantly shortened and disorders and complications during child birth is lesser to female athletes compared to the non-athletes.

Apart from this, that pregnancy is not an obstacle is realized when we recall that in the Helsinki Olympics (1952) one female swimmer won a bronze medal when she was pregnant. Champion athletes are reported to have participated in competitions during the first 3 or 4 months of their pregnancies and some even up to a few days prior to delivery.

It can be revealed from the foregone discussions that up to certain point of time. i.e. up to puberty males and females, do not significantly differ from each other so far as physical and physiological fitness are concerned.

Quite naturally after puberty, males enjoy certain additional advantages for the conditional components of fitness and the females also get certain advantages for coordinative components; and accordingly in their respective fields of competitions they make better performances.

The fact is that females should not be debarred from sports competitions because of some physical and physiological differences, when comparing them with their male counter parts; rather females can and should participate in all sports activities.

For their participation in all kinds of sports activities what they need is a broad based preparation through well planned scientific training. At the same time it is also to be admitted that females’ level of participation will remain lower than the males specially in those sports activities which require dominant conditional fitness components like strength, speed and their combination.

Females can successfully participate in Marathon race. Parachute jump, Triple jump, pole-vault and high jump, weight training and weight lifting, even robust game like soccer. In fact, females are successfully participating and improving performances in the above sports activities. Physical, anatomical and physiological factors have not been a bar.

So non-participation or less participation is a cultural one and due not to physiological or psychological diggerences. Our culture is always supportive towards the females to be gentle, timid, passive and submissive while sports participation encourages females to be assertive, competitive and dominant. Some practical problems females are historically facing regarding their sports participation:

1. Social pressure which appears to the females as the hardest hurdle to cross over.

2. Problems relating to sports clothing including problem of changing place specially for the gymnasts, swimmers, track and field’ athletes.

3. Time to spend longer hours for practice session.

4. Coaching by the male coaches.

5. Athletes’ financial burden.

6. Teasing, derogatory remarks towards female athletes.

Historically women were not only denied their right to participation in sports activities due to some unscientific reasons, false sociological and psychological notions but they were also being deprived from sports participation in this male-dominated society in some other ways also.

Common experiences establish that while there should be more budget provision for women sports to popularize and attract more and more women in sports arena, the reality gives us the opposite picture.

Educational institutions, governmental machineries like sports ministry, corporation, Municipalities and other public and private sectors drastically cut budget for women sports, be it for participation in sports programmes or for developing infrastructural facilities or procurement of sports goods and equipment.

Women have been denied the opportunity to prove their worth in the activities of training, coaching and officiating sports administration and management activities. Female athletes suffer also from discrimination in respect of employment opportunities.

But the scenario has started changing in favor of women athletes from the last few decades with the outstanding performance of the female athletes in Olympics and other international competitions.

Today women are not only participating in all kinds of sports competitions, they are also breaking some of the yester year’s performance records of the male athletes.

In some competitions, women athletes are fighting neck to neck to reach the performance levels of the male athletes. With the passage of time more and more female athletes are entering the international sports arena and this can be revealed from the following account of Olympic Games:

OLYMPIC GAMES -1896 – 2004

This increase in sports participation among the females during the recent past years may be due to

1) Availability of new facilities and opportunities for participation

2) Govt, patronage and encouragement

3) women’s liberation movement

4) Increasing awareness of the society regarding health and fitness movement

5) Increased media coverage of women sports.

6) Availability of sports scholarships

7) Reservation of seats for athletes for higher education.

8) Increasing job opportunities for athletes

9) Career opportunities of athletes.

10) Opportunity to receive coaching as well as academic tutoring.

11) Role model of outstanding female athletes.

12) Love, status, security, money honour enjoyed by successful athletes in the society.

No doubt the above factors have contributed in increasing the number of women participation in sports, but the society should remain cautious that this present trend may not remain automatic in future also.

Factors like budget cut, social pressure which is certainly not always scientific and logical, persistent male dominance, the fear of privatization of sports, unfavorable government policies, and relative lack of women involvement in coaching and officiating, in sports related administration and management activities and a negative attitude of family members, lack of adequate facilities and opportunities for female athletes, financial problems of female athletes and their families – all will remain very much operative in future also.

So there is no place of complacency. Society with all its active agents and instruments, right from the govt. machineries and specially the sports ministry down to the private and public organizations, different sports bodies – local, national, and international, corporate world, sports organizations at different levels, media people with their forceful publicity instruments and specially all educational institutions, at all levels should remain always careful and all should come forward and join hands together to create new participation opportunities along with new programmes of sports for women, allocate sufficient fund, pass legislations to establish equity like the Title IX of USA, involve women as coaches and officials and sports administrators recruit women athletes in different capacities without any prejudice and discrimination in respect of salaries and other facilities, take awareness programme for common people to remove the myths of women participation in sports, bringing a change of attitude towards masculinity and femininity and above all create a supportive environment where the females will feel free, fight prejudices, and educate themselves and their family members in favour of sports participation.