Women In Sports

Women nowadays have the most opportunities ever and this applies for sports too. It took a long time for women’s struggle for their rights to lead the world to its modern state. Women fought their way towards equality and opportunity to participate in all the sorts of sports that men do. We can now observe female teams and leagues in all kinds of sports, even those that remained exclusively male privilege for a long time, such as powerlifting, bodybuilding or boxing. Certainly, women’s experience in sports and athletics has been gradually enhanced over the last few decades. Still, there remain some issues concerning not the legal, but the practical side of equality and difference between men and women in sports.

When we speak about sports, we primarily think about professional sports. And it is no secret that professional sports are about making money, not losing it. Unlike male sports, female ones are not popular among masses now and do not really draw the crowds. This naturally results in lower income for female teams’ sponsors and lower opportunities for women to develop themselves as professionals.

Other side of this issue concerns cultural aspects, restrictions and public attitude towards female sports. For example, muslim women are not allowed to participate in active types of sports, because they can not let men see their skin or hair. This attitude totally closes the path of sports for them, except for sports that consist in staying at home and cooking. In some cultures there are no strict prohibitions for women to participate in sports, but such career isn’t publicly approved. It’s a pity to understand, that there still exist such restrictions for human freedom. Luckily, that seldom stops women from going in for amateur sports for their pleasure.

Obviously, sports experience has become an important piece of culture for women. It is essential for emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing. However, most of sports lead to increase in muscular mass and therefore are considered the killers of femininity. This leads to a wide variety of examples, from masculine women, sacrificing their femininity for the sake of achievements to women who never go in for sports, fearing for loss of their femininity. In my opinion, this issue is of personal choice only and is mainly about individual’s happiness and not of public concern.

Fortunately, the pathway of sports nowadays holds a variety of opportunities for women. Female sports have become gradually more popular and acknowledged publicly. Still, there remain a lot of questions that need to be solved in either individual, or public plane.