Taking Over Gymnastics!

As I was browsing through ESPN.com for news on female athletes, I happen to come across a link to the gymnastics page. My first instinct was, oh this should be good, a female dominated sport, they should have some good news here. But I was quickly surprised to see that the only news they had was the results from the Men's Championship. Now don't get me wrong, men gymnasts have just as much hard times getting media coverage as female gymnasts do but I thought there would be more news or information about the women then the men. As was discussed in class, gymnastics is one of those sports that involves lots of pressure to look good while also giving them hardships about what the typical female athlete should perform like. Being graceful but assertive and strong but sexy is a very hard image to up hold especially when you are in the spot light only wearing a leotard, leaving the rest to the audience's imagination. To me gymnastics is usually a female dominated sport but I guess I wasn't completely on track. Although I was surprised with what I found on ESPN.com I believe that it is just as important for men to prove themselves in sports like gymnastics, cheerleading or dance as it is for women to prove themselves in basketball, soccer, or hockey. It seems there will always be a constant struggle to fight for one's right to be an athlete.

Katelin Perry

Danica Patrick

A few weeks ago at the Indy Japan 300, Danica Patrick became the first woman to ever win an IndyCar race. This was of course a huge moment not only for Danica, who had long been considered the Anna Kournakova of racing, but for female athletes everywhere. Most of the media coverage was the same, all of them congratulating her while at the same time trivializing her accomplishment with comments such as "Beauty is a Beast" and "Danica proves she's not just a piece of meat." Every single article included some kind of photo of her, usually wearing a little bikini. One article made sure to include that she happened to cry which was only significant because she is a woman. Another article gave the credit of the win to her pit crew. While all of these articles were rather disappointing in their portrayal of Danica and her accomplishment, it was also typical of what's to be expected. Being an attractive woman who has marketed herself and her body, Danica is first recognized as a sexual object, second as an athlete. Sara Stith kin338I.S7

WNBA offers fashion and makeup tips to its rookies

I actually first heard about this while I was watching sports center. My first reaction was one of shock and I thought i may have heard incorrectly. As part of a two day orientation WNBA rookies learned how to apply blush to the apples of their cheeks and how to put on eyeliner "to recieve the right attention off the court." Basically the WNBA is becoming more image conscious and is trying to market their players to expand the fan base which in turn means more profit for the league. But at what cost? Makeupo sessions are meant for middle school sleepovers and have absolutely no place in an orientation for a professional basketball team, even if that team is made up of female athletes. it is insulting and implies that these women have to look pretty as well as be increadably talented in order to get any recognition. It is completely disrespectful and trivialzes the athletic abilities and accomplishments of these female athletes. Sara Stith 338I.S7

A few weeks ago my friend invited me to her sisters little league game. So I went and watched her sister play, I noticed how skinny her sister was getting. So I asked my friend is her sister had been sick, she said no, she has been trying to lose weight. I found myself in a state a shock. I couldnt believe it her sister was only 10. I asked her why, and she said because the coach said it would be better for her in the future if she lost a little weight and started to eat better. Again I was still in shock. So I started to explain to her how this was not heathly, for her especially since she is only 10. I remembered about what we had learned about in class about the triad. So I tried to explain to her about the the triad, and the effects it could have on her sister. I started to ask her why her mom was letting her sister do this, and she said because her mom is the same way, and is a very healthy person. My friend admited to me that her mom was encouraging this weight lose in her sister. So after hearing about this I went home and was thinking about this for the rest of the day. There wasnt much I could do because she wasnnt my sister, I emailed my friend all the information about what can happen in the triad. So far she has been helping her sister, which makes me happy. All of this has made me realize our society today is so concered about image, and being skinny its sad. Learning about all of the risk factors in the triad, and how a lot of them occur when the girl is younger, helped me help my friends sister. And in the end I hope things will change for her sister, and maybe her coach, and her mom will realize what they are doing to her.


Jennie Rosique Kin338I T-Th 2-315

WNBA maybe losing focus to gain attention

In order to expand the fan base for the WNBA, the WNBA is marketing its players and is now offering rookies lessons in fashion and makeup. What does fashion and makeup have to do with sports? Instead of using their time to train more for basketball and become better players, the WNBA wants their lady athletes to focus on being pretty and looking feminine to attract customers. This is the wrong direction to take for the league and is demeaning women by doing this. If they want more customers, they need to improve their league through basketball orientated things such as a faster tempo, or more flash in the games, but to do it through make up and fashion is wrong and is sending out the wrong message to little girls around the nation. I believe the reason they are really doing this is to offset the league from the lesbian homophobia, in which they are often exposed to. With new talent in the league such as Candace Parker, their focus should be on showing how much talent women athletes can really have instead of worrying too much about other thinking they are lesbians but then again it is somewhat of a catch 22 situation for the league as they try to improve their market base. More can be found on this issue at

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/sky/cs-080502-wnba-chicago-sky-rookies,1,32377.story?page=1

Arthur Lusikyan kin338 Tu/Th 2-3:15

below posted by Natalie W.

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My close friend coaches a little league baseball team of eleven year olds. After watching one of several little league games, it occured to me that the successfulness of the player had much to do with his enjoyment of the game at a given time. One of the major aspects determining his enjoyment was the encouragement and critique of the coach. I asked my friend much about this and he confirmed that this is always the case. When the kids are enjoying themselves and feel they are also excelling at the game, or constructively learning from mistakes, they typically perform much more confidently, which leads to greater success. In contrast, I have watched other teams and their coaching styles, and a very apparent shift in the demeanor of the players when negativity and disappointment is expressed directly at one of the players. This demeans the player and seemingly takes the fun, as well as his confidence out of the game. The performance is affected and doubles the negativity of the situation. There is a pressure to live up to another's standards and when genuinely trying one's best, if standards are still unmet, the self-esteem and performance of the player suffers.

To the women of golf...

I'll be honest, I don;t know much about Golf. My mom watches it and plays, but thats about as close as we get. However, today in lass we touched on female golfers who choose to play in the men's tour as opposed to the women's. I might not be educated on Golf but i think that's great. I understand the argument that not playing with women sends a negative message about women's golf, but i think it sends a bigger message about equality and patriarchy. I'm happy that women are standing up. If they are not going to be compensated just because they are playing with other women, then let them play with men. If enough female golfers did this maybe someone over there would get a clue; women are just as good and they'll win their way to the top to prove it. I say YAY to pro female golfers. =)

Annette Gutierrez

I was looking through "GOT MILK" ads for my final paper and when i saw the disparity between male and female representations i was surprised, upset even... take a look...

Annette S. Gutierrez

One-Girl Team, Wins Team State Track & Field Title

It was about 2 weeks age is saw this article about this high school athlete who actually won her state title by herself. Talk about triumph for women sports. It started in Austin, Texas, Bonnie Richardson accepted the state 1A team track & field championship for Rochelle High by herself. Richardson was the only Rochelle athlete to qualify for the state meet and stunningly won the team title. UIL officials said it was the first time they can remember a single athlete winning a girls' team title. Richardson's title march began with field events on Friday when she won the high jump (5ft,5in), placed second in the long jump (18-7) and was third in the discus (121-0). On Saturday, she won the 200 meters in 25.03 seconds and nearly pulled off a huge upset in the 100 before finishing second (12.19) to defending champion Kendra Coleman of Santa Anna. Richardson, a junior, earned a total of 42 team points to edge team runner-up Chilton (36). This has been the first time I have ever seen this. A girl who is just a junior winning by herself a state tile. What a competitor, this shows that no matter what gender you are, confidence,strength and commitment is all you need to succeed in sports.

Jason Luevano-Section 7 KIN 338I

Destined to be the best?

As you may have heard, Candace Parker, the #1 overall pick of the 2008 WNBA Draft, is projected to be one of the best in the game. Well, she proved just that when she played in her first game on May 17, 2008 against Phoenix. She led the LA Sparks to a 99-94 win with a ridiculous stat sheet. Parker finished the game with 34 points, 8 assists, and 12 rebounds. That's just 2 assists shy of a triple-double, and that's just in her first game!!! That is amazing! Let me help you put this into perspective. Kobe Bryant and Lebron James are considered to be two of the best basketball players on the planet right now. On Kobe's first game as a rookie, he scored 0 points, 0 assists, and 1 rebound. Lebron on his first game had 17 points, 5 assists, and 1 rebound. Don't get me wrong, I love watching these guys play and I think they are the best players around, but they were blown away by Parker in her debut. The numbers don't lie. I bet they wish they could have had those numbers on their first game. I would........ I'm not sure if this is any indication of the future, but if it is then it is scary to think what she can accomplish in her future career.

- Huy Nguyen

Sports Websites

While looking through the sports sections of many common websites I realized that almost the entire sports section, and the sections therein, are devoted to male athletics. On espn.go.com the main page contains only one article that relates to women in sports: the man who gave Marion Jones the drugs is interviewed. All the tabs on this page take you to one male sport or another except the one labeled "women's bb". On yahoo sports it is basically the same. The page is basically devoted to males with one article about Danica Patrick.
Although women have made enormous breakthroughs in the area of sport, society continues to shun any serious relation to women in sport. The media mainly shows female athletes in a sexually provocative manner or makes a joke of them. For people to see what female athletes accomplish, the news about them needs to get shown.

g. calabrese, wst 338I tuth 2-3.15

Fitness magazines sending the wrong message...

The other day I was waiting in line at the grocery store and decided to pass the time by reading the Fitness Magazine for women...I've noticed that they usually only have actor/singer celebrities on their covers (like LeeAnn Rimes, Kelly Ripa) or swimsuit models. Most cover models, although not out-of-shape, look like the average skinny model that probably eats 1200 calories a day. Most of the images presented in the magazine are very unrealistic for women that are trying to "get fit." I decided to check out their website and see if there was any useful fitness information, possibly something similar to what we learn about in Women in Sport. However, I was bombarded with images of ultra-skinny swimsuit models and article titles, such as "Weight-Loss Clubs," "Calorie Charts," and "See Yourself Thinner." I then went to the "Beauty" section of the website and the large image of a 110-pound bikini model popped up. The media tells women that to be beautiful, you must be skinny. I was surprised to see so many swim suit models in a fitness magazine for women. Most women's fitness magazines and articles are more like weight-loss propaganda. I think that it would be more effective to see real women athletes on these covers. It's no wonder that so many women have eating disorders when they are pressured to get "fit" and look like a bikini model.
-Brooke Ammerman

girls sports and local support

I am one of those people who never thought twice about women's sports until it hit close to home. Sadly, this is what it takes for people to become part of an issue because when it doesn't pertain to them then why care. The reason I have changed my mindset about women in sports is due to my little sister. She is currently a sophomore in highschool and in many people's opinion is considered to be the most dominant pitcher in all of the central valley, especially her area. I really dont get to see many of her games but I get to hear all of her accomplishments by word of mouth. She has pitched every game for her team in the playoffs and is now playing for the valley championships which is the top prize that her school could ever accomplish. This is a great feat for any sports team in the area since only a few teams in the last 60-70 years of sports at the school has ever held this title. I combed the local newspaper for the past few weeks and never read a dang thing about her accomplishments or even her team. They finally put a small article in the last page of the sports section about them going to play for Valley but who would of known this since they were never mentioned before. In the previous papers there was a huge article pertaining to the boys baseball teams battling thier cross town rivals and how it was a good game and possibly one of them going to playoffs. My sister's team on the otherhand was nearly left out except for a small paragraph after the boy's article, despite my sister's team going undefeated in league and also winning their league title 6 out of 7 years, a huge deal to them but not to the local media. I know I might be a little biased to this subject but I see first hand how hard my sister works at her respective sport. There is no doubt in my mind that she works just as hard if not harder than any male in the area. No matter the season she is out there pitching and hitting 5 days a week even after her teams practices, but still her and her team get no respect. Why? They have a fan base as shown by parent and family support but where is the community support and especially the local media's coverage. I'm sure that this is not the only community that suffers from this particular problem. Isn't the local media supposed to cover local events especially in the sports page. I remember when my name was in the news paper how proud I was and how everyone would congratulate me for being in there. I'm tired of girls sports being underappreciated and underrepresent in the local media. I'm sickened to hear that the field that she plays on has to be combed before practice for broken glass and used condoms. Used condoms!!!!!! Its sad that they are the only team in all of the area that has to travel to get to their playing field and I use the term travel loosley because they used to have to run a few miles each day to get to the field. I could go on forever on this subject but I have to save material for another blog. I apologize for my rant but it seems that there is no end in sight.

Women's soccer league?

While I was watching the UEFA Champions League final today, it occurred to me that women soccer or futbol does not exist really past the college game. Sure they have the world cup every 4 years, but no professional league that I can think of. You would think after the success of the 2004 USA team America might try to ride the wave . Men have the MLS here in the states and seems to be successful, why not a women's league? Could it be a lack of interest, sponsorship, or some other cause? Most of the time it boils down to a business and profitability. But why not try for a couple of years. Heck I disliked soccer for most of my adult life but now I watch it all the time, another season of women's soccer, I would watch it!

Women portrayed in fitness advertisement

i would like to talk about women portrayed in fitness advertisement. The advertisement portrays a woman’s body form that is clearly not representative of that of most women and, in particular, associating this body with the meaning of (the need of) weight loss. Therefore, the advertisement’s recognition of 'social responsibility’, (in the sense of sending positive messages about body shape and healthy weight ideals to women, especially young women given its viewing before “Adults Only” time), is dubious. This advertisement clearly has the potential to depict and

reinforce negative messages about women’s body shape ideals to women, as well as about women to the wider society. Rather than promoting positive images to women about the dangers of body weight obsession, that results in a prevalence of eating and other related disorders in this country, it can be seen instead to contribute to this disturbing tendency. Thus, failing to exert ‘social responsibility’, the advertisement, being a negative representation of women, and ‘femininity’ more generally, is arguably also in breach of Clause 4 of the above mentioned code principle.

Gwen Minyoung Kim

Women in sport (Kin 338I) Wednesday 7:00-9:45pm

sports and the disabled

I entered the link of sports and the disabled. It caught my attention for the reason that I am related to a person who loved to participate and played sports at a young age. Her story is that when she use to play basketball, for example, she use to run and sweat and run into a pool or a shower when her body was still warm. Her reason for having arthritis (the deformation one) at a young age, she blames it on playing sports and the things she use to love to do, sports. She says, that even when she had developed the arthritis she kept participating in sports. I think although people have some disabilities to play sports, they should not be less thought of because they sometimes are more easily able to play and believe in competion as a good thing since they are disabled. I also do agree that disabled people should be able to participate and not be against people that aren't fully able to be active as others. People should do what they love and enjoy doing.

R. Gutierrez Kin. 338i

Women in the Media

I was looking through FLEX magazine the other day. As I flipped though the pages, I finally came across an article on a women’s bodybuilding competition. It was hidden in the middle of the magazine. The article was brief only stating where it was at and the top five winners. The pictures that accompanied the article were very small. This was the only article about women in the whole magazine. The only other female representation in the magazine was the women being used in the ads. All the women in the different ads were wearing very revealing outfits posing in sexually provocative ways. Having women pose like this in the media are taking away from the advancements that they are making towards equality with men in society. By having women pose as sexual objects in these ads, women will not be able to break away from that image in the media and continue with no changes made.

Kevin Cummings
KIN 338 tues/thurs 9:30

how are women that play sports are portrayed

Women now in day have become more active in sports and healthy wise. Also, women have struggle throughout many years to legally participate in sports. But how does society and/or media portray these women? throughout the semester in Kin. 338i, I learned that women are stereotyped in many ways. One of the ways that women have been portrayed is been too masculine and been criticized. According to media, women are looked upon as too manly to play sports and with that they try to accomodate their look of feminity. Yet, been too feminine is a struggle they must over turn. So, I think that either way of how a women attracts, they seem to always been depicted. But in the end, no matter what they do and how they affected by it, they show their strength of been women with character and not minding of what others have to say or how and in what way they are portrayed.

R. Gutierrez Kin. 338i

With her win in Tokyo in the Twin Ring Motegi 300 last month, Danika Patrick became the first female driver to win a race in on the Indy Racing League. Many of her critics have been asking her "when are you going to finally win a race?" For many there only motivation was to embarrass her since she had not won. Now they have to change there tune. But I think people will always look to her as an inferior driver. Does this win actually silence her male dominated, misogynist fan base and media critics or will they move on and hassle her with something new like "Hey Danika when are you going to win again?" Good try boys you are done! Matt B. kin 338i

Nearly there!

At the Adidas Track Classic last Sunday, Jenn Stuczynski came within stricking distance to the world record or 5.02 meters in the women's pole vault which is held by Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva. Stuczynski, 26 years old broke the U.S. record with a vault of 4.9 meters on her second attempt before failing three times to break the world record. Although Stuczynski was unable to break the world record she knows it is within her reach and said she will continue to work on her technique and consistency. This story was interesting to me because most of the articles on female athletes this was one of the only ones not about drug usage. Stuczynski is a great example of the female athletes who are determined to work hard for their successes. They continue to create opportunities for young athlete (male or female) to appreciate the true character of an athlete, proving drugs are not the answer.

Katelin Perry

Anything but equal

Sports such as golf, tennis, basketball, swimming and bowling aren’t limited to guys; females compete in leagues of their own or alongside the men. Typically women have equal opportunities to play sports as men, but, too often, the compensation is anything but equal.

In many cases, if not all cases, the men are making a lot more money than their female counterparts; it's not uncommon for men to make almost four times the salary of a female athelet. That shouldn’t be surprising because men’s sporting events typically garner more media exposure, higher attendance and greater amounts of sponsorship dollars----BUT WHY?

One example of gender inequity in sports, and reasons why it’s occurring, is represented in the contrast of Sue Bird and Shaquille O'Neal.

Sue Bird - WNBA
WNBA maximum salary: $87,000

Shaquille O’Neal - NBA
2005-06 salary: $20 million

Sue Bird, a member of the Seattle Storm in the WNBA, has been called a poster child for women’s athletics. Unfortunately for her, that fame hasn’t exactly translated into tremendous riches. At the beginning of her maiden year in the hoops league, she made just $57,500. Eventually, her salary increased, but not above $87,000, which, according to InsideHoops.com, was the maximum pay in the WNBA. She and her teammates received a $10,000 bonus for winning the league title in 2004.

Compare the salaries of Bird and her fellow WNBA stars to those in the NBA and you’ll see the gender gap is as big as the Grand Canyon. According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, the average NBA salary rose to $3.17 million per player in the 1999-2000 season, while the average WNBA salary was about $55,000. That means the men made almost 60 times more than the women. A few WNBA players earn more than $100,000 a year, but that is only because they have side jobs, such as playing in other leagues or helping with WNBA marketing efforts.

Why is the pay so much lower in the WNBA? Attendance is one reason, as less money comes in at the gates for WNBA contests. In Seattle, the Storm hosts around 7,000 fans per game, while the Sonics sell more than twice as many tickets. Ticket prices are also a factor: Storm tickets range from $10 to $35 per seat and the Sonics charge between $10 and $120. In addition, the Sonics have much more television exposure and revenue; 71 of their 82 regular-season games are locally televised, compared to just five Storm games that are aired in the Pacific Northwest.

Women and the Media

I went onto the Yahoo! Sports unsurprisingly, found nothing on the page about women athletes. I didn’t even see a female until I scrolled down and saw the headline, “Video Spotlight.” The top news was just about male athletes. Do women not play sports? Why wouldn’t Yahoo! Include women athletes? I thought people in society were progressing. How can people be informed about women sports if there are few women athletes spoken about in the media? Not publicizing women athletics makes it difficult for society to learn about women in sports. Women play such a vital role in sports in today’s society and are increasingly seen in college and professional teams. For young girls of today, women athletes can be positive role models. Because the media shuts the women athletes out of the spotlight, it makes it difficult for girls to have athletes as role models and easier for singers and actresses as role models. As America has recently seen, Brtiney Spears or Lindsay Lohen are not role models that young girls should have but because they are constantly in the spotlight, they are easily accessible. If Mia Hamm or Lisa Leslie or publicized in the media more often, young girls would have a higher self-esteem and a better sense of a positive body image.

VJurado KIN338i S6

chineye ekweozor kin 338i

Throughout the entire semester watching movies on women in sports has been very beneficial in better understanding the tribulations many women have to face in the world of sports. Out of all the movies, my favorite and most inspiring movie was the movie that focused on women within the wrestling industry. This movie really helped me to better understand the definition of hegemony. In this film, the viewer gets a chance to understand how the female wrestlers were oppressed without their knowledge of it which overall lead them to comply to the rules and regulations set by men. But I also thought it was intreasting to see how the industry had completely changed over the years. In the end I watched Muhla, who was once a wrestler faced with the challenge of being a women in such an agressive and male dominated sport oppress other females as well.

2010 Winter Olympics

The Canadian government has been trying for well over a year to get the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to include women’s ski jumping at the Vancouver games. The IOC has repeatedly denied any requests to make women’s ski jumping part of the Winter Olympics. A couple of months ago I heard a story on NPR (I think it was one of Diana Nyad’s pieces for her radio segment, called The Score, which airs during All Things Considered) about the popularity of the sport among girls in Canada. Several athletes and their parents were interviewed and they made some compelling arguments against the IOC’s position that women’s ski jumping has not developed enough to warrant inclusion for the 2010 games. Apparently there are world-class women’s ski jumpers from 17 different countries, while a few sports already included in the games have narrower participation than that. Also, it has been proven that women jumpers do not incur more injuries than male jumpers and the range of jump distances at competitions in rapidly narrowing to produce a range equal to that of the male jumpers. One interesting method of protest, used by the parents of a Canadian would-be Olympic ski jumper, is to pay less taxes. The government is paying for the Olympic venues, including the ski park and its giant ramp used for ski jumping, largely with public funds. As such, parents of this female ski jumper have determined that if their daughter is barred from using the facilities then they should be exempt from pay for them. This would be an interesting topic to investigate further, in some ways I doubt the IOC is engaged in a policy of blatant sexism, a detailed reading of the actual decisions made by the committee might shed some light on their real reasons.

Expect Great

I recently saw a commercial on television advertising the upcoming 2008 WNBA season. The commercial starts of with Candace Parker, whom is the number one pick coming out of the draft. Parker played basketball for the University of Tennessee, and now she is a rookie on the Los Angeles Sparks. The reason this commercial stood out to me so much was because in the commercial she is speaking to the camera stating things such as, “ I’m Sorry, but you couldn’t pay me to watch women’s basketball, nothing exciting ever happens, look at the WNBA, the league has stayed the same for ten years, there’s no new blood, what kind of future does the league have? Known that I can see.” Then at the end of the commercial the words flash, “She wouldn’t say, would you?” The finally scene shows Parker saying expect great things. To me this commercial just pretty much touched on every topic and issue that we have discussed in class with the negative atmosphere surrounding with women in sports. Hearing Candace Parker saying those words, not only makes me realize that this is a reality outside of class, it is not a unheard of topic. I think it is very important that those types of stereotypes are addressed is as they were in the commercial.

Christopher Hicks

Kin 338 - 930/1045

Jean Driscoll (Olympian, Paralympian, & Professional Athlete)

After learning about all the great athletes in class such as Billie Jean King, Wilma Rudolph, and Gertrude Ederle, I took the time to research another amazing women athlete to share with the class and the world. Jean Driscoll was born on November 18,1966 and born in Milwaukee, WI. She is the only eight-time champion of the Boston marathon in its 100+ years history. She won two silver medals in the Olympics in 1992 and 1996. Sports illustrated named her #25 out of 100 top women athletes. She also owns 5 paralympic gold medals, 3 paralympic silver medals, and 4 paralympic bronze medals. There are many more things that she accomplished and achieved but then this post would go on forever. If you just google her name, you will find many facts about what she has accomplished.
I wanted to write this post to let everyone know that there are many different women, along with the Title IX law, who have contributed to help women's sports turn into what it has today.

College Football: Not as bad as you might think

So, many of you bloggers might be under the impression that very few college football teams make a profit for their athletic departments. In fact, it has been said that only 5 institutions currently make a profit from their college football teams. This just is not true by any means. In fact, most teams, even smaller universities at the Division 1-A level take in more money as revenue than they expend. Although, there is obviously cause for concern in that spending continues to increase for football programs but in and of itself, college football isnt hurting most institutions financially. This particular article outlines a couple points mainly having only to do with USC and Texas, but also other schools in general. (http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/04/commentary/column_sportsbiz/sportsbiz/)

And that's just one instance of simple research that shows football programs thriving becuase of big revenues and big bowl game payouts.

Im not saying that college football is in a perfect and fair state of profitability, but it shouldnt be looked at as some kind of "big-bad-mens-wrestling-womens-programs-Title IX-killer". It makes profit for most schools, and more importantly, most conferences. And until that changes dramatically, its really hard to point a finger at its high expendatures as a reason for Title IX ineffectiveness. If a college football program makes a healthy profit from its activities, shouldnt it have a say in how that money is spent.

In all fairness, college football as an enterprise has come a long way. And until womens lacrosse or mens field hockey pulls in the kind of profit college football does, it will continue to take a back seat. Right or wrong; Fair or Unjust.

David Richter

Women's Football

Well today I found out that we have not just one, but two women's football leagues in the United States. The Independent Women's Football League has 42 teams and the National Women's Football Association has 37 teams all with 50 to 60 women on a team. I found an article in the NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/sports/football/13sharks.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5070&en=896e05e23464ff93&ex=1211428800&emc=eta1) from May 13, 2008 that discussed one of the many women in the IWFL. Her name is Jennifer Blum and she is a lawyer and was recently a contestant on the NBC show American Gladiators. The article started about how when she was younger she was not allowed to play on the boy's all-star soccer team, so her and her family took the N.J. county to court and won. There was a backlash though with her parents car being vandalized and she also lost some of her friends through the whole ordeal.

I have to say that it is very interesting to here that there is such a large popularity for women's football here in the U.S. I had no idea that the two leagues were so large. I believe that this is just another example of the discrimination that women face when being active and playing a so called "male" sport. Each of the women who are on the team have to pay $1000 a year in order to pay for all of the field, referee and other fees associated with keeping the league running. The two leagues have a real hard time coming up with sponsors to help with the costs and therefore must pay out of pocket so much more than most other sports. I believe that we could generate more popularity for the women's football even by playing short highlights on ESPN. At least that way the general public would know it exists. I'm not asking for much just a 30 second spot to get people interested would be a great start.
Brian Tunnicliff
Kin 338 T/Th 9:30-10:45

WNBA needs more advertisement

The WNBA season started a few days ago.......and I think exactly .0000000000001% of the population knew about it. Seriously, I had no idea that the season was starting so soon after the draft. I was really excited about seeing Candace Parker play alongside Lisa Leslie, and yet I get no information on when the season starts. Candace parker is a game-changing player and would love to see her play.

So I want to make a proposition to the WNBA: ADVERTISE! You have the most dynamic women's player on the planet right now, and you are not utilizing her to your advantage. Your viewership can become greater than what it is.......just let us know when you are starting your season! People hate on women's basketball so much and need to be aware of the talent that they have in the league right now. From Diana Taurasi, Becky Hammon, Lauren Jackson.......these are some quality basketball players and people need to take notice. The only way they can do that is.......ADVERTISING!

From what I have learned in Women in Sport, I realize that men's sports do generate a much larger revenue. But, it does not excuse the fact that I have not even seen one commercial or billboard for the WNBA. I'm sure the league can at least afford that.

Now that the season is starting, I hope to see a few advertisements with Candace Parker on them. And BTW, Parker had one of the greatest debuts ever in sports: 34 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists.

Casey McDannald

Maria Sharapova vs. Photo shoot

Maria Sharapova is a famous tennis player, but over the years she has become well known for the ads she is featured in. It seems that the public did not notice Maria as much as they do now because of her ads. I know that I was not familiar with her and did not follow her career until I saw many of her commercials. Just recently she was assigned to do a promotional photo shoot for the WTA tour. But the problem with the photo shoot was that it would take up too many hours, which conflicted with Sharapova's busy schedule getting ready for the tour. If she did not do the photo shoot she would be fined 300,000 dollars. Luckily the shoot got changed to 90 minutes instead of many hours of shooting. What i later read is that Maria was very upset about the distraction right before the tour so she posted a blog for her fans to help her out to because she felt that people were not listening to her. I was appreciative to find this out about her in the fact that since she has become famous because of these ads it has made it hard for people to take her seriously on the court. From our lectures about female athletes in ads people only see them as they are in the media instead of in their sport. It is hard enough for women to be taken seriously and it seems that many women participate in ads so that they can be out there in the media and become more noticed. Its awesome that although Maria is still doing commercials to promote herself she first and foremost cares about tennis and wont let anything else get in her way.

Blair B. Kin 338 /9:30-10:45

WNBA Expect Great

The WNBA season started today and they have a new theme for 2008. This year the theme is EXPECT GREAT. There are a few commercials out that use sarcasm to address stereotypes toward female basketball players in the WNBA. I love these commercials because as a female basketball player and huge fan of the WNBA I hear things like this all the time. (Even in class) Check out the commercials.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJT8sSIP1_U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl2agtug5wI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JHpNGZpkJI


Tiarra W. S.6

Parents Blame Title IX for Daughter’s Injuries

The Uneven Playing Field

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/magazine/11Girls-t.html?_r=2&ref=othersports&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Can Title IX cause injury? Well, according to the parents of Janelle, a high school senior at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Title IX gave her the misconception that she could be as strong as men. As a midfielder for the Lady Raiders, Janelle has had two anterior cruciate ligament (A.C.L.) ruptures and had two surgeries on the knee to get it back into shape. She had two of the eight A.C.L. ruptures her 18-player team experienced during her four years on the team. A big concern is that athletes in general are always in so much pain, but they push through it and keep going like a machine. Bodies are not meant to go through that type of training and their muscles will eventually be overworked. For Janelle, her injuries were becoming routine, which shows how common these injuries are.
Janelle’s father knew that Title IX was created and passed in 1972 to give women in sports equal opportunity, but believes that it “has helped to shape a couple of generations of girls who believe they are as capable and as tough as any boy.” That is the typical hegemonic thinking that put women in the position they are fighting to stop. The medical explanation says that during puberty boy’s high levels of testosterone add muscle and strength, but decrease flexibility. Girl’s estrogen level increase flexibility, but add more fat than muscle. Due to the lack of muscle, which girls need to train harder to gain the level of strength as boys, and the amount of flexibility, the joints cannot be kept in a stable, safe position. Thus, girls are more prone to knee and joint injuries.
Of course, what does this truly have to do with Title IX? Girls are just as aware of their risks playing in any high contact or high risk sports as the boys are. There are consent forms that need to be signed to play in these sports for both sexes, and injury is always a common risk. Girls wanted the opportunity to play and were prepared to play just as hard as the boys. Title IX is a document providing equal opportunity, but does not demand that girls who don’t want the risk to play in these sports. Janelle had an unfortunate run in with injury, but she is still out there playing and almost did not get the okay to play in her own championships. Title IX is there, but if you can’t stand the heat, don’t play sports. Title IX is not to blame. Everyone, girls and boys, are in it for the love of the game and take whatever may come, dust themselves off, and keep going.


Scott Shapiro TTh 2-3:15. kin 338I

Opposing Ideas in Women Athletes in Sexual Ads

In class, we have had numerous discussions on the topic of athletic women who pose in sexual positions. Two sides have been taken, however both sides are right and wrong. One side claims that women athletes pose in these positions in order to show their athleticism and that it is okay to be strong and carry toned features. The other side claims that it is the typical male hegemony that puts males on top of the magazine companies, and it is their decisions that choose to display female athletes in this sense. These pictures only serve the purpose to fulfill the "male gaze" and give the male population what they desire. Which side is right? Which side is wrong? In reality it is both sides that are wrong.
Large portions of people feel that these women athletes are being exploited. However, if all the women athletes refuse to pose in these pictures, none of the males will see these women athletes pose in that light and no woman athlete will be exploited. These female athletes choose to be in these pictures themselves. All people, not only men, see these pictures. Little girls see these pictures and harmful effects are being pushed onto these girls to look like these women athletes. Even though some women athletes feel like they are doing a good deed by showing that the naked athlete body is also sexy, they push the wrong ideas into maturing girls who may never look like this.
So, no it is not just the "male gaze" and male hegemony that causes these pictures to be produced, but it is also the female athletes, who fail to see that they can show they are strong in other ways that posing in provocative positions. Even though fingers cannot be pointed to who is to blame for these photos, one question still remains: Is it okay for these pictures to be present? On one hand, some female athletes are okay with posing like this, and it does appeal to the "male gaze." On the other hand, it affects growing girls psychologically. Now the issue switches from who’s to blame for these pictures, to whether these pictures should continue to be taken. If they should not be taken anymore, is it possible to have this stopped?

Scott Shapiro TTh 2-3:15. kin 338I

Venus in Love

I found this article on tennisweek.com, it was announcing the interview between Venus Williams and Bryant Gumbel whiched aired on HBO. I don't usually keep up with tennis so I thought it would be interesting to learn a little more about Venus. I learned that she is the 6 time Grand Slam champion, but I also learned a lot about her personal love life. Bryant was very persistant in asking her questions about her love life, like "Do you love him?", "Does he love you?", he went on and on with those questions. Although she did answer him as uncomfortable as she seemed, she did manage to tell him that she hates talking about her private life. She also said that she and Serena have a rule to not talk about their personal lifes. I have to admire that about those two, they have their identity as professional tennis athletes and they are tightly holding on to it. It seems like people will take any opportunity to take that identity from them. It is as if they are not worthy, because they are women hold the professional athletes identity, they must also be identified as sexy and as the girlfriend.


T. Rojero
T-TH 9:30-10:45

Game of all generation

Since Beijing Olympic is near and the participation rates for female athletes in sports are rising, I was wondered what is the age limit for the Olympic game and who was the youngest or the oldest person in Olympic history. With searching for the Internet, I was able to find some interesting information regarding participants’ age in Olympic game. The oldest participant in Olympic history was Oscar Swahn from Sweden in 1920. When Oscar won his silver medal from Antwerp, Belgium, he was 79 years and 279 days. The oldest female participant in Olympic history was Johnston from England. She was 70 years old and participated Munich Olympic in 1972. The youngest participant in Olympic game history was 10 years old boy named Dimitrios Loundras from Greece (host nation). He won bronze medal from parallel bars. Female youngest participant in Olympic was Luigina Giavotti from Italy in 1928 at Amsterdam. She won a silver medal. With those great athletes who participated in Olympic game history, I found out that there are no age limit in Olympic game (except one or two such as soccor) and felt that there shouldn't be any race or gender limit either.

Ho Park TTh 9:30-10:45 kin 338I.S6

ATHLETIC INJURIES

So today's lecture was about ACL injuries and it was disturbing and overwhelming. The information is interesting, but whenever I think about it, I have the chills. It's obvious that female athletes have the highest rate of ACL injuries than male athletes. There are many factors associated with this; female athletes have smaller body mass, low weight gain, etc. than male. Male athletes in general have greater strength than female athletes. Men are built to be strong. ACL injuries are more common in female athletes because of the sports they participate in; sports like basketball, soccer, volleyball, and cross country are good examples of higher ACL injuries among female athletes. These type of sports are intense. This is one of the biggest factors affecting female athletes in the past and even today's society. I thought it was interseting that hormones have a lot to do with ACL injuries. I never knew that. I guess its because I never experience it before when I participated sports back in high school; I mainly experience bruises. I do feel that female athletes should think of the consequences with the sports that may be associated with ACL injuries or any major type of injuries before they decide to join because of the high cost of medical attention. There are many risk factors with joining sports beside ACL injuries such as the female athlete triad that we discussed in class last thursday with the disordered eating, menstrual dysfunction (amennorrhea), and decrese in bone density (osteoporosis). I think that female athletes should consider focusing on sports that are less likely to cause ACL injuries or any major type of injuries; sports like badminton, golf, etc. where it doesnt require that much movement compared to basketball, soccer, and cross country. These type of sports may be boring for a lot of people out there, but it save you a lot of money because you don't have to go through the surgeries and stuff. Because the increase of female participation in sports, ACL injuries are very common in today's society.

Stuck in Old Ways of Thinking

My grandma is the biggest sports fanatic that I know. She loves her Oakland raiders, Phil Mickelson and in tennis right now, it is a throw up since Andrei Agassi left. But, the only female sport that she watches is tennis. When I decided to take this course, she got excited because she loves sports so much. But when I went to her and tried to talk about some of the ideas that I learned she was very reluctant to think about these ideas with me. And then I brought up Billie Jean King, she got very defensive and said, “I don’t care about her sexual preference, why does she think we care if she if gay or not. I don’t understand why all those women athletes have to make such a big deal over it!” Except she said it with more attitude and I took the liberty to clean up the quote a little. I remember watching TV with her when a tennis stadium was being renamed after Billie Jean King. At the time I didn’t know who she was, and my Grandma kept going on rants about her and huffing and puffing about silly things.

I don’t really understand why she feels this was about women athletes. She is a very strong women, she will be 70 this year and still works full time. Her husband died when my dad was 10, and she was forced to support herself and 2 children. She has very strong opinions and they are sometimes so far right, I don’t know what planet she came from. I guess she is just so comfortable in her ways that it is either too scary or too hard to try and make a new map, like we discussed in the beginning of the semester.

Jessica Richards
kin 338 s.6

pink

The other day I went into a Target and wondered into the toy section. To my surprise there was an entire isle of children’s athletics supplies. They had all kinds of sports, from soccer to baseball, and even some athletic activities that are not usually seen much in the US. At first I thought this was great. Finally a store was encouraging children to play out side and not just plug into the closest TV. But as I stood there a second longer I noticed that all the equipment was either blue/black, or bright pink. I went back and forth in my head over this fact. My first thought was, how stereotypical. Than I thought, well if little girls like pink, then they might be more likely to play with the equipment. Then it hit me, play, the idea that female athletics are still fighting against every day. Girls play with pink Barbie’s, and they play with pink make-up. If we turn sports into just play at such a young age, how are these young, impressionable girls to take it? We can sit around all we want and say that women’s sport needs to be taken more seriously, in class. But nothing is going to be change until we give young girls he correct encouragement about their sport.


Jessica Richards
kin 338 s.6

Female Athletes as Sex Symbols

It is not uncommon for female athletes to be featured in magazines as Playboy and other sex selling magazines, but how often do you see male athletes featured in sex magazines? almost never. Attractive and feminine female athletes are sometimes featured in male magazines as sex symbols. Along with women being featured in magazines such as playboy, attractive female athletes are also used in AD campaigns or in the fashion industry as models. Obviously, sex sells. As for male athletes, they are almost never featured in sex magazines, but occasionally used as models in advertisements. Female athletes are made into sex symbols, while most male athletes are not. For female athletes in increases their fame and popularity to be featured in playboy or other male magazines. For instance, Anna Kournikova has been featured in playboy and multiple advertisements, so she is seen as sex symbol and female athlete. This degrades female athletes and puts them into another category as sex symbols, rather than athletic talented women. We have discussed this in women in sport how many women in sports' outfits are much more risque than mens, which causes women athletes to be viewed as sex symbols as well as athletes. We've discussed how female sports are more focused on the women and how they look rather than the athletics and competition.

Katherine Lian Burton
KIN 338I W 7-945

Viewing Male V. Female Sports

In American society it is more popular for both male and females to watch male sports and not female sports. How often do guys or girls gather on a monday night, drink beers and watch womens volleyball or tennis? Even men enjoy watching male sports like football and baseball better than tennis or womens swimming. I would think it would be different, and that men would enjoy to watch women compete, especially if they are wearing close to nothing. For my research topic, my question was why do both males and females prefer to watch male sports? As a viewer i would guess that men would want to watch female sports and competition, and females would want to watch male sports. As i found in articles and among my own peer group, both males and females would rather watch male sports because they are more competitive than female sports. I think that even though equality in sports and sports broadcasting for both men and women, i still see over and over again male sports dominating the TV. As we learned in class, i think it would take even more time for male and female sports to reach equality in competition and interest among viewers, and because males(in most ways) are more competitive, both males and females choose to watch their sports.

Katherine Lian Burton
KIN 338I Weds 7-945

Volleyball Player or model?

As I was watching 2008 women’s beach volleyball world tour Finland vs. Greece that opened recently, it reminded me what I’ve learned from class regarding differences of uniform between male volleyball player and female player. On TV, both announcer and commentator were so excited and agitated with those female volleyball players who were all look a like model and has great body shape with only tiny size of uniform (bikini like) on. Commentator kept saying that “they (player) are good enough to be a professional model and I’m so confused if they are volleyball players or super models. Ha-ha.” My first reaction towards commentator was what he is talking about. Soon after, I found out that couple of players who commentator pointed out often appears on the fashion and bikini magazine as the cover page model. Over all, as our class discussed about this type of issue in most of the time, I realized again that the media still expresses female athletes as sexual symbol even in 21st century and will do the same thing in the future as long as the money and male dominated social system is involved.

Ho Park TTh 9:30-10:45 kin 338I.S6

Annika Sorenstam and Justine Henin Retire

In the past 36 hours or so there have been two significant developments in the world of women's sports. Annika Sorenstam of Sweden, the greatest female golfer of all time and the winner in blowout fashion last week, as well as Justine Henin of Belgium, the current world number one player in women's tennis have both held press conferences to announce their respective retirements. The 37-year-old Annika will call it quits at the end of this season, while Henin, 25, will cease competitive play immediately. Both women cited injuries, desires to start a family, and the grueling life of their respective tours as factors in their decisions. Annika likened her feelings to those of Brett Favre, saying she too still has her competative fire, but can no longer handle the daily grind that elite performance requires. Henin, speaking in French, said that she had achieved her girlhood dream, and that she is now ready to begin the next stage in her life. It will be interesting to see these retirements, with both players still at or near the very top of their sports, will have any impact on either television ratings or attendance. Also, some may also consider Sorenstam and Henin poor role models, as their decisions seem to reinforce the idea that women cannot be both athletes and mothers simultaneously.

Tim Owen
TTh 9:30 - 10:45

Sports Illustrated For Women

Sports Illustrated For Women
The article that I found was not a current event that has currently occurred in the media, however, I found a letter from the editor of Sports Illustrated for Women in 2002 when the last issue of that magazine was published. Although not actually a current event, it is relevant. The editor talks about the history behind the magazine that, sadly, lasted for only twenty issues. It started in March 2000 and only lasted until December 2002. Her targeted audience was 18-34 year old females who are “passion (ate) for sports”. This idea seemed like a perfect one for a magazine for women to have who enjoy sports without models being objective to the “male gaze” that has been discussed in the reading and in class lecture since women who are athletes still undergo much pressure to be fit for their sport and beautiful. I found it awful that the magazine did not get enough attention and money to stay in business. The reason is that a piece of written media tries to not make the women’s bodies an object but rather to appreciated women for their skills as athletes. Unfortunately, the magazine did not have enough appeal to cross over into the women’s magazine market. Mainstream media focuses on the glamour issues like fashion, sex, and celebrities, but not necessarily sports celebrities. Even though it was nominated as well-written magazine it could not survive. I do wonder if the editor was a man with the same goal in mind having a magazine for women who loves sports without the use of models will it be more successful. Women in the media and in the sports world do have problem of “male gaze” and it is what society tends to want.

Melissa Walz KIN 338I W 7-9:45

Underground Sport: Saudi Women Shed Veils to Play Basketball

Underground Sport: Saudi Women Shed Veils to Play Basketball
I read an article entitled, Underground Sport: Saudi Women Shed Veils to Play Basketball by Donna Abu-Nasr from FOX News.com dated on May 8, 2008 that was quite interesting. The article discusses and describes the way the women are viewed in Saudi Arabia. The way women are viewed has a direct connection to women’s participation in sports as well as in physical education classes. Saudi Arabia is depicted in the article as a very conservative Muslim country where women have limited, if any, rights. For the most part the sexes are mainly segregated due the strict Islamic religion. For example, women are not allowed to either vote or drive, and sadly females are not allowed to participate in the Olympics. Therefore, even physical education classes are banned, resulting in a higher obesity rate among Saudi women. According to the article the Islamic faith and the society of Saudi Arabia, characterize women’s involvement in sports is “following the devil’s footsteps”. As a result, there being two female basketball teams Juddah United versus the Jaguars (two independent teams) gained much media attention. Saudi Arabia male sports are aired on television and played at major stadiums. The game did not draw a big crowd like the men’s sports events do. There were thirty women in the audience cheering on their fellow female peers in the game.
Overall, I picked this article because it showed how motivated these women are. It was exciting these women were brave enough to fight against all odds and their own religion in order to assert themselves. Reading article I found myself at first being angry at the Saudi leadership, but then I know that I have to understand how much religion and culture are one in the same, which is so different in this country. Here there are not necessarily religious prohibitions against equality in sports, but antiquated ideas about women’s gender identity, femininity, and sexual orientation. However, I do hope that these women in the two basketball teams do make a difference and pave the way for more women to have the ability to express themselves the area of sports.. The health risk is another major factor that needs to be questioned and thought about. These women’s involvement in sports is amazing; I hope that they will make a difference in Saudi Arabia.


-Melissa Walz KIN 338I W 7-9:45

A New Team Bringing Noise to the WNBA League

For the WNBA 2008 season, there will be a new team in town. The new basketball team is known as the Atlanta Dream, whose coach is Marynell Meadors. One of their main players is Ivory Latta, the point guard, and she came from the team, Detroit Shock. At first, the team was worried about how many viewers would come to watch and cheer the female athletes, but there was a good turn out for their exhibition game. The number does not compare to the amount of spectators for male’s professional basketball, but beats the average amount for females. Their coach explained that there will be no problem in this area if they win, since the public mainly love to cheer for winners and watch excellent teams. Amount of viewers matter because the fans are what help keep a team pursuing. The article said that since the female professional basketball league has started two teams have folded and two teams ended up moving to another location. According to the league and players, the WNBA is still trying to receive acceptance in the public. This is probably due to the social norms of female and male athletes. This article connects to this course because it displays how women sports are not as widely viewed or appreciated as male sports. Today, female sports have progress, but this does prove that there are still issues about females being athletes. One would think that people, especially females, would start to watch women sports because now, many females play all sorts of sports. There are many reasons why most do not watch women professional athletic games, but I believe the main reason is that people do not like change. Everyone is so used to watching male athletic games, that they probably feel that the women competitions will not be as great. Also, I think that the public still carry the ideals of the woman being dainty, sweet, motherly, caring, and well groomed. No matter how hard females advance in sports, the stereotypes of females and males will probably always affect our culture.

Nicole B. KIN338I SEC. 3 WED: 7-9:45

The Outstanding Duo for Los Angeles Sparks

In April 2008, there was an article displaying a remarkable duo that the Los Angeles Sparks team possesses. The two that make such a great pair, are Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker. Lisa Leslie is a veteran player and Candace Parker is a rookie. These ladies are thought to be excellent players and after viewing their skills and leadership, many think that they will dominate the WNBA league. These two girls have a lot in common. The journalist pointed out that they both have beauty, brains, and athletic skills, which are all three important skills for women in sports. This article connects to the course because it shows how women have really grown in the athletic world. These women are able to fulfill the social norms of ladies, such as caring for their appearance, while playing very, very hard and being strong athletes. This shows that females can dominate and be outstanding (just like males) in multiple areas. Also, these two ladies prove to the public that sports can be participated by both genders. I believe it is excellent of these two players to work their hardest in the WNBA, even though the league is still not fully appreciated. Honestly, players should never have to worry about how many fans are watching because people should just play the sport because they really enjoy playing. Sports being all about publicity are big issues in today’s athletic world. It sometimes seems that athletes forget the main reason for starting to play the sport. Publicity being one of the main focuses is an issue for women physical activities because the media and public do not truly focus much attention on their leagues. If the public noticed how females are excellent athletes, too, then maybe women athletes will be given more attention. I’ve seen both women basketball games and men basketball games, and both genders play intense and aggressive. If Leslie and Parker dominate the WNBA as an outstanding duo, maybe their skills can help the public to a liking to the WNBA.

Nicole B. KIN 338I Sec. 3 WED: 7-9:45

She shoots.. GOAL!!

As of April 2009 the United States will welcome the opening game of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). It will become the highest level of professional soccer in North America.  It originally was formed in September of 2007 and has finally created seven teams across the country and will have its season opening next fall.    Many are not taking this league seriously due to the fact that the WUSA continually got postponed "one more year" until their collapse in 2003.  But what many people don't realize is that this league has seven different sizeable financial commitments to help the league be a BIG success.  There is no TV deal in place for the WPS so there are weighting heavily on the new social networking sites of the Internet such as MySpace and Facebook.  The WPS is looking for a reasonable amount of fans to attend; a mere 5,000 would be considered a success.    I find it ironic that we have been back and forth and have struggled so much with getting a women's' professional soccer league off the ground for the last ten years.  Along side, the men's' professional soccer league accumulatively pays David Beckham about 37 million dollars to play in the United States.  Seems like we should have possibly taken some of that money and seen what kind of excitement the women can stir up… am I overreacting or is this seem like we favor men sports over women's? 

Madelyn Monteath kin 388 sec. 6

Endorsements: A Battle of the Sexes

When Danica Patrick won the Japan Indy 300 two weeks ago she did what a male counterpart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., in NASCAR has been unable to do for two years, and that is to win a motorsport race. So why is it that Earnhardt is still getting 25 Million Dollars year and Patrick is making about 5 Million Dollars a year. So what does it take to make money is it victories or is it being male. The money is not coming from victory lane its coming from endorsers, so why the disparity? Could it be that women are still viewed as sex symbols instead of athletes? Maybe they are since Patrick does hold more SI swimsuit appearances than Earnhardt does. Another example of a female getting the short end of an endorsement deal, Lorena Ochoa LPGA superstar who only earns about 4.4 million in endorsements where as Tiger Woods gets about oh 100 Million in endorsements a year. This just doesn’t seem fair since Ochoa has accomplished something even Tiger Woods hasn’t even done and that is win 10 out of 15 tournament starts. Maybe all of this unequal sponsorship is due to the fact that male dominated corporate endorsements don’t feel that female athletes can push product as well as male athletes. Hopefully this will all change with the increasing popularity of female sports.

John Story KIN338 S.6.

Georgia Gymnastics Team Tied For the Most NCAA Titles

I found an article that I thought was very interesting. It said that the Georgia gymnastics team won the NCAA national title for the fourth time in a row! The gym dogs are now tied with Utah for the most wins ever, which are nine NCAA titles. "This senior class will leave Georgia with four titles in four years," Georgia head coach Suzanne Yoculan said, "Not many athletes in any sport get to accomplish that, but these girls have deserved everything they've gotten. They are the kind of gymnasts that make being a coach worth it." This is huge news for Georgia. If they won next year they would hold the title for the most wins in the history in the history of the NCAA. This is interesting to me because I really had to search for this article to find it. It was never broadcasted on ESPN (that I know of anyway) and never in any of the news that I watched. That means that not only did the gym dogs not get the recognition that they deserved, but they probably won’t get it next year if they win the title again. I thought out of all the sports that gymnastics would be exemplified in the media, because the sport is so feminine, by society standards. I am deeply saddened by this because if we can’t even get feminine sports to be broadcasted in the news how are we ever going to get more masculine sports such as wrestling or boxing in the media? I would hope that in the future the media recognizes that females are athletes and portrays them in the same light as they do the men.

-Courtney W. Kin338I~S.6

41-Year Old Mother To Compete In Beijing

The newest episode of ESPN's E:60, originally airing on May 6, included a segment featuring Olympic swimmer Dara Torres. (The link of the clip is below.) The first Olympic Games she competed in was the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. She has won a total of 9 medals in 4 Olympics, retiring after the games in 2000. After becoming pregnant in 2006, she began swimming again, just to get back in shape. Quickly, the middle-aged men who were in the pool with her wanted to race her, even though she was obviously pregnant, and the competitive juices started flowing for Dara. Remarkably, after giving birth to her daughter and not competing since 2000, she entered last year's Nationals. There, Dara set a new American record for the 50 meter freestyle at the age of 40, breaking her own previous record. She will be competing in July at the American Olympic qualifiers in both the 50 and 100 meter freestyle events.

However, in an era of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs, many cynics are already assuming that Dara is doping. Yet she has already gone to such lengths as personally meet with the CEO of the US Anti-Doping Agency to find a way to test as vigorously as possible in order to combat allegations of cheating. She now regularly submits blood and urine samples for testing on a voluntary basis. She does use an abundance of supplements but they are all legal. Also, one big advantage for her is that she hires a strength and conditioning coach, 2 full-time personal stretchers, a masseuse, and a chiropractor, all of them she visits five times a week. In all, this support team costs Dara approximately 100,000 dollars a year, mostly paid for by her sponsers. So it's no mystery as to why she can stay in such elite condition.

Dara Torres is an incredible role model for mothers and all middle-aged athletes alike. Yet because of the age we live in, cynics will continue to believe that she is a cheater, no matter how many drug tests come back clean. The real cheaters, and dare I say jackasses, like Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmiero, Marion Jones, etc. will prevent some people from giving real life role models such as Dara Torres the praise and admiration she deserves.

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?&brand=null&videoId=3384672&n8pe6c=2

Jesse B, Tues/Thurs 9:30

The Southeast Asian women who have `rugby spirit'

According to the researches, much of the research done in the early 1960s and 1970s seemed to center around the physiological and biomechanical concerns of the white female athlete, and the information about Asian women in sport was scarce. Being an Asian woman, I never go to the gyms to do exercise, playing any sports, or watching sports games on tv. The only chance to have some relations with sports is the PE classes in high school. I think that's because of our culture; women consider sports as the activites of men and go shopping instead of going to the gym. However, there are more and more Asian women realize the importance of exercising not only for body shapes but also for health. In Combodia, the women's national teams of Laos and Cambodia becomes very strong and famous. The Cambodian team which is composed of all orphans or daughters from poor families, coming off the field in tears as they go down 15-0 to Laos. One player is carried in pain and another limps into the locker room. They play so hard and practice so hard. They're like the boys. They have the rugby spirit. And they're better students than the men. Moreover,"They have the motivation. Being so poor, for them it's a great opportunity. Maybe it's not the best sport for women, but at least they become more confident, strong, less afraid," said Chris Mastaglio, a Briton who works for a non-governmental organization in Laos and who "moonlights" to assist the Laos Rugby Federation. I think there will be more and more Asian female playing in sports, composing a team, and sometime playing better than males.

Tze-Jou Chao Kin 338I Sec.7

Canadian Transgendered Olympian

I remember discussing in class the various viewpoints on transgendered athletes. When I saw this article I was compelled to read further into this topic. This particular article talks about Kristen Worley, a Canadian cyclist. She is preparing for her Olympic debut at the Bejing games later this year. The International Olympic Committee has made strides toward making the Olympics as fair and politically correct as possible. However, there are those who do not necessarily agree with the consensus and feel that broad terms such as "appropriate official authorities must legally recognize the athlete's new sex," really leave a lot open to individual discretion. Worley is Canadian and her country responds very well to accepting many different types of people. Canada is so advanced in this that her birth certificate was legally changed from male to female to reflect her true identity after her transition. I wanted to post this to allow people to see the types of movements being made in other countries to accept differences and decrease the amount of ignorance and discrimination that occurs when governmental agencies fail to accept such differences. I think that because transgendered athletes in the professional or competitive field is relatively new, it stirs up a lot of confusion and mixed emotions. However, with the rules that are implemented, it is hard to say that someone cannot compete when they have had hormone replacement and are biologically reflecting the intended gender. I believe all people should have a right to participate in any athletic environment. After further research and understanding of transgendered people I think more information will be available to people so that everyone has some sort of level of understanding on this topic. The unfamiliarity of something or someone different always throws people off guard. Maybe we all need to take a trip to Canada and realize that we should not judge but rather embrace diversity.

Nicole G 

338i 

Chineye Ekweozor,women in sport kin338i

I would like to further our discussion from lecture on black female women in sports. As I recall the discussion started to heat up when a fellow classmate made a comment about Serena Williams being a cocky player in the game. Serena Williams is a black tennis player who has totally dominated a white sport. She grew up in the mean street of Los Angeles. With all of the odds against her, her sister and herself still managed to become professional athletes and dominate the entire sport. Not only is this a big accomplishment for any women but a black women has to prove herself t in the game harder than all of the white players she is surrounded by. I was offended by some of the comments made because I think that its important for people to take the time to independently educate themselves on the history of sports in America. Someone in class asked how is tennis considered a white sport? I think it is very obvious that tennis is considered a white sport in the following ways: it is only for the elite, which equals money, it is a predominantly white sport, and last the rules and regulations have all been created by white officials. The reason why this topic was beginning to get heated was because some people are in denial about the trial and tribulations many blacks still face. Although the civil rights movement has passed, as a black women I know that being confident in any sport in this country will come off to some as cocky because they have not experienced some of the same things I have.

Gabby - playing baseball with the boys

Featured on today's Yahoo.com front page is a video of a local news station featuring the story of a young girl named Gabby. Gabby is a freshman in high school who tried out for the JV baseball team and made it, beating out 15 other boys who were cut. This certainly isn't the first time that a girl has played on a boy's high school sports team, so I am curious as to why this one would be featured. After all, there have been football players, and that seems an even more strict line to cross, mixing boys and girls.
The news clip made sure to note that she has never played softball, and because of an injury, she can't open her hand large enough to be able to handle the larger softball. The coach was surprisingly straightforward; when asked if he was considering putting her on the team, he responded "If she is good enough, she makes the team."
Why is this news? Why do we care? Sure its great that girls are able to excel in sports, but this isn't really helping anything out. By treating this girl as an anomaly, the news is only supporting that girls really can't play on the same level as boys, and this random occurrence deserves out attention. Unfair! Let her play, and leave her alone!
Rob Freker

Women in the Olympics

Participation of women in the Olympics games increase. In 1980, only 21% of the competitors were women. On the other hand, forty four percent of all Olympic athletes were women in the 2004 Athens games. The 2004 Olympics also had the fewest all male delegation. Only five countries sent no women athletes to compete compared with 12 countries in Sydney in 2000 and 26 countries in 1996. The 2008 Olymics will see the return of 28 sports and will hold 302 events whcih include 165 men's events, 127 women's events, and 10 mixed events. I hope that this time more women paticipate in the Olympics games.

source: www.msmagazine.com/summer2004/augustamazons.asp

Mijin Shin, Kin338I Sec.7

WNBA offers advice to rookies

Chicagotribune.com featured an article on May 4th about the WNBA holding a seminar that offered fashion tips to its rookies. Chicago tribune reporter Shannon Ryan describes the seminar: "a cosmetics artist brought in by the league last month to teach the rookies how to arc their eyebrows, apply strokes of blush across their cheekbones and put on no-smudge eyeliner to receive the right attention off the court."Initially I did not know how to react to this. Is it wrong to give these women tips on how to appear attractive? After thinking about it I realized of course it is not. Any person would glady accept professional advice on anything, male or female. They were able to receive professional fashion advice and in addition to this there were featured seminars on financial advice, media training, and fitness and nutrition. Becuase the focus is on offcourt advice and the WNBA is not forcing them to do anything I look at this as harmless advice. I understand that women in sports are challenged with being a strong athelete as well as appearing lady-like. Women in this posistion must feel extremely insecure about this pressure. I do not feel like this adds to the pressure rather it helps these women to take steps in feeling great about themselves.

Ryan Herald
Kin338
Tu/Th 9:30am

Feminine vs. Less Feminine Athletic Events

The 2008 Summer Olypmics are quickly approaching. Over the years the Olympic Games have been an exciting group of elite athletic competition consisting of both men's and women's events. I always try to watch as much of the televised coverage as possible and I have noticed that certain events are more popular and receive more publicity than others. I found that the women's sports that get the most coverage are those that are known to be more "delicate" and "graceful". The two most popularly televised events for women are gymnastics and figure skating. These events are non contact and are depicted as very feminine. Olympic figure skater and silver medalist, Sasha Cohen (pictured at the bottom), received an immense amount of publicity at the 2006 winter Olympics. I believe her pretty looks, cute outfit, and overall feminine depiction accounts for her large amount of publicity. Because our society stereotypes men as masculine and strong, and women as pretty and delicate, the athletic events highlighted for women will most likely fit those stereotypes. Another female Olympic athlete and GOLD medalist, Tristan Gale (pictured at the top right), received a lot less publicity at the 2006 Olympics. Her event was Women's Skeleton, or bobsledding. Even though Tristan Gale won a gold medal while figure skater Sasha Cohen won a silver medal, the more "feminine athlete" received the publicity.

-Allie Gold (KIN 338I tues/thurs 9:30-10:45)

Tennis Match or Fashion Show?

 

As a fan of women's tennis, I usually watch the televised professional women's tournaments. I've recently noticed a change in the way female tennis players are dressing. It seems as though the players are more concerned with the how "pretty" their outfits look, rather than how easy they are to play in. From cleavage-enhancing dresses to pink, lacy mini-skirts, women's tennis has become much more "fashionable." I feel that female athletes are so concerned with not looking "masculine," and feel the need to control their image. Thus, the way they dress is a way of controlling the way the public receives them. It's their way of saying, "I am a professional athlete, but I'm still feminine." It's a way of fighting the ridiculous stereotype that athletic women are "manly" or that they are all homosexuals. Some of these athletes are dressing sexily, which I think is unnecessary for a professional athletic event. However, if these new outfits are not impeding their athletic performance, then I guess it's okay. I just hope that it's not putting out the idea to young, aspiring female athletes that they must dress sexily or "girly" to get attention for their athletic abilities.        (-Brooke Ammerman)

Coverage of Women in Sports on FOX Sports website

It is 5:30pm Friday May 3, 2008.
Here I am browsing through the net looking for ideas to blog, all I see from this link: http://msn.foxsports.com/?MSNHPHTN is dashing and masculine looking male athlete images. I scroll down further and finally a doll-face female pops up, I said: finally someone cares enough to include female sports news. Oh, wait a second, it's FOX Funhouse. The topic this week is: Babe of the Week. Yea, she's looking fine alright, after all, we only care about how good the men are in the sports.
First, I believe we all agree the home page of a website contents what the chief editor thinks of most valued headlines. I suppose there isn't any female playing sport this week, or those news are just simply not as important as to male's.
The media, as we discussed in class are mostly owned by wealthy upper class white males. The news layout is and always will be in favor of theirs.
Another point I would like to bring up is the sexually provocative images of female in media. My side of the panel was pro to female athlete posing in sexually provocative ways, and I can counter argue all the points which support our side. It is the most damaging way to degrade all the female athletes who work hard to get to where they are today, both physically and socially.
FOX Sports is just a typical example of imbalanced media coverage of female and male in sport.

Chihling Chang
KIN 338i Section 7
TTH 2-3:15

Increased Sports Opportunities for Women

There is an article which talks about the increase sports opportunities for women in CSU system. According to the article, five years after settling a lawsuit that charged it with discriminating against female athletes, the California State University System is providing more funds, scholarships, and opportunities for participation in women's sports. Since our school is also CSU system, I have noticed that lots of students participate in school sports activities are female. Every time when I go to the class, I have seen many female students playing basketball or volleyball, and sometimes they are even more than male. Also there are several school events such as volleyball game hold for female, which is really famous of our school. Moreover, our school has provided some scholarship opportunities for students plying in sports and that could support some of their living costs as well. I think nowadays, there are more and more opportunities for women to play in sports which is a good symbol of equity in this liberal society.

Tze-Jou Chao sec.7 Kin338I