In this article, it discusses the unfair representation women get when it comes to being covered by the media and games being broadcast. The article is written in an interview fashion where the author of the article is interviewing Tara VanDerveer, a championship basketball coach at Stanford. VanDerveer discusses only remembering the media covering Billie Jean King as a child and says she “always felt there would be something more, eventually, for women.”
Within the interview, VanDerveer brings up a good point about women’s sports game coverage. She says that the people running these companies and making decisions for the most part did not grow up watching females play sports. I never really thought of this aspect and now hearing this I feel this is one of the main problems with women getting coverage on television. With more women playing sports now more than ever, one would think they would begin to get more coverage. However, there is a generational issue that is holding us back. I think as the years progress and now that women are getting a little bit more coverage than they used to, this younger generations will grow up watching women on television. This will hopefully become something of the “norm” and women will one day see equal representation in the media.
VanDerveer also states she has problems with the phrase “women in sports.” She says that while men playing sports is simply “sports,” women have a label. I think this is also a valid point VanDerveer is making in that when people hear the word sports, they automatically assume that there is just on kind of sports going on and that’s men’s. Getting beyond this problem comes down to a generational thing once again. I think that once new generations of men and women ones that have seen women playing sports from birth come into decision-making positions, things will most definitely change.
I really enjoyed reading this article and it really has helped me shape my perspective on women and the reason why they are not getting equal representation on television and in the media.
-Emily Gregorio
May Intersession 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
The Confident Female Athlete
I read a post from ESPNW by Jessica Mendoza about the confidence of women. She referenced Billy jean King's speech on having confidence in themselves and who they are as a person. Mendoza constantly speaks to young women about confidence and accepting themselves. As she made a speech in LA for the Women in Sports and events dinner She told the women there to accept and love who they are and not be the stereotypical “humble” women. She wants women to believe in themselves and to confidently tell the world and not hold back that they are wonderful beings. Mendoza wants to have all women be able to be confident and state how great they are and be able to break down the barriers that stop them from having such confidence in themselves. She wants women to break down these barriers and be able to open the doors to be able to confidently acknowledge their success and greatness as women.
In class we went over the barriers women face that hold them back from truly showing the world their strength and skills. I agree that we all need the confidence to be ale to fully express our true potential and show the world the strength of women. As each women gains the confidence to share their greatness with others we can together break down these barriers that make us hold back our potential. We can not only show the world how great women are today, but inspire the future girls to have the confidence to show their strength in whatever they choose to do in life. Women should have confidence in who they are and pursue their goals to truly show how great women can be and to help eliminate the stereotypes and barriers women face for the girls of today and tomorrow.
http://espn.go.com/espnw/features-profiles/5888182/women-all-do-better-job-being-more-confident-focus-positives
-Dominique Pakingan. May Intercession 2011
In class we went over the barriers women face that hold them back from truly showing the world their strength and skills. I agree that we all need the confidence to be ale to fully express our true potential and show the world the strength of women. As each women gains the confidence to share their greatness with others we can together break down these barriers that make us hold back our potential. We can not only show the world how great women are today, but inspire the future girls to have the confidence to show their strength in whatever they choose to do in life. Women should have confidence in who they are and pursue their goals to truly show how great women can be and to help eliminate the stereotypes and barriers women face for the girls of today and tomorrow.
http://espn.go.com/espnw/features-profiles/5888182/women-all-do-better-job-being-more-confident-focus-positives
-Dominique Pakingan. May Intercession 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Women's American Football
American football has always been predominately played by males. It is seen as a violent contact sport focused on strength and power. Biologically these are not the most dominant physical traits for females. However there has been a debut of women's leagues that abide by the same rules and regulations as the male leagues. These women hit just as hard and just as often too.
Last year was the first ever women's World Championship tournament where the U.S. team won the gold medal. Tanya Bryan, who is an owner of a current women's team named the Baltimore Nighthawks and who also played on the gold medal team said,"To be the first, the first time it was done, and be a part of it, no one else can ever say that." The sport is growing rapidly, there have been about a dozen leagues created in the U.S. in recent years. Most of the women find it rewarding and healthy to have a place where they can be aggressive and powerful without having their femininity scrutinized.
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/sports/Women-Thrive-in-Formerly-All-Male-Sport-123462114.html
Nathan McConnell- May Intersession
Last year was the first ever women's World Championship tournament where the U.S. team won the gold medal. Tanya Bryan, who is an owner of a current women's team named the Baltimore Nighthawks and who also played on the gold medal team said,"To be the first, the first time it was done, and be a part of it, no one else can ever say that." The sport is growing rapidly, there have been about a dozen leagues created in the U.S. in recent years. Most of the women find it rewarding and healthy to have a place where they can be aggressive and powerful without having their femininity scrutinized.
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/sports/Women-Thrive-in-Formerly-All-Male-Sport-123462114.html
Nathan McConnell- May Intersession
Is Title IX effective?
Laws and rules are made to be followed or why would we need them? Title IX is a law creating equal rights to women and men in educational systems. When it comes to sport though, it seems as though colleges look to find ways around this law instead of abiding by it. Yet after reading this article from the New York times as to how colleges go around the Title, it seems like it needs some enforcement. With most funding for education coming from federal funding and losing this funding as a consequence seems scare to me. colleges continue to cheat the system and stake teams with women that don't play or have males on female teams. What is the point of a law that people do not fallow?
Enforcement is needed to this law plain and simple. The NCAA does a horrible job of governing Title IX. A new regulation committee needs to be enacted other then the Office of Civil Rights. This could change up sports as a whole. Once women are considered equal in sports and funded that way maybe a new market can open up to the world. for this to happen enforcement is needed though.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/sports/26titleix.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1&hp
Enforcement is needed to this law plain and simple. The NCAA does a horrible job of governing Title IX. A new regulation committee needs to be enacted other then the Office of Civil Rights. This could change up sports as a whole. Once women are considered equal in sports and funded that way maybe a new market can open up to the world. for this to happen enforcement is needed though.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/sports/26titleix.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1&hp
Where true beauty is
Eating disorders, in and out of the sport environment, are becoming much more common for Americans and at a young age as well as adulthood. There are high pressures put upon the public to conform to what is declared acceptable and attractive. Unfortunately the message of what fill the criteria of beauty can be mixed or distorted by what is portrayed in our media.
Movies for children show full grown women with unrealistic body proportions. The Barbie doll, for example, sets a standard that is unachievable and females can get a sense of being imperfect and not measuring up to what their childhood notion of what beauty is. The main focus of what is heard on the radio exalts a millionaire fantasy lifestyle that supports a Barbie dreamland where skin deep beauty is glorified.
However, the results of the fantasy are short lived and the devastating consequences are long-term. A very high number of people in America suffer from eating disorders. These disorders usually start from an incident at childhood which sticks in the individual's mind about their outward image.
So where does beauty come from? When we look at a spectacular painting, we give praise and glory to the painter, so too, when looking at how marvelous the human body is where it is self-healing when injured, the retina contains 137,000,000 light sensitive cells, has an internal intricate code system: DNA, and yet consists of the same elements found in the earth's crust, there is an obvious presence of Design.
True Beauty
Jacob Keiper
May Intercession 2011
Movies for children show full grown women with unrealistic body proportions. The Barbie doll, for example, sets a standard that is unachievable and females can get a sense of being imperfect and not measuring up to what their childhood notion of what beauty is. The main focus of what is heard on the radio exalts a millionaire fantasy lifestyle that supports a Barbie dreamland where skin deep beauty is glorified.
However, the results of the fantasy are short lived and the devastating consequences are long-term. A very high number of people in America suffer from eating disorders. These disorders usually start from an incident at childhood which sticks in the individual's mind about their outward image.
So where does beauty come from? When we look at a spectacular painting, we give praise and glory to the painter, so too, when looking at how marvelous the human body is where it is self-healing when injured, the retina contains 137,000,000 light sensitive cells, has an internal intricate code system: DNA, and yet consists of the same elements found in the earth's crust, there is an obvious presence of Design.
True Beauty
Jacob Keiper
May Intercession 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Sport and Sexual Orientation
One would think in today's society, a society that is gradually becoming more and more accepting of lesbians, bisexuals, gays and transgenders, would be just that-accepting. Yet, still at very alarming numbers, LBGT's are still being discriminated in the work place, communities, and athletic environments. Advocacy agencies are putting all efforts into fighting for the rights of the LGBT community. Moreover, they are fighting for the same treatment every human being deserves.
The Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation is one such group that is actively taking initiative in fighting issues such as this one. WSFF is a UK charity that campaigns to make physical activity an everyday part of life for women and and girls. Their website states, "Our Vision is a society which encourages, enables, and celebrates active women and girls". One of their goals is to eliminate the stigma associated with women playing sports in a patriarchal system.
I came across this fact sheet that the WSFF had published about the common stereotypes of women in sports, to help bring awareness to this issue. This fact sheet gets down to the core of what the stereotype's about women in sports are (homonegativity), where the came from (predominately male and heterosexual environment), why this is an issue (e.g. making lesbian and bisexual athletes feel unwelcome, belittled, etc.), and what should be done to address these discriminatory acts. I think, of most importance, is why are we humans treating each other this way? Whether you are of Christian background or not, black or white, purple or blue, short or tall, we all want to be treated with respect. Right?
The link to the fact sheet is included below. Check it out and I encourage you, challenge you, to take the survey towards the end of the fact sheet. Take it to work, school, anywhere and see if homonegativity is present somewhere in your life. Taking a step back to realize the importance of fairness for all is one small step towards a much larger step....total equality.
http://rfllive.dyndns.org/~rflmedia/docs/Sport_and_Sexual_Orientation.pdf
Dan Myers
May Intersession
The Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation is one such group that is actively taking initiative in fighting issues such as this one. WSFF is a UK charity that campaigns to make physical activity an everyday part of life for women and and girls. Their website states, "Our Vision is a society which encourages, enables, and celebrates active women and girls". One of their goals is to eliminate the stigma associated with women playing sports in a patriarchal system.
I came across this fact sheet that the WSFF had published about the common stereotypes of women in sports, to help bring awareness to this issue. This fact sheet gets down to the core of what the stereotype's about women in sports are (homonegativity), where the came from (predominately male and heterosexual environment), why this is an issue (e.g. making lesbian and bisexual athletes feel unwelcome, belittled, etc.), and what should be done to address these discriminatory acts. I think, of most importance, is why are we humans treating each other this way? Whether you are of Christian background or not, black or white, purple or blue, short or tall, we all want to be treated with respect. Right?
The link to the fact sheet is included below. Check it out and I encourage you, challenge you, to take the survey towards the end of the fact sheet. Take it to work, school, anywhere and see if homonegativity is present somewhere in your life. Taking a step back to realize the importance of fairness for all is one small step towards a much larger step....total equality.
http://rfllive.dyndns.org/~rflmedia/docs/Sport_and_Sexual_Orientation.pdf
Dan Myers
May Intersession
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Learn to love your body
In class, we have been discussing how the media can influence the way in which we think and act. Young women all over the world are very unsatisfied with their bodies are beginning to take drastic measures to alter their look to make themselves feel better. Women all over the world are constantly seeing images of women who are lean and thin, but yet we are told that we should be skinny but curvy, coy yet sexy at the same time. It is all so contradicting it gives me a headache! We put many of these "ideal women" on a pedestal and we place them so high that it is nearly impossible to reach.
These factors not only affect non-athletes, they affect athletes as well. Many female athletes are constantly ridiculed for being "overly masculine" and too "manly" in appearance due to their toned bodies. Athletes constantly have pressure placed on them to keep a healthy presence for the media and when they become too thin or too big, the media instantly attacks. Since athletes are always in the "lime light" and have the constant pressure the have the "ideal" body, many athletes fall into the whirlwind of the female athlete triad. The triad consists of menstrual dysfunction (amenorrhea), disordered eating (anorexia/bulimia), and decreased bone density (osteoporosis). Most women who fall into this spiral downfall of the triad are dancers, gymnastics, divers, figure skating, etc. because of the constant pressure to remain thin and agile.
Women, both athletes and non-athletes need to learn about proper nutrition and exercise to maintain a healthy lifestlye. Most women have an "ideal" body shape that they want to achieve because of what they see in the media or because of pressure from coaches, parents, etc. But in reality, only about 2% of the population actually look like what women tend to view as "perfect" Women need to learn to love their bodies and that every body type is different from one another.
Alexis P- may intercession kin 338i
These factors not only affect non-athletes, they affect athletes as well. Many female athletes are constantly ridiculed for being "overly masculine" and too "manly" in appearance due to their toned bodies. Athletes constantly have pressure placed on them to keep a healthy presence for the media and when they become too thin or too big, the media instantly attacks. Since athletes are always in the "lime light" and have the constant pressure the have the "ideal" body, many athletes fall into the whirlwind of the female athlete triad. The triad consists of menstrual dysfunction (amenorrhea), disordered eating (anorexia/bulimia), and decreased bone density (osteoporosis). Most women who fall into this spiral downfall of the triad are dancers, gymnastics, divers, figure skating, etc. because of the constant pressure to remain thin and agile.
Women, both athletes and non-athletes need to learn about proper nutrition and exercise to maintain a healthy lifestlye. Most women have an "ideal" body shape that they want to achieve because of what they see in the media or because of pressure from coaches, parents, etc. But in reality, only about 2% of the population actually look like what women tend to view as "perfect" Women need to learn to love their bodies and that every body type is different from one another.
Alexis P- may intercession kin 338i
Monday, June 6, 2011
A new hope for female coaches
There is a new hope for female athletics with the creation of "The Alliance of women Coaches" which is aiming to improve opportunities for female coaches and increase the number of female coaches in sports at every level. According to the Gender Demographics Report for the NCAA, "In 2009-2010, only 39.5% of NCAA women's teams had female head coaches." This statement is alarming because in 1972 when title IX was being enacted, 90% of women's college teams had female head coaches. These statistics are the foundation for why this program is being created so there are equal opportunities for all women in athletics. This program also provides an opportunity for coaches to network with other coaches to share ideas with each other in all sports, divisions and levels.
As a female myself, anything that promotes gender equality especially in the male dominant field of sports is important. We have discussed in class how the numbers for females as head coaches has decreased. I strongly believe that with the more resources and opportunities which this program will provide, more and more females will become interested in coaching. I think "The Alliance" is another positive step forward towards closing the gender gap in coaching and hopefully the gender gap in all aspects of sports.
http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/Content/News/National-Womens-Sports/2011/May/Creation-of-The-Alliance-of-Women-Coaches-Aims-to-Improve-the-Landscape-for-Women-Coaches.aspx
Lauren W.- may intersession 2011
A revolutionary sneaker, or overhyped gimmick?
An article in USA Today helps to answer that question. The Shape Up/toning shoe craze has multi- dimensions that apply to women as the 90% consumer base to buy in on the hype. Not only are some of the major brands a major investment but these shoes could harm more than they help. Google search results showed the top search suggestion for Shape Ups was a lawsuit by 38 yr. old a woman that had developed hip fractures over a few months of use. She was a waitress and figured that she is already walking and could tone up while wearing the rocker bottom shoes to work every day. Because the shoes change the way a person walks, this action can also exacerbate an underlying problem. Surgery to implant screws was the result for her. There are more lawsuits that follow such as a broken ankle for falling in the shoes and so on.
As women we wear all kinds of shoes that change the way we walk, but these shoes are with the promise of ‘toning’ without adding exercise. Sketchers charges $120 and claims "Get in Shape Without Setting Foot in a Gym," The article quotes: “Johns Hopkins, Wendy Shore, says consumers would get the supposed health benefits of toning shoes and save money if they skipped buying the shoes, then "bought one less bagel a day — and walked an extra block." Common sense does not need to be marketed or celebrity endorsed.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2010-06-30-toning-shoes_N.htm
Debi Bowers (KIN 338 May Intersession)
Friday, June 3, 2011
Princess Athletes
Lately in class we have been discussing the topic of body image issues of women in sport. We have been talking about how the media can be detrimental to women in sport because it is constantly bombarding us with these images of 'perfect' women. These women have bodies that are unattainable by most women, especially women in sport. Women athletes have strong and powerful bodies, and without this strength, would not be able to perform as well as they do.
We had to do an art project in class the other day which allowed us to express the issues surrounding women in sport. One of the girls in my group happened to have some Disney Princess rub-on tattoos in her backpack that we were able to incorporate into our project. We talked about how Disney adds to this negative media portrayal of what young women's bodies should look like. Because each one of these princesses were posing semi-provocatively and were very thin, we concluded that every one of these Disney Princess tattoos were sending little girls negative body image messages.
Later this same day, I happened to stumble onto a disneyfamily.com article which talked about body image issues for young girls. The title of Teri Brown's article is: "Avoiding Body Image Issues in Sports, Avoiding Potential Body Image Problems when your teen participates in competitive sports." Basically, this article talks about was how young athletic girls "are our little princesses" who participate in "princess-like" sports, and should be protected from negative body image exposure through these "aesthetic sports". It focuses on how little princesses are involved in sports like figure skating, dance, and gymnastics, where their looks are judged as much as, or even more so, than their actual talent. It warns parents to keep a close eye on the potentially negative environments these princess sports expose their little girls to. I find it ironic that even though this Disney article is trying to help end the exposure of young girls to negative body images issues surrounding sport, it is one of the very sources that adds to this perpetuation of negative body images through it's very own Disney Princess characters.
http://family.go.com/parenting/pkg-teen/article-773408-avoiding-body-image-issues-in-sports-t/
Katie D: May Intersession
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