Sleeping with the Enemy

            There are many problems affecting women’s participation and development in sports.  Most of the time, if not all the time, men are blamed for the creation and perpetuation of such problems.  Although men take a big chunk of responsibility in such unfortunate situations, it can’t be ignored that women’s roles and attitudes toward their own gender, contribute to the preservation of the many known problems.  I was impressed when I saw some data provided by Beauty Redefined on its article “our Issue with Swimsuit” (Feb,12, 2012) referring to how feminism is portrayed in the Sports Illustrated Magazine, and how such phenomenon has become an American cultural thing.  According to the author, 32% of adults in America read the magazine and 22 million are reported to be women.  Furthermore, it is reported that there is an increasing number of male professional athletes who stand up publicly to support sexual orientation disclosure in sports, an attitude not yet followed by female athletes, “ Heterosexual in Sports”, Griffin, P., (2011). Although women may have their own reasons not to support their own gender, their continuing attitude toward social behaviors, contributes to the creation and preservation of their own problems.

Axel D.Kin338is2
3/26/2012