Last week Sports Illustrated brought out on one of its covers TITLE IX 40 years of change. The entire front cover is all white with black san serif print quoted in a red large quote symbol"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education receiving Federal financial assistance...." June 23, 1972. When I was looking over the magazine the issue presents 50 pages of men in sports, men advertisements, and photographs and only 20 pages about how Title IX was put into effect over the years. Now my question or my curiosity came into place on the date JUNE 23, 1972. Title IX was in place before Rene Portland became head coach at Penn State. If the last incident occurred in 2007 with Jennifer Harris, why was Rene Portland allowed to be sued by the school $10,000. Knowing about Title IX, being aware that she was a leader that many looked up, why wasn't she punished severely for the fact that TItle IX is not a new policy? Why was she not held accountable for her actions in a more severely manner? When I look at the magazine, it feels like its just print that has to be placed in school like instructions on how to use APA format. The magazine should have been all about the beginning before Title IX, the struggles, and the outcomes. Yes, it is true how Title IX speaks out, but does not speak about how the media should portray women in sports.                                                                         Geannie Tomas KIN 388

Women Cross Country Runner DQ for wearing Short Shorts

When I read an article, "Team Disqualified for Short Shorts" from a Associate Press, I was shocked and depressed when a cross country girls' team from Florida High School was disqualified after placing third for 2 mile race at State meet.  I do not think this was ethical when these runners were disqualified due to their shorts.  It is better for runners to wear short shorts to have better performance.  This incident was an issue for the referee since they are not familiar with girls' athlete wearing short shorts and the referee do not want female athletes to show their fit and strong bodies since it might attract more attention.  Even though the team has been wearing this uniform throughout the whole season, but somehow they brought this issue at the end of the season and decided to destroy many runners’ goals.  This issue can tied to our class lectures when we talked about females are usually view as feminine and males view as masculine.  Also females are known to look lean and petite, and males look stronger and athletic. I think both gender can wear any attire and look what they want to portray themselves instead of other people telling what they should do or look.  In all, any athletes should be themselves instead of hiding their personal and interests.

Cheyenne  Hayes

http://www.makeithappen.com/wis/readings/shortsfl.html

Shameless

            Saudi Women have bravely faced hardship in the sports life. In a country characterized by gender segregation, women have to confront in a daily basis, the cruel reality of patriarchal society dominance. Though there is pressure on authorities to give women the right to play sports by international organizations such Human Rights Watch and groups of liberal women in the territory, changes are not near to occur due to the great influence exerted by religious groups.

            The remarkable religious influence and extremist or extra conservative ideology, have contributed to deny Saudi women the right to play sports. Officials from religious Islamic groups have condemned women participation in sports, arguing that the excessive movement and jumping involved in football and basketball might cause girls to tear their hymens and lose their virginity.  It is sad to see that such authority figures are reluctant to contemplate a scientific or medical opinion to their argument. Furthermore, the same officials renewed in 2010 a religious edict banning women participation in sports, arguing that such activities will lead to following in the footsteps of evil.  The extremist beliefs of the religious groups have deprived women from their innate rights to participate in sports.  In Saudi Arabia, state schools are barred from teaching physical education.  Female athletes have never attended The Olympics or any international match.  Women are prohibited to attend sport events in stadiums since they are supposed to be reserved for men.   When the Jeddah United, a private women basketball team returned after playing the Jordanian national team in 2009, the newspaper published a picture of them with the headline “Shameless girls.” This type of retaliation is aimed to cause embarrassment for the participants and their families.

            As we learned in class, the patriarchal dominant group has controlled the participation of women in sports, in some countries in a more strict and manipulative way than others but at the end with the same purpose.  Years from now when changes have occurred in Saudi Arabia, authorities will realized that they were the ones who didn’t have shame on their games.

Axel D. Kin338

Women In Sports

         I will admit that before taking this class i had no idea what female athletes went through in the past and even in the present. I never really thought about how women were portrayed in the media, or how homophobia affected female athletes. It did not occur to me that even in this day and age there are still stereotypes about women in sports, and how they should look or act. There were a couple of topics that i found really interesting as we went through the semester. Like how women are portrayed in the media and how little female athletes are covered in today's press. As well as the homophobia that goes on, not only for females in sports, but in sports in general. I find it hard to believe that society today still looks at a person's gender, color and sexuality first instead of their abilities or their skills when it comes to sports. I grew up with the idea that no matter what, skill and dedication and the love of the game came first before anything else. That the only thing that mattered was the skill and heart of the athlete. I find it really sad that society today has forgotten that, and because of it we are still faced with the same problems that we had in the past. Although there are progress, there are still a lot of work to be done. I give props to those female athletes that defied the norm and showed the world that their skills, dedication and love of the sport is the only thing that matters!

Kat Talento
KIN 338I.s6

Women in the weight room

I spend a lot of time training athletes and myself in the weight room and it has always bugged me the dynamic that is seen. Women go straight to the cardio machines and starve themselves in attempt to reach some sort of "ideal" body they see in magazines. YUCK! The result is the perpetuation of the weakness that comes with extended bouts of cardio and a lack of heavy resistance training. STRONG IS SEXY! To me, there is nothing more attractive in a woman than confidence and breaking those gender norms. Having muscularity is not only "sexy" but it is empowering to women-- it shows a great level of discipline and sticks it to the patriarchal society. Another common error is that when women do enter the weight room, they fall into the trap of "toning". TONING IS ABSURD. Do not aim to make your muscles weak, strong muscles equal sexy muscles. Men spend entire lives attempting to "get big", by doing some heavy resistance training you will not bulk up, trust me. What you will do is condition your nervous system to fire at a level you had not known before. What you will do is hone your mind to a place where only in the most focused state can you meet your next personal record. You will defy the role that this society has placed on you and you will be strong-- you will be a woman!

D. Bennett Laurrell
005294339 Kin 338i section 02

Advertisements Displaying Discrimination

If there is one thing I learned of great value from this class, it's that I think women athletes deserve so much more credit and respect for their accomplishments in sport. Through their sport, they are displaying the need to end discrimination viewing men as the patriarchal hierarchy, while women are inferior and should stay within household chores. Although they are fighting to keep this discriminatory mindset away, I feel that advertisements are only still promoting it unfairly.
As a sports enthusiast, I frequently find myself on sporting websites and watching ESPN daily. While watching these shows and visiting these websites, I am beginning to notice that advertisements are only promoting the discrimination Title IX was intended to destroy. For example, I noticed on websites like Sports Illustrated, that advertisements for men included professional male athletes in their natural sporting element promoting some sort of a product. Other advertisements included alcoholic beverages.
On the other hand, although there were very few advertisements both through TV and internet devoted to women, the ones that were displayed the inferiority of women in sports.
For example, advertisements included home makeovers, deodorant, and running shoes colored pink.
These advertisements, though it may not necessarily be intentional, are supporting the idea that men are the ideal figure for the sporting world, while women athletes should remain feminine and clean natured.
It's not fair to women that they are seen through sporting news as petite and feminine, because they are just as equal to be seen as athletically- gifted individuals in sport. Title IX served as a way to gain equality in sports, however, advertisements are being produced depicting women as inferior to men and with less athleticism. I honestly feel that there is progress, although minimal, towards creating equality and awareness in the media for women in sports. However, I feel that in order to ensure that people gain the proper respect for women, advertisements shouldn't create a wall between men and women's sporting products or news. Women are playing a major role in the sporting industry today from superb college to exceptional professional athletes; these women deserve the right to be portrayed how they are athletically.
Children, especially girls, look up to these women and should have role- models that they truly believe are of amazing athleticism and talent.
Advertisements play a major role in the sporting industry; I only hope that we see positive progress towards what Title IX is all about.

Lesbians/Gays. Should they come out?

Being at the end of the semester, we went through many different topics about women in sports, from Title IX to how women are portrayed in the media. The one topic that we recently talked about in class, and too, caught my attention the most is about athletes who are lesbians/gays. The movie that we watched in class, Training Rules, made me frustrated and had me thinking more into this subject. Why? First off, being an athlete that has a passion for basketball and even coaching basketball right now, I know the feeling of not being able to play; however in my case, because of an injury. In Jennifer Harris’ case, as well as all the other athletes affected at PENN State, my feeling of not being able to play basketball doesn’t compare to their feeling of not being able to play; because of their sexual orientation. Here’s a quick question for you, if you were given a scholarship your senior year to attend a division I college because you were one of the superior athletes and then all of a sudden, being stripped of your scholarship not because you had bad grades or weren’t good enough, but because of their suspicion of your sexual orientation, wouldn’t you cry? Honestly, I know that I would cry. I have so much passion for the game that if something hurtful was shot at me like that, for a reason that is not affecting the team, I would break down in tears knowing that I can’t play basketball because of my sexual orientation. In our society, regardless of the past or present, we have this knowledge that relationships and marriages consist of a woman and a man being together, two heterosexual people being together. However, once we see two homosexuals together, whether it is a woman and a woman or a man and a man together, we become disgusted and discriminate them because it is out of the norm that we traditionally view. Truthfully, our society can’t accept the fact of seeing two homosexuals being together. But honestly, do you think that because of their sexual orientation, they shouldn’t be allowed to play the sport that they love, even if they are talented at it? In my opinion, I think that because it doesn’t affect the sport, they should be allowed to play. In regards to Harris and all the other athletes, I believe that they should’ve been still apart of the PENN State team and shouldn’t have gone through all that suffering that Coach Portland put them through. Cases like Harris’ spreads all over the world from all lesbians and gays to hear, and that’s the main reason why most of them are scared to come out. Recently, however, there are more of them who are coming out. But because of that fear of knowing that the minute they will come out, they will be judged, discriminated against, and made fun of, is the fear that they have that will keep them behind the closet. You can’t control the feelings of nature and how everyone feels towards people because everyone is different. True, most of us have feelings for the opposite sex, but for those who are comfortable around the same sex, should be able to like whoever they want and play the sport that they are talented in because that is an athlete that every school, institution and league wants. If these places ban these athletes from playing, then no one will ever know that they exist and can contribute so much to the world of sports.

-Chazmine Donado
KIN 338i Section 02