Men vs. Women in Sports

Discussion in 'Off Topic Area' started by Pitfighter, Dec 16, 2010.

  1. Pitfighter

    Pitfighter Valued Member

    I've noticed that the pro sports dudes get a lot of exposure in have clear scoring goals such as baseball, futbol, handegg (American Football), basketball, etc.

    Most of the sports chicks get a lot exposure in have a lot of judging like figure skating, gymnastics, cheerleading etc.

    Just the way the chips fall? or anybody thing there's a sociological reason for this?
     
  2. boards

    boards Its all in the reflexes!

    Women are pressured to be feminine so lots of skating, cheerleading etc. Men are pushed to be "macho" or competitive so lots of aggressive team vs team sports. There is also the theory that sports are the less violent version of war and for the most part women have not been a part of frontline warfare (exceptions obviously exist).

    Also some psychologists say that men are more goal/solution focused while women are less so. Hence you get things like WAGs telling the partners about something going wrong at work, and he gives a solution, to the womans annoyance. If she talks to a girlfriend, she gets sympathy and talks about how terrible the boss is etc. (paraphrasing psychologists here so don't lynch me ladies:eek:)
    If this is the case (and it probably is) then maybe this is the reason why male sports tend to have clear results for a task, be it a goal, try, knocking someone out etc.
     
  3. robertmap

    robertmap Valued Member

    There is extreme prejudice against women in sports - it exists and it has been analysed and quantified by any number of sports psychologists - Use Google scholar to see some of the papers on the subject.

    It is also a fact that we still assume many differences between men and women from a historical or sociological POV that are no longer (say last 50 - 100 years) supported because of changes in health, education, etc...

    Things are changing - but perhaps still too slowly.
     
  4. Mitlov

    Mitlov Shiny

    But women play games like soccer/football, field hockey, volleyball, basketball, and races (foot, swimming, bicycle), and men compete in figure skating or diving or ballroom dancing competitions.

    I think women's soccer gets more exposure in the states than men's soccer...who doesn't know this image?

    [​IMG]

    ...and Scott Hamilton doesn't seem to be lacking in exposure, even though he's a male figure skater. Same with Greg Louganis, who competes in the totally subjective sport of diving. Basically, I can't answer the "why" question because I think the factual premise of your question is flawed.
     
    Last edited: Dec 16, 2010
  5. Smitfire

    Smitfire Cactus Schlong

    Aye...some of the most prominent sportswomen are tennis players aren't they?
     
  6. Mitlov

    Mitlov Shiny

    Forgot about tennis. Good point.

    But competitive cheerleading is a coed sport with men and women on the same team, not a women's sport.

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XQWWe5Yp_o"]YouTube - Texas Tech National Cheerleading Competition[/ame]

    And anyone recognize this famous cheerleader?

    [​IMG]
     
  7. Smitfire

    Smitfire Cactus Schlong

    It may not be a women's sport but it is a feminine sport. Is it even a sport?
     
  8. Mitlov

    Mitlov Shiny

    I did realize that maybe I was looking at the original post wrong. I don't think that female participation in sports is skewed to subjective sports instead of objective sports when compared to male participation; both have plenty of each.

    HOWEVER...

    PitFighter did talk about "exposure" in "professional" sports, and that's a different matter, at least in the United States. Frankly, I realized there is not a single professional sport (as opposed to amateur sports like collegiate and Olympic sports), operating in a national sports league, where women get any meaningful exposure at all. Certainly nothing like the NFL (American football), NBA (basketball), NHL (hockey), MLB (baseball), etc. The only two professional sports leagues where American professional female athletes get exposure (tennis and soccer) are internationally-based leagues, not nationally-based leagues.

    Why is that? It's not due to a lack of female athletes in either subjective or objective sports--the amateur level shows they exist in droves--but it's due to something about American viewers. American audiences will pay to watch men play sports but generally won't pay to watch women play sports.

    It's sad, it's disappointing, but it's not inaccurate.
     
    Last edited: Dec 16, 2010
  9. Mitlov

    Mitlov Shiny

    Competitive cheerleading is a sport, scored in a manner similar to figure skating. Not all cheerleader squads, however, compete in competitive cheerleading competitions. Standing on the side of a football field shouting encouragement at football players is NOT a sport, but competing in a competition where you are rated on the difficulty and execution of team acrobatic performances IS a sport.

    Edit: Has anyone told the 43rd president of the United States that cheerleading is a "feminine" sport?
     
    Last edited: Dec 16, 2010
  10. rivend

    rivend Valued Member

    The obvious anatomical difference have played a huge part in the choices of sports for females.Sociological reason may be the alpha male thing and basic sell for a sport for mass media.
     
  11. Mitlov

    Mitlov Shiny

    I disagree on the anatomical differences. Look at the Olympics. If women were unfit to compete in most sports, they wouldn't exist in the Olympics. But in the Olympics, women compete in everything from ice hockey to taekwondo to soccer (football) to biathlon to marathon.

    The list of sports that that exist for male athletes in the Olympics but not female athletes is actually quite small. There's boxing, ski jumping, and nordic combined. Those are the only three sports out of the dozens of Olympic sports where there's no women's competition.
     
  12. Southpaw535

    Southpaw535 Well-Known Member Moderator Supporter

    Fun fact, its also the most dangerous sport women compete in.
     
  13. rivend

    rivend Valued Member

    Name three woman beside in tennis that have reached superstar status on a global level. I am sure there are some but commercially, fan support and being legends you may have to dig deep.This is not a lowering of woman in any way just an observation.I love to watch female volleyball and the new football women's league on spike.
     
  14. Mitlov

    Mitlov Shiny

    I'm in 100% agreement with you in terms of viewership. No argument there. We just disagree on the following: "The obvious anatomical difference have played a huge part in the choices of sports for females". I think societal bias against female athletes, not the female athletes' anatomic differences, are the cause of reduced viewership.
     
    Last edited: Dec 16, 2010
  15. rivend

    rivend Valued Member

    Of course there is bias would you expect the male and female role in athletics to become equal? And from decades past where the mans role in the classic family was reinforced and the provider mentality was hopefully ingrained in a man.And the role of him as king of his castle and the head of the table all that comes with it.

    Do you think society would allow the roles reversed. Which everyday more of this is happening and causing all kinds of troubles to many to mention. Yes there is a root effect man as PORTRAYED as the caveman and hunter and woman as the stay at home mom and chief cook and bottle washer.
    This whole concept is changing and who knows what the end result will be.
    Also i am not trying to be a chauvinist pig i am just expressing an observation about this societal bias you speak of.
     
    Last edited: Dec 16, 2010
  16. SenseiMattKlein

    SenseiMattKlein Engage, Maverick

    Three words, Cris "Cyborg" Santos.
     
  17. Pitfighter

    Pitfighter Valued Member

    Lemme just say that it is true that women tennis players do get a lot of public attention. But that is really the only sport where women get a lot of public attention and also has clear objective goals. Most sports that women compete in that also get a lot of public attention are still essentially judging competitions.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/04/AR2009030401865.html

    The above article relates to women's soccer. This indicates that women's professional soccer is on skidrow. Besides that gold medal we won like 10 years ago who's really heard much about it?

    Even the WNBA would probably fold if it wasn't getting some financial backing from the NBA.

    And sorry guys the ladies of MMA aren't really that famous outside of hardcore crowds. Besides combat sports are odd because they have objective finishes and subjective decisions. As such they are probably the only set of sports that I know of with both objective and subjective results.
     
  18. boards

    boards Its all in the reflexes!

    In Australia at least, the women that you here most of in sport would be tennis, hockey on occassion (considering they are up there with the best in the world), ironwomen in the summer and swimming. Very few other sports in which women get alot of recognition here.
     
  19. Mitlov

    Mitlov Shiny

    I don't understand the point you're trying to make. Do you think it's a good thing that women who participate in sports besides tennis, figure skating, and gymnastics don't receive much fanfare? If so, why?

    And how does it cause "troubles" if a woman is a wage-earner and a man is a home-maker?
     
  20. righty

    righty Valued Member

    Professional womens tennis is still underwatched compared to the mens game. The pay packets given for the womens competition (at the same event) is also lower than what the men get paid.

    True. But hockey isn't a largely watched game in general.
    The ironwomen are still left behind the men in terms of both the courses offered during the event and general public interest.


    This is the only one I would truly say women get equal recognition. And that is because at the moment they are much more successful than the mens team. There has actually been much talk about 'fixing' the mens team because of a relatively dismal performance at the latest olympics.


     

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