Transgender Issues In Sports

Upon starting college, I was done with sports as far as participating on a team. I knew I wanted to be involved wherever I could be. I enrolled in a class titled, “Girls & Women in Sport.” The class was built upon a sociological approach. In this class, I learned the importance of sex versus gender, the role of Title IX in sports, gender roles, as well as the psychological impacts of athletic participation on women.

Let us go back to Renée Richards, why was Richards able to play in a woman’s sport after going through surgery and becoming a woman? The answer lies in the process, Richards went through surgery which included hormone treatment. Zack Ford, a writer for Thinkprogress.org published a piece on August 8, 2016, entitled, No, Allowing Transgender Athletes to Compete Won’t Destroy Women’s Sports. Ford makes some very compelling arguments and points out that many different organizations already allow transgender athletes to compete and they have not had any problems. Ford points out that women sports already have women with a physiques that seem to be a huge advantage, like 6’ 8” Brittany Griner in the WNBA. Ford’s major flaw is that sites the Olympics as one of the

Sports have always been effective in challenging the oppression of minorities by showcasing their talents and abilities and not dwelling on their differences. If a gay athlete is able to perform as well as straight athlete then the two are equal. Minorities face major amounts of inequality, however sports is one the few areas that minorities are offered equal footing.As well as being a tool for ending racial conflicts, it is also an influential stage that can encourage its audience to view the world through a different lens.Sports can be a very powerful avenue for change in society because of the number of viewers. Thus it is very common and effective platform to spread a positive and core message that not only has the potential to reach millions but also to change society. Sports are a reflection of a societies strengths and weaknesses. In Jackie Robison case, the racial prejudice and discrimination towards him was the reflections of the weaknesses in society at the

Sport has been one of the most important socio-cultural learning experiences for males and females. Sports provide an amazing release for people of all ages. People are requested and welcomed to play sports at any age. Sometimes there are many limitations due to personal reasons that restrain people from participating in sport such as money, peer pressure, location, etc. For the last century males are expected to be strong, independent, and athletic. Male athletes masculinity symbolizes an image of physical health, and sexual virility throughout their bodies as well. Nowadays, women’s participation in sports is becoming popular but it is still overshadowed by men’s. According to the Women’s Sport Foundation before the title IX “given equal athletic opportunities, women will rush to fill them; the remaining discrepancies in sports participation rates are the result of continuing discrimination in access to those opportunities” (“ Title IX Myths and Fact”). Under the title IX, female has the playing field been. Women now can participate in many sports, which were only played by men before. However, the main reason that female usually do not participate is due to gender inequity. Some of people believe that the inequity in sports has not changed over the years, especially opportunities and benefits. Although sports provide opportunities for both males and females, female participating in sports generally have less opportunities to

A high school age boy makes the papers when he joins the girls' varsity field hockey team at his high school. A woman is judged according to femininity rather than muscle mass in a body building competition. An African American is thought inferior to his white counterparts on the sports field. A woman is discouraged from playing contact sports under the pretext of being too delicate. All of these events have one thing in common: they, in their own context, involve individuals entering a non-traditional sport for their gender or race. Over the years, events such as these continually arise causing either

Physical education classes should bring in homosexual athletes so that they can can look at the journeys of how they were involved in sport, peaking into barriers they had to face. They should use these examples to inspire young people who are in the same situation or to display a message to other students that, homosexuals should not be discriminated.

Transgender people for decades have been experiencing issues related within sports. The main problem has revolved around which gender specific sport an athlete can compete in and if they have an advantage in doing so, if they are transgender. This issue has caused a debate between the transgender community and the non-transgender community. The main issue is whether a transgender athlete should compete within their birth certificate gender and if it is fair for them to compete in sports. This topic has been discussed for the past year and has made national news many times in the past couple of years. Transgender athletes are the same as everyone else, just because they’re different doesn’t mean that they should be banned from competing in sports.

Having taken this class I now feel as though I am hyperaware of how often gender marking occurs. Gender marking even happens on Smith campus and within the Smith Athletic Department, which I have always found odd as there are no “men’s” teams at Smith and therefore the teams shouldn’t need a gendered distinction. However this does open the conversation regarding another issue with gender and sport: transgender

The transgender community faces much opposition in today’s society. Transgender athletes, in certain states, are facing many discriminating laws against them. In the United States, only sixteen states will let students compete as the gender they identify as. Seven states force transgender students to compete under the gender they were born, seventeen states have a case by case basis system, and ten states don’t even have a policy. (Transathlete, 2017) Students in these states have a hard time being able to express who they are. Changes need to be made where every student has equal opportunities to be who they are.

The continuing issue of the past has now turned into an obvious issue in our current society. Ladies these days have opportunities that were not reachable in past decades, but rather should overcome, or by and large disregard, the hindrance of being rebuffed over the long haul for basically being a lady. Does not matter what gender you are, your gender shouldn’t determine your ability, if that individual takes care of business right, he or she ought to be paid for doing as such, if not, that individual gets repercussions. The impact of sexual orientation on this issue is exceptionally inquisitive in the matter of why it is even a component in any case. It is broadly acknowledged all through today 's general public that sports is a man 's game. Ladies have been basically avoided from playing sports and also not being equalized as men. Ladies are

With the introduction of Transgenders into sports, the society beings to understand the true nature of what is really going on. There is a sense of awareness that becomes of the society and the belief around Transgenders is lifted as they are accepted into the community.

Gender roles resurfaced as a pivotal factor in my life during my late adolescence. In our culture different sports are considered to be male and female dominated respectively. Unfortunately little is done to challenge or resist these societal norms and I experienced this first hand during my senior year of high school. Volleyball, which is considered to be a sport primarily for girls and women, was not offered to boys at my high school. Subsequently, I was forced to petition for approval towards the creation of a male volleyball which ultimately went unsuccessful due to time constraints and unwillingness to help from staff and administration. While this example pertained to male exclusion countless female friends of mine struggled to participate in male-dominated sports throughout high school including wrestling and lacrosse. “Part of what schools are supposed to be doing under Title IX, and often are not doing, is regularly assessing girls ' interest, looking to see what sports girls are playing and asking girls what they want to play that is currently not being offered” (Wallace). In this instance my districts athletic director directly impacted the sporting experiences for the entire student body by failing to adhere to sufficient standards with respect to gender norms.

This study reveals much about the attitudes that persist in society today regarding sport and gender. Early on, sport was created to serve men, evolving as a celebration of maleness, valuing strength, power, and competition. It idealized, promoted, and rewarded successful, elite athletes, established “the dream” as a professional career in sports, and viewed mass participation in sport as a tool to weed out the weak (Hill, 1993). In contrast, women’s sports originated to “address the expressed need for healthful exercise” (Huckaby, 1994). Unlike the competitive warrior mode

Race, gender, history and sexual orientation play major roles in women's participation in sport. Through out the history of women in sport, opportunity has increased. Many athletes and coaches are presented with the issue of sexual orientation throughout their sporting career. Regardless of sexual orientation, all female athletes are affected by heterosexism. One's racial or ethnicity background greatly shapes the experience they may have in sport. This essay explores the many issues women in sport face today.

There are many repercussions that are projected upon both men and women when they enter into a sport that typically isn’t thought of as gender appropriate. Some of those cultural and social stigmatisms may be abandonment by your peers, and friends questions regarding your sexuality, and even in some cases criticism as to how you are living your life. In some cases, it may lead to you not being accepted by either group, theone whose norems you are not following, of as well as the one with whom you are trying to get involved. This paper will address all of these issues and how these seemingly negative situations can, will, and are, leading to growth. It will also discuss how this is a situation where repercussions are