By Katelynn Rise
Contributor
As a female that grew up surrounded by boys playing sports, I have always noticed a severe separation of the sexes when it came to athletics.
My father, my brother and some of my closest male friends all played football. Being a female, they were constantly impressed with my fundamentally sound throwing skills and my ability to pick out the difference between a pass interference and a fair catch. Why should they have been so surprised to think that I knew anything about football? Why should it be such a shocking fact to think that a woman could actually be involved in a sport as much as a man was? Unfortunately, we can thank the media for that.
The media has sexually glorified women athletes. For example, Ronda Rousey is the number one female MMA fighter in her division. She has been to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, bringing home a bronze medal, and has spent her entire life dedicated to bettering her body to become the best MMA fighter she can be. Even with all of these accomplishments, the media chooses to glorify Rousey’s multitude of success by using nude pictures of her that have nothing to do with her career as an athlete. Last time I checked, a women’s role in sports, or society as a whole, has nothing to do with what a woman looks like under her clothes.
Not only does the media sexualize women athletes, but they also deteriorate the meaning of having women involved in sports by criticizing female sportscasters. Erin Andrews, much like myself, has grown up around the world of football, and is now one of the most well-known sportscasters in the NFL. Unfortunately, Andrews is criticized for being just another pretty face on a major television network who lacks interviewing skills. Andrews majored in telecommunications, and is more than qualified for her position as a sportscaster. So why must society be so resistant to the fact that women are involved in sports and want to participate in the world of sports?
To answer this question as simply as possible, gender roles has affected the way society allows women to be integrated into the sports world. Seeing a woman talking about sports or participating in a sport immediately labels them as masculine or unlady-like. Women need to be accepted into the sports world, whether she is an athlete or a sportscaster, because women allow an array of diverse opinions that could otherwise be overlooked by men. The integration of women can also help give back to their communities through charity organizations, such as Andrews and Rousey having charities.
The next time you see a woman’s sporting game on TV, a woman sportscaster or a woman kicking some butt in the ring, make sure you take a second to realize all of the hardships that they must have had to overcome to get to their successful position in the world of sports before judging them for their gender.