Реферат: Sexism In Sports Essay Research Paper SEXISM

answer is sadly indicative of the subcurrent of sexism that still haunts American

athletics: The boys coaches won’t stand for it.

In a recent meeting of a new league in California where the idea of playing the girls and

boys varsity games back-to-back (with the girls game first, to be sure), one boys coach

said “The girls games are terrible. I can barely stand to watch.”

Others said they couldn’t watch their freshmen play if the girls played at the

same site, as if the boys varsity coach takes his spot in the stands at 4:30 for the 7:30

tip-off and misses not a moment of a game that includes maybe four future varsity

members, none of whom remotely resemble the players they will be when the varsity

coach finally gets them. He might see a half of the JV game before taking his team into

the locker room to go over the scouting report and get ready for the main event, but to

hear the coaches talk, they need every second of observation of boys they see every day

in practice and all summer long.

Let’s be serious. The boys coaches don’t want the girls there for two reasons: 1)

It rocks their masculine world; and 2) The girls team might actually be better in some

years and the boys coach would have to swallow his not-insignificant ego.

But we all know girls can play the game (you wouldn’t be reading this if you

didn’t believe that), though I will concede that a bad girls high school game is worse

than a bad boys high school game. On the other hand, there are schools where the girls

team is not only more successful, but draws better than the boys team – and puts on a

much better display of fundamental basketball. When that happens, the boys coach must

not only deal with a mediocre team, he must also answer too many ego-busting

questions about when he’s going to get it together like the girls. (And this doesn’t even

include the boys themselves, who also must swallow large amounts of testosterone

when they’re 5-20 and the girls are playing for the state title.)

Truthfully, there is not one good reason why the boys and girls shouldn’t play at

the same site on the same night. One of the primary justifications for high school sports

is that it improves school spirit, which translates into a more upbeat campus and

happier students. If that’s the case, then putting the boys and girls together can only