Get Inspired, Be Empowered Forums Sexism & Patriarchy Challenges faced by female sportspersons

14 replies, 13 voices Last updated by 038 deepika Singh 1 year, 12 months ago
  • Woospire
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    Shubhangini Shaktawat
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    @shaktawat9
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    Challenges faced by female sportspersons
    The society is still stuck in the era when it was normal for men to work, play sport and for women to handle the household, manage the family relations, etc. It’s not that women did not play back then, or refrained themselves from being included in such pro-men tasks. In fact, women did. It’s just that we never really took them into consideration seriously. The society never did. Opposite to that, in the current time in which we’re all struggling towards gaining equality for the genders and lifting women up to the same strata as that of men, women do play a lot of sport. Mind you, women do not only play, but have proved to be the best in their field too. Yet again, female athletes and sportspersons face a lot of challenges too, first of the challenges being, stereotypes. Stereotypes have long been hindering women’s lives and goals. In the field of sports, not everyone has yet become accustomed to the idea of girls into sports, which makes them think there is almost ‘no scope for girls in sports.’ Many athletes who wish to take up sports as a career have to literally beg their parents and family members for support, despite which they do not get the support and help they require.
    Another issue is gender discrimination in the field of sports. We all know about every tiny detail of male cricketers, tennis players, football players, etc. Who cares to even bother about female stars? Nobody. Have you ever come across any house watching women’s cricket? No, because they just do not. Another problem is the pay scale of females being much lower as compared to men’s. Females are doing the same amount of hard work and putting in even harder efforts to overcome the societal stereotypes to play, but they’re looked down upon by the society still. They are not even paid enough for the efforts they put in. Even by their own sport’s fraternity members, they’re at times underestimated, looked down upon, and discriminated against, as they focus more on the male players and overlook the needs and requirements of women. We must now, at least in the 21st century, adapt to the changing and developing situations and come to acceptance with the fact that women can, and will do whatever suits them. Let us break stereotypes and let many more Sanias, Sainas, P.V.s, Apurvis, Geeta-Babitas, Mithalis, etc. arise out of the nation and make us all proud. It’s high time we realized it’s no more a pro-men era.
    A female athlete myself,
    Shubhangini Shaktawat

    Semantee Chattopadhyay
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    @semantee03
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    Most people think of sports as simply a form of entertainment and an escape from reality. What are we escaping keeping from when we watch sports? When do we look at the media coverage and the lack of coverage of women’s sports? We are escaping from the world in which women are equal to men. Female athletes face a lot of problems as compared to their male counterparts. When the media proclaimed the year as the year of women in sports, it sent the message to view words and to the audience that women’s sports are somehow special and out of the ordinary. it’s not a part of the everyday. We haven’t heard the news media proclaiming that it was the year of men in sports because it’s generally every year and it’s very common. The year of women in sports is also problematic because it lets the news media off the hook. It gives them a pass from engaging in a sustained and systematic coverage of women’s sports.
    Another challenge that women athletes face is being paid half or less of what is given to their male counterparts. Female athletes are also objectified on the field as much as they are on the streets. They are looked at as commodities showcasing themselves for men’s pleasure, and not as entities of potential and talent. A female athlete has to also worry about their job security as it is thought that they can not work after being a mother or getting married. Some people also claim that women’s bodies are not built for sports and they aren’t into sports anyway. Menstruation can bring a lot of side effects such as fatigue, nausea, pain etcetera. Women athletes fight against all odds to showcase their best. In India, women are not allowed to or not given the correct resources to build a career in sports. Women all over the world are fighting all the obstacles to be in the position they are today.

    VIPASHA .
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    @vipasha
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    Periods or menstruation it is a part of a woman’s life. People don’t know about how women feels when she is on her periods. With all the pain or cramps that come along with the periods women still have to do all the work . this is a topic on which the awareness has to be spread. There are many people who don’t know what menstruation is or how could it affect women’s health. Specially in rural areas of India there are peoples who think of it as a stigma and not a normal thing. There are many females who uses a dirty cloth during the time of masturbation , and some females also use soil , leaves or ashes during periods which causes infections that can be deadly for women. Due to lack of awareness they do this we all are aware about the film Padman of Akshay Kumar . That movie e to the reality of human condition in the country during her periods time. People do not buy sanitary napkin because they are very costly . Many of them are not aware about this and a country need machine like that.
    There are very few percentage of women’s that use sanitary napkins to maintain the hygiene during the time of periods. At the time of puberty it’s hard for a girl to accept the changes that occurs in the body including the blood flowing out of her body they got panic or stressed about what’s happening to them and there are places where the people around that child makes her feel uncomfortable or tell her to spend her days outside the house when she is on her periods. During this time she need extra care and overprotective Ness from family and Society .This is a major topic on which the awareness is needed to be spread throughout the nation and the world.

    Shumaila Siddiqui
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    @shumaila
    #32554
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    Challenges faced by female sportsperson
    We are in 21st century, still we haven’t acknowledged the female sportsperson up to the par. It is not like they have started playing from now but from so many years they have playing silently marking their success secretly. Nobody was ever interested in covering their story, struggles and achievements . We have a biased society where a man is acknowledged for his little achievements. Sports is not an easy option to pick up as women still many chosen along with a lot of questions mark on their performance and career. They proved themselves, but the society was too coward to admit that she is an athlete and can make a career. Sports is male dominated till today and the clarification they give is women are not capable of playing sports. Challenges and struggles is always coming on their way as a gift from our so-called society and patriarchal male.
    Why does our society break someone’s dream before even starting the journey? Why don’t we question the boys to have a career in sport industry? Because we are interwoven in web of making women grudged and degraded at every work or move she chooses for herself.
    • We can enlist a number of challenges thrown at them as a sportsperson.
    1. Pay disparity is the foremost issue currently faced by every other female sportsperson. Their male colleagues are paid more without been asked for the amount. But the women have to battle a long fight to make the money she deserves. Indeed, the hard work ,passion, loyalty,dedication and discipline is held same for genders but not the salary. Slow claps for the authorities for even deducting the prize money for women.
    2. The kind of representation women needs when she is achieving or achieved so many milestones, It has never come to them. They feel gutted and disappointed being ignored by media industry . Yet they are hustling with a smile and making their country proud.
    3. Objectification is the problem on the field also. They are questioned including everyone like commentators, coaches,colleagues and the audiences. Once Sania Mirza was trolled for her dressing while she was playing table tennis and OH! Mind you on an international level ,still people find it convenient to question her. We people never pointed out on men for their clothing while playing or practicing sports, but passing comments on women is our favorite hobby.
    4.A secured future with a financial stability is not a case when it comes to female athlete. It is matter of serious discussion when a girl chooses sports as a career without having backup plan.
    Despite being Challenged, and injustice baseness they are uplifting themselves in sports with grace and making commendable achievements ,setting an eye-opening examples to future sportswomen to shine without fear of others and obstacles. We can only hope that things turns around in favor of women in a sports industry with time. It can’t be revamped in a day or overnight but let’s hope for the best. Nowadays, Female sportsperson are trendsetters, and we pray that we have many more in the future.

    nehachitroda
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    @nehachitroda
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    CHALLENGES FACED BY FEMALE SPORTSPERSON
    Women sportsperson are given less importance and their hard work is not much considered because after all they are females and all-female gender have to face issues and challenges be it A Girl, An Adult, A Celebrity, An Entrepreneur, or any aged women. Women each day has to face challenges personally, socially, mentally, economically and the fact is she faces and survives too like a warrior.
    Being a sports person, the major part is the health, they should be fit and for these, they need to have proper diet and intake of things, but being a women menstruation is which she also has to go through but in spite of that she doesn’t stop herself and continues to play her sport. This is a personal challenge women sportsperson face, and despite that, they are not given the proper facilities.
    Another challenge is Pay, they are not paid as much men are paid in that field. The tournament and matches don’t have that same prize or importance in comparison to men’s tournament, the comparison and discrimination are observed too.
    Whether they are in a good position as a sportsperson or not but in the end it’s sure that at some point they have to leave that job or sports because women have to look after children, family, and take up responsibility.
    The most common and underrated thing a woman hears is you can’t be a sportsperson because it’s about physical strength and being a girl, you can’t be that strong and take up sports as a career and by these types of division between girls and boys make them loose morale or end up making a decision which all suggest, even if she doesn’t agree. Sometimes they are judged based on the clothes which they wear and when they are on the field or ground, people always want to keep commenting and judging each time when women do something.
    There are many challenges but Women are no less now because they are limitless and they face each challenge and still keep going.

    Mayuravarshini Mohana
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    @mayura
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    Gender equality has plagued our society for aeons and the arena of sports is no different. From body shaming to misogyny, women’s sports is rigged with profound sexism. Women are seen as physically weaker than men and hence are callously brushed aside. This attitude along with male dominance pervades the global sports community and women find it hard to gain equal footing with men. The ever present glass ceiling ensures that they go no more beyond a certain height, irrespective of their skills and achievements.

    It goes without saying that sports is a male dominated field, in participation as well as governing ideas. Mithali Raj is named ‘Lady Tendulkar of Indian Women’s cricket’. Her impeccable sports performance is drawn parallel to that of a male cricketer and this merely reveals the male centredness and authority of sports. Women’s sports are just not taken seriously and are often treated just as a means to silence feminist voices.

    A BBC Survey in India pointed out a common opinion that women’s sports weren’t as interesting as men’s. Nearly 42% of the respondents had felt so. Moreover, only 29% women said they played sports as opposed to a striking 42% among men. Even a simple experiment as asking ourselves to fire out names of 3 sportspersons will reveal the underlying sexism. Chances are, all three of them are male. Young girls growing up in such restrictive environments will never consider, with conviction, sports as a possible career. We close the doors for them beforehand.

    As anticipated there is a striking gender gap in sports. Fewer women participate in sports when compared to men. The International Olympics Committee had felt that the gender inequality in sports owed not to low women participation but to the dearth of women in leadership roles. To substantiate, it is estimated that women make up only 18% of qualified coaches and 9% of senior coaches.

    There is also the skewed assorting of masculine and feminine games. A lot of girls showing promise in boxing, wrestling or kabbadi are discouraged stating that these games are unsuitable for women. Instead, they are veered towards more ‘female friendly’ sports such as badminton and indoor games. It is merely a surfacing of our internalised conditioning that aggression and passion exhibited in sports do not cohere with normative femininity. The gender bias begins as early as in the screening process.

    A recent study suggested that the coverage of women’s sports have become increasingly sexist over the last four years. Women sportspersons who have greater media visibility are expected to appeal to conventional standards of beauty which largely caters to the male gaze. The prowess and achievements of the sportsperson becomes only secondary. For instance, Jessica Ennis Hill an accomplished heptathlete is celebrated by media as a ‘golden girl’ exclusively for her modelling, looks and relationships. Even the field of sports is not exempt from women objectification.

    Also, there is the omnipresent issue of gender pay gap. In India women cricketers earn only 7% of that of their male counterparts. Grade C male cricketers earn Rs. 1 crore annually while Grade A women players earn only Rs. 50 lakh. The average male professional football player earns around Rs. 65 lakhs while a female player is paid somewhere between Rs. 5 and 10 lakh. The difference in payment is more a chasm than a gap and is utterly disheartening.

    Sports has been widely acknowledged as an activity that unites people across differences. Nelson Mandela said, “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does.” Moreover, he added “It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination.” Sexism in sports brings shame to its glorious ability to expunge differences. It is its antithesis. Women in sports deserve much better and it is time to take affirmative action towards it.

    DISHA SAPKALE
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    @42disha
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    In today’s generation there are many female sports persons who make our India proud and also to achieve success in their life. Obviously it has lot of dedication, hardwork and in between female sports also face many challenges to achieve their goals. Women go through with many obstacles like wage gap between men and women, fitness. Many women mostly face inequality between men and women. Instead of making comparison with men they should see their hardwork and talent. Women athletes don’t get equal payment and don’t have job security. They also has to face menstrual problem which is natural for women and sometimes in that pain they had to do practice for their tournament. From childhood onwards women are teach to do household chores and men focuses on studies. This leads to inequality towards women. And When women decide to make her career in sports than her family will not support her by being bais towards their son. Because of not getting family support they has to listen society comments on her by choosing sports as a career. By choosing this career they need to strong mentally and physically and should focus on their goals by ignoring society stereotypes towards them. To be an female sports person they has to maintain fitness by following proper diet. Women face the biggest challenge when they has to leave their sports at some point because of family and children. So it become very difficult for women to give-up on their career to take care of their children or having pregnancy. Society should be supportive towards female sports persons as equal like men because women are also equally deserve for the career opportunities by not getting comparison like sports career is for men not for women, they should equally support women like men. Gender inequality is also the challenge for women while making career in sports. But then also women face with all these challenges to be an female sports person and follow her goals with their hardwork and patience.

    anshika agarwal
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    We are living in a man’s world. When it comes to sports female sportpersons are not given the light of camera unless they win big and done something recognized. Some people say that women bodies are not really built for sports. Many people thinks that if a sportswoman is good looking then it is easier for her to steal the limelight from someone who has more talent than her. It’s a reality and the media is sexist and women don’t get affected by these peoples comments. However it doesn’t stop female from being a sportperson. Women all over the world have crossed boundaries due to which they get succeeded. We have all the sports for females too like men but female sports are televised quite less than male sports. Being a sportpersons females have to face a lot of challenges. One of the major challenges for women is the burden of cultural baggage that acts as a hurdle for development. Despite some changes in this things there is still some distance to go before women in india are afforded fair opportunities for a career in international sport. While this is true for all women athletes that they have a hard time keeping up while they have their period. Menstruation can bring along a lot of side effects such as fatigue, nausea, pain, depression and more but women athletes fight all of this and keep practising and participating and act as a warrior. In our society it doesn’t matter how many titles female athletes may have won. The media still puts question to woman athlete about her marriage and her motherhood. Male athletes are never put through such questions and all questions asked to them are related to only their careers. One of the major discrimination women see in sports is that they are paid less than men. Women’s tournaments always have a low prize money. People used to objectify women in the field by passing comments on them. Female athletes don’t have job security. They don’t know what they will do after their retirement. There are a lot of challenges women face in sports only women who are strong and well determined can give tough fight to such challenges.

    Manpreet Singh
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    @manpreet
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    Living in the 21st century, where we have achieved a variety of progress in all fields, there’s still one aspect where we fall short very badly when it comes to progress in the area of gender equality. The truth is that although the world may have moved many inches forward since the important historical events such as World Wars, our society still has remained rooted to the patriarchal notions, the very idea that a woman can equal a man is an abomination to many still in present times. In the sporting environment, women are continued to be felt unwelcomed by their male counterparts. This has resulted in the loss of some great talents in the history books.
    Women in the sports arena are made to face the curse of sexism on almost a daily basis. It could be at work or even at home. They are monitored and judged for their dress, way of speech, and a number of cuss words. Although with the recent waves of feminism, women are now demanding their social rights, the truth is that even this day, women have not received as much respect or attention on the sports front as their smug male counterparts. The problem is that for too long, the sports domain has been dominated and reserved for men. The justification being that women aren’t really into sports and they lack physical qualities. Along with that, the female is being paid half or less of what is given to their male counterparts. They are also objectified on the field while playing, much as they are on the streets. Right from the coaches, to the commentators, women are looked like some kind of commodity showcasing themselves for men’s pleasure. They are not seen as entities of potential and talent. Also, there are no or little efforts from our government to uplift their position. While male players have huge leagues such as the IPL, female sportspersons do not even get much brand endorsement.
    To improve the situation, we have to uproot the patriarchal mindset in our society. We need to understand that time and again it has been proven that females are equally capable in sport and the sport is not a domain for males only. Strict rules and complaint redressal system should be in place to tackle eve-teasing and such problems.

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