Gender Bias

Gender bias is something that we see every day. It happens all around us. Nothing has been untouched by it. A huge example of gender bias is in the area of sports. Any girl who plays a sport is considered a tomboy, but it is the natural thing for a guy to do. You will often hear guys tell a girl that she can't play ball with them because she 'might get hurt.'

When girls do play sports, it is often at a disadvantage. They are given their own teams, and separated from males. For example, girls play softball while boys play baseball. Why is this? Do people feel that girls aren't good enough to hit a ball thrown overhand? Why don't boys play softball? Is it because hitting a ball thrown underhand is an insult to their abilities? Well, how do they think that girls feel? We like a challenge too.

A girl has to fight hard if she wants to play a boys sport. Often she will have to threaten, and sometimes even take the team to court. Afterwards when the girl is on the team, the coach and her male teammates try to make it unbearable for her. They try every way they can to prove that a girl isn't good enough for sports, and that the girl should just quit while she is ahead.

A recent example of this occurred in Northern Florida several months ago. A twelve year old girl wanted to play baseball, which would mean playing on a boys' team. The coach tried to force her to quit by using a method of humiliation. He told her that she could not play unless she wore a cup. He said that was the rule. Why should a girl have to wear a cup? What would be the benefit? The last that I heard about the story, the girl and her family were going to court.

Another example of gender bias in sports is media coverage. How often are female sports events televised on major networks? Why don't female teams have a World Series, Stanley Cup playoffs, or Superbowl? Female sports events are only televised on channels like the Sunshine Network. Female sports events also never interrupt television shows on major networks like male sports events do. How often I have been angry to find that Friends, or X-Files isn't on because of a football or baseball game.

Recently I was watching the cheerleading championships on TV. They have

improved somewhat by allowing boys to join their squads. The male cheerleaders are still teased by others and their masculinity is sometimes questioned. But why should it be? Cheerleaders have to be strong and agile to do what they do. They have to work hard. You still see bias in cheerleading though. For example, many high schools will not accept male cheerleaders. The colleges do accept males on their squads, but they primarily do lifting and catching. As I was watching the different squads perform, I didn't see any males do cartwheels, make pyramids, or do baskets. Sports are just one of the many areas of gender bias. In order for all of us to be equals, we all need to learn to look past our differences. We need to delete silly ideas such as 'girls can't play sports,' and boys can't be cheerleaders' from our heads and hearts. These thoughts only hinder us from working together to make a better world.