Women playing sports.

To begin with, I don't think that women recieve as much coverage as they deserve when playing sports. I know that daily, there is a football game on t.v. They even have entire channels dedicated to male nfl football. But, I do not know when or if a woman's basketball game is playing at any time during the week. I think this is a result of how society depicts both men and women and what playing sports means to each gender. Before explaining how women are depicted, I think it is necessary to say that playing sports is a sign of masculinity in males. Playing sports is a way of showing that one is not a homosexual or is not labeled "faggot." But on the other end of the spectrum, because sports is a sign of masculinity in males, women are frowned upon when engaging in such activities, especially when a sport is male-dominated. From youth, people(society) are brainwashed into thinking that men are simply better at sports. Don't "throw like a girl." Although this may be a common saying among many generations of people, I am awed by watching a softball game and seeing the pitcher throw an underhanded fastball (faster than I can). I am not of course implying that I think their fastball is fast for a girl but that their fastball is just simply fast. I think most people, however, are unable to accept that women, like men, have the potential to excel in sports. For this reason, I think that female athletes or particpants are looked down upon as if they will never be as good as males. I believe this attitude stems from the phrase "throw like a girl" and others like it that children are bombarded with at youth. Afterwards, I believe that people can carry these stereotypes for the rest of their lives. Because of this, many women achieve publicity by becoming sex symbols. Think about it, the Williams sisters, Danica Patrick, Anna Kournikova. I do not think that these athletes, no matter how good they are, would recieve as much attention had they not made an extra effort to be as attractive as they could for the male users. For example, my own father hangs a Danica Patrick poster in our house but I do not believe he would have been pulling for her during the Indy 500 if she wouldn't have been attractive. In the end, I think that female athletics has come very far and still has a long way to go until athletes, both male and female, recieve credit not for their gender but for their ability.