Sleeping with the Enemy
There are many
problems affecting women’s participation and development in sports. Most of the time,
if not all the time, men are blamed for the creation and perpetuation of such
problems. Although men take a big chunk
of responsibility in such unfortunate situations,
it can’t be ignored that women’s roles and
attitudes toward their own gender, contribute
to the preservation of the many known problems.
I was impressed when I saw some data provided by Beauty Redefined on its article “our Issue
with Swimsuit” (Feb,12, 2012) referring to how feminism is portrayed in the Sports Illustrated Magazine, and how such
phenomenon has become an American cultural thing. According to the author, 32% of adults in
America read the magazine and 22 million are reported to be women. Furthermore, it is reported that there is an
increasing number of male professional athletes who stand up publicly to
support sexual orientation disclosure in sports, an
attitude not yet followed by female athletes, “ Heterosexual in Sports”,
Griffin, P., (2011). Although women may have
their own reasons not to support their own gender,
their continuing attitude toward social behaviors, contributes
to the creation and preservation of their own problems.
