Gender inequity in sports

Gender inequity in sports This essay will seek to describe the issue of women in sports, and discuss the reasons for this, with relevance to some of the concepts covered in this course. It will also go on to discuss the improvements and positives observed in recent years, and explore some other possible measures to improve the situation in the future. 2. Background In Ancient Olympics, competitive sports were masculine affairs. While males compete to show their prowess, women were prohibited to even watch competitions, much less compete. Quite simply, even in this day and age of supposed equality and meritocracy, sport still remains a male domain, especially on the community level. Even with improved opportunities and treatment, there is still an invisible barrier between sport and the everyday woman. In the next section, this essay shall explore some of the reasons for this situation. 3. Reasons 3.1 Introduction to Gender Ideology in sports The concept of ideology is one that we take for granted, or rather, something we do not even think about. It refers to the ideas and explanations we have been given since young, to explain personal and social life. We have been using our ingrained ideologies to make decisions and judgments ever since we could, without ever questioning or knowing them. In addition, Taylor (1994) mentioned that our identities are formed based on dialogical relations with our significant others. In other words, the complexities of our identities are not formed through cultural identification alone (monologic model) but through the interactions with people who are important to us. Gender, even more so than race or class, is a pivotal organizing factor in social life. While a persons sex is decided by physical characteristics such as genitalia, gender is a social construct formed and shaped by the society (James A. Banks).It is the fundamental way humans classify each other. Thus, we are especially reliant on gender ideology and it is extremely influential on how we organize our thoughts, actions and lives, and how parents bring up their offspring. The deep-rootedness of gender ideology means that everyone makes decisions based on it, from children, teenagers, parents to people in power. Gender ideology plays a big role in how sport has been carried out throughout the ages. The idea that men are supposed to be strong, aggressive, fast and competitive is reproduced in many sports. Conversely, women are not encouraged to play sports because the above traits are not associated with women (womens athletics: coping with controversy). Thus, a woman exhibiting the above traits would be going against the gender ideology that most people submit to, and this would make her an anomaly. A woman would have to cope not only with her community seeing her as not feminine, she also has to deal with lack of resources and financial support because her politicians also have the same ideology and do not support women in sport. Fortunately, the situation has considerably improved from the past. 3.2 Gender Ideology: dominance and stereotypes The fact that males are the dominant group is also accepted by most as part of their understanding of gender ideologies. This is correspondent to John Clammers point that social inequalities are seen as natural and hence not to be tampered with. Thus, sport has also suffered as a consequence of the dominant group pulling the strings and the subordinate group accepting it as it is. In the catalogue of marginality as discussed in Tatum (1997), gender is one of the categories of dominance and subordination. The dominant group, in this case male, are seen as the norm for sports. This element of identity is therefore taken for granted, giving males the power and authority to control females, who are members of the subordinate group. As a result, the inequities go unnoticed by the males. Furthermore, the stereotypical representations of the males may lead females to focus on their difference from the norm and lose belief in their own abilities and equal rights to sports. Tatums point about the catalogue of marginality is also relevant to the situation. Members of the dominant group, in this case males, take it for granted and do not notice the inequities. Whereas Tatum says that members of the subordinate groups, in this case females, further focus on their difference from the norm and lose belief in their abilities and equal rights to sports. Peoples submission to gender ideologies has led to the persistence of certain stereotypes. A simple example would be the one where girls are supposed to like pink and boys are not supposed to. This can be seen from the fact that the majority of girls schoolbags are sold in pink color, and boys bags can be in any other color but pink. This may seem harmless enough, but consider it that people also submit to the idea that boys like to do sports, girls do not. Or worse still, boys need to do sports to become manly, but girls do not need to, thus they do not need to do sports. This is a common idea perpetuated by many, unknowingly, due to their deep-rooted gender ideologies. As parents give a football to their sons and a doll to their daughters, they are again passing on the wrong message to their children. Although some may argue that parents are giving these gifts based on their childs interests, research has shown that girls and boys between the ages of six and nine are actually equal ly interested in sports. (XXX, intro section) The ideas that women are weak, vulnerable and susceptible have also led to other myths preventing women from taking part in sport. The media, another institution controlled by the dominant group in society, males, have assisted in perpetuating the following myths about women who play sports that they become unfeminine, develop eating disorders, suffer more knee injuries because of weaker female anatomy, and become lesbians. (XXX, intro section) These myths may sound ridiculous to the women of today, but these were real reasons women in the past were prevented from taking part in sport. And definitely, there are families around today who are not supporting their daughters sporting interests due to the fact that women are weak and should not be partaking in vigorous activity. Even within the sporting arena, less rough and less demanding sports were created for women e.g. netball and softball. In the case of netball, basketball was deemed too aggressive and manly, thus, a non-contact s port where players were not allowed to touch each other and leave their boundaries was created for women. Even if girls do persevere in sports, they often find themselves playing with boys and in the minority (need paraphrase). Based on the above circumstances mentioned, girls lack opportunities to play and develop motor skills. As a result, the rate of girls (by age 14) dropping out of sports is six times higher than boys. In such situation, boys do not positively reinforce the participation of girls. Clammer (?) hypothesized that reinforcing of the category race as the dominant mode of social classification is a product of the dominant ideology in Singapore. In this case, males are being reinforced Reinforcing of male as a dominant force in sport reinforces gender as a dominant mode of social classification. The creation and reinforcing of race as the dominant public mode of social classification is itself a product of the dominant ideology or political culture, which is strongly Chinese in its characteristics. 3.3 Gender ideology: Trivialization of women in sports The media, as described above, is another controlling arm of the dominant group in society, and has a big part to play in the trivialization of womens sports. Up till as recent as the 1990s, horses and dogs were accorded more column inches in US sports pages than women. And even now, 90 percent of all sports television hours are devoted to mens sports. Womens events are seen as less important and are less likely to be covered by the media. Only in major competitions such as the Olympic Games, or feminine events such as ice-skating and gymnastics, do we see the achievement of female athletes. And there is a lack of inspirational and positive stories about the triumph of female athletes. All too often, male reporters sensationalize stories of women athletes who challenge men, of women athletes being stabbed or abused, or of women athletes dying from eating disorders. Another way both the media and spectator trivialize womens sport, is seeing it as second rate because women do not have the same power and speed as men. People who persist in such ideas feel that since women cannot perform to the same physical standards as men, they do not deserve the same support. This is an example of how members of the dominant group dictate what the norm for humanity is (Tatum). Although top women athletes have also excelled in their sport through discipline, skill and finesse, some are still not according women with equal recognition. Charles Taylors point of misrecognition comes into focus here. In this case, those who are trivializing womens sport are not giving equal respect and dignity to women, though like men, they are also human beings. Womens efforts in sports are being misrecognised as inferior and not worthy of appreciation. 3.4 Gender Ideology: New factors The gender ideologies that privileged sport as an exclusive male domain and resigned women as weak are not as strong as in the past. However, gender ideologies about the general role of men and women in society are still hampering the progress of women in sport today. Consider a household in this day and age; typically, both husband and wife would be pursuing careers. And still, it is the wife who is the one who has to shoulder the responsibility of childcare and housekeeping. This means, during her limited free time, a working mother who may have the interest and inclination towards sports has to sacrifice her time for her household instead (Teo, 1999). The male in the household still has more freedom for athletic and leisure pursuits, due to the longstanding ideology that women are the housekeepers. 4. Improvements and positives As aforementioned in portions of the essay, the situation has improved considerably over the years. The global womens movement over the past thirty years has helped to challenge the traditional roles that women have and weakened male control over womens lives. The movement has also emphasized that womens lives are enriched when they develop themselves physically and intellectually. These ideas and changes have aided in emancipating women especially in developed nations, encouraging them to participate in and pursue sports. (sport in society) Specifically in the sports arena, there have also been leaps of improvement in the quest for equal rights. In the United States, since Title IX was passed in 1972, women have had a legal basis to push towards equity in college and high school sports. Of course, equity is still not a reality in terms of facilities, programs, funding, and media coverage. But there has been encouraging signs; participation, peer, and self-acceptance of womens sports have all increased in the past 10-15 years. (women, sport and culture). To cite a recent example, the Pakistani womens cricket team won Pakistans first Asian Games gold medal in eight years an achievement that would not have been possible if women in the country did not have decent access to sports (Chang, 2010). This milestone points to the need for even better reform of ideologies and better opportunities for women in developing countries. Achieving gender equity through a multicultural education Multicultural education is a reform process which features the importance of all students despite gender and other social categories having equal opportunity to school (Banks). Stereotypical gender differences in sports have denied girls participation in physical activities. In physical education context, a PE teacher has to understand that the dynamics of gender can influence ones knowledge of students. Failing to do so may result in simplistic prescription of pedagogy (Grant). Teachers being aware of stereotypical perceptions of females in sports can correct the misconception amongst girls that sports is not for them. This can be done through modifying their teaching approaches to encourage girls in class that they can also excel or benefit in sports. 5. Conclusion Although sport participation and the acceptance and support of female athletes has increased exponentially since the late 1970s, future increases are not a given And even now, the reality is that women in some societies still struggle against the traditional gender ideologies that hamper their participation in sport. In developed countries, gender inequities still exist in support, funding, and sport-related jobs. To further effect change, the gender ideologies that are related to sport must be put out onto the table and examined, before any subsequent action can be taken. (sports in society). Multicultural education is a platform for achieving greater gender equity in sports.

Charge of the Light Brigade and the Last of the Light Brigade Essay

The themes of The Charge of the Light Brigade and The Last of the Light Brigade both have to deal with soldiers battling for their country; however, the key difference that separates the two is that the theme of The Charge of the Light Brigade has more of a positive tone than The Last of the Light Brigade The themes of both The Charge of the Light Brigade and The Last of the Light Brigade bot have to deal with soldiers battling for their country; however, the tone of the two different poems is different that differentiate the two. In The Charge of the Light Brigade, the tone of the poem has more of a positive aspect: â€Å"Boldy they rode and well,/Into the jaws of Death,/Into the mouth of Hell/Rode the six hundred,†(Paragraph 3, line 6-8). This shows how they boldly rode into battle, which is a more of a positive connotation because they are doing an act of bravery for their country. In this instance, the people in The Charge of the Light Brigade were portrayed in a more positive aspect than the latter. Another key contrast between these two poems is that the connotation and the diction they used is quite different. In The Last of the Light Brigade, they use diction that conveys the tone of melancholy and depression, whereas The Charge of the Light Brigade has a more positive aspect. â€Å"They had neither food nor money, they had neither service nor trade;/They were only shiftless soldiers, the Last of the Light Brigade,†(Lines 3-4). This gives the poem a more desolate tone by saying they did not have money or food, and that is the words that the author uses to convey the message in the poem, whereas The Charge of the Light Brigade use more positive diction that gives the reader a sense of optimism. â€Å"Storm’d at with and shot and shell,/ boldly they rode and well,†(21-22). In this aspect, it shows that the soldiers were given a more positive aspect just by the words they used compared to the Last of the Light Brigade, which is a more desolate poem due to the words they chose. Overall, the poem is very similar in many aspects, but the differences keep these poems extremely distinct from each other. They all have to do with battle, but the diction and themes in both poems causes them to be different from each other.

The Indisputable Reality About Toefl Ibt Essay Topics That No One Is Telling You

The Indisputable Reality About Toefl Ibt Essay Topics That No One Is Telling You What You Can Do About Toefl Ibt Essay Topics Beginning in the Next Six Minutes Other people prefer to stay in a huge city. Other folks believe that it is always preferable to have a teacher. Some people think that university students should be asked to attend classes. The reading part of the TOEFL requires you to have basic understanding of comparing and contrasting, cause and effect, and being in a position to extract information from a given passage. There are two places to discover the studying passages. All too frequently, students spend an excessive amount of time reading the passages and insufficient time answering the questions. Students taking the iBT can safely assume that all the information needed to answer the questions will be contained in the reading passages, and test-takers will not have to possess thorough understanding of the reading passage subjects. Although the passages might be altered slightly to be able to earn sense independently, editing is usually kept to a minimum. You may also decide to only practice the independent undertaking, if that's what you wish to concentrate on. You are going to have better grasp of the English language and the way it's used. Want to Know More About Toefl Ibt Essay Topics? When it's from the view of being a true mentor and the way to be a better mentor or from the point of view of being a mentee and the way to locate and engage mentors, I have talks that address various angles of mentoring. There's much debate about the capacity and length of the short-term memory. You may be requested to compose an essay about technology, education, media, family members, or another subject. Do not become overwhelmed by its length, just search for the subject and verb, the remainder of the ideas will flow. You should take care when using unofficial prep resources since not all them are reliable. A vi tal conclusion of the study is there is no evidence that oilfield decline rates increase suddenly. Instead, you've got to think of your own subject from a huge pool of possibilities. Additionally, you will have 15 practice tests you could use for training. The TOEFL iBT exam is provided online on the Internet at designated testing websites. It can likewise be helpful to review other TOEFL writing samples to receive a better idea about what a good TOEFL essay appears like. TOEFL ibt is a global test recognized by many nations and lots of big institutions. Sure TOEFL ibt is more challenging than ITP. It's better to make a small plan before you get started writing your TOEFL response. Learn all the ideas you need to understand as a way to ace TOEFL Reading! My goal today is to provide you all of the info you'll want to be successful with the TOEFL Independent Writing section. Follow these suggestions in order to find the absolute most out of your TOEFL Reading practice. Examine these varieties of questions you will see in a reading collection. In negative factual information questions, students must pick the sole answer option that isn't true based on the passage. It's possible to dick on Review to find a chart of the questions that you have answered and the questions that you have not answered n each part. Second, it is an important bonus in the event the practice questions include answer explanations that help you realize why a specific answer is the correct one. To put it differently, the answers from the very first few questions are in the very first paragraph. Then click Finish Quiz to find the answers. Have a look at the official TOEFL Writing Rubrics to view how important paraphrasing is. Knowing every word of every sentence isn't essential to be successful on the TOEFL reading section, so reading the full text initially before you have a look at the questions will merely waste your precious moment! Thinking, writing and conversing in English can help you develop appropriate grammar abilities and offer you extra practice. P.S. Ignore my bad grammar inside this answer, I am not a lot of writer. The Chronicles of Toefl Ibt Essay Topics Before visiting the exam, be clear on the number of words you're going to write for each job. Quite simply, skimming is a vital skill to make sure you finish all questions in the allotted time period. You ought to avoid making overgeneralizations. If you perfectly understand everything you're reading, you have to choose more difficult material. What Does Toefl Ibt Essay Topics Mean? ITP's questions and content are extremely similar to what you'd see in a college exam. The Reading section is broken up into parts. It is actually often harder that the real test, and there are some imperfect questions, but it is generally good practice and comes with other great self-study features. The reading and listening are connected via the detail they share.

What Role Do Centrioles Play in Cell Division and Mitosis

In microbiology, centrioles are cylindrical cell structures that are composed of groupings of microtubules, which are tube-shaped molecules or strands of protein. Without centrioles, chromosomes would not be able to move during the formation of new cells.   Centrioles help to organize the assembly of microtubules during cell division. To put it simply, chromosomes use the centrioles microtubules as a highway during the cell division process. Where Centrioles Are Found Centrioles are found in all  animal cells and only a few species of lower  plant cells. Two centrioles—a mother centriole and a daughter centriole—are found within the cell in a structure  called a centrosome.   Composition Most centrioles are made up of nine sets of microtubule triplets, with the exception of some species, such as crabs which have nine sets of microtubule doublets. There are a few other species that deviate from the standard centriole structure.  Microtubules are composed of a single type of globular protein called  tubulin. Two Main Functions During mitosis or cell division, the centrosome and centrioles replicate and migrate to opposite ends of the cell. Centrioles help to arrange the microtubules that move chromosomes during cell division to ensure each daughter cell receives the appropriate number of chromosomes.   Centrioles are also important for the formation of cell structures known as cilia and flagella. Cilia and flagella, found on the outside surface of cells, aid in cellular movement. A centriole combined with several additional protein structures is modified to become a basal body. Basal bodies are the anchoring sites for moving cilia and flagella. Important Role in Cell Division Centrioles are located outside of, but near the cell nucleus. In cell division, there are several phases: in order of occurrence they are  interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase. Centrioles have a very important role to play in all phases of cell division. The end goal is in moving replicated chromosomes into a newly created cell. Interphase and Replication In the first phase of mitosis, called  interphase, centrioles replicate. This is the phase immediately prior to cell division, which marks the start of mitosis and meiosis in the cell cycle. Prophase and Asters and the Mitotic Spindle In prophase, each centrosome with centrioles migrates toward opposite ends of the cell. A single pair of centrioles is positioned at each cell pole. The mitotic spindle initially appears as structures called asters which surround each centriole pair. Microtubules  form spindle fibers that extend from each centrosome, thereby separating centriole pairs and elongating the cell. You can think of these fibers as a newly paved highway for the replicated chromosomes to move into the newly formed cell. In this analogy, the replicated chromosomes are a car along the highway.   Metaphase and Positioning of Polar Fibers In metaphase, centrioles help to position polar fibers as they extend from the centrosome and position chromosomes along the metaphase plate. In keeping with the highway analogy, this keeps the lane straight. Anaphase and the  Sister Chromatids In anaphase, polar fibers connected to chromosomes shorten and separate the sister chromatids (replicated chromosomes). The separated chromosomes are pulled toward opposite ends of the cell by polar fibers extending from the centrosome. At this point in the highway analogy, it is as if one car on the highway has replicated a second copy and the two cars begin moving away from each other, in opposite directions, on the same highway. Telophase and Two Genetically Identical Daughter Cells In telophase, the spindle fibers disperse as the chromosomes are cordoned off into distinct new nuclei. After cytokinesis, which  is the division of the cells cytoplasm,  two genetically identical  daughter cells  are produced each containing one centrosome with one centriole pair. In this final phase, using the car and highway analogy, the two cars look exactly the same, but are now completely separate and have gone their separate ways.