What is sexism? By definition, sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on sex or behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex (Merriam-Webster, 2011). The Don Imus incident with the Rutgers women's basketball is one story that showcases sexism first hand with what was said and how the girls on the basketball team were viewed and treated from that point on. Imus is known for his rants and raves of controversy but none were bigger when he verbally abused and embarrassed the girls on that team. Sexism is a very touchy subject when sport is involved because public perception is women are inferior to men when it comes to sports. Men should be the ones playing it and women should do the more "feminine" work such as, reporting. In an article about the sexual allegations involving then Jets quarterback, Brett Favre, and his incident with Jets reporter, Jenn Sterger, it talks about how this is sexism and how the NFL should be aware of more cases like this one (Whitlock, 2010). In this case, Favre was alleged to have sent Sterger e-mails, picture messages, and voice mails on numerous occasions. Incidents like this one I feel is sexism that's right in front of everybody to see. There are more issues of sexism in sport but are not brought up in my opinion.
This raises questions about how sports such as football and basketball need to address certain issues involving sexism. As you know, women football coaches are very uncommon if any at all, would this be considered sexism? I feel, yes, this is a form of sexism which needs to be addressed in all major sports because there's going to come a time when a female wants to be a successful coach at some professional level which isn't common for a women to be in that spot.
One other issue of sexism that arose in the NFL (probably about 10-15 years ago) was when a female reported was harassed in the Patriots' locker room. At the time, several of the players made lewd remarks and gestures, and the Patriots' owner did not really address the issue. In fact, the woman who was harassed eventually had to leave the country for a time because she was being harassed even more by fans. I have not heard as much about that issue of late but it has definitely been one thing that professional team sports have had to address.
ReplyDeleteI think you bring up an interesting question when asking if the lack of women football coaches is considered sexism. Most people would probably say that anyone would be hired regardless of gender, as long as they know what they are doing and are qualified. However, I have a hard time believing this would be the case. I really believe that if a women was serious about coaching football at any level, including high school, that most people would turn the other cheek and not even consider her. And if a women coach was able to break the barrier and coach high school football, I have a hard time believing any college coaches would take a look at her no matter how qualified she is. I could see a situation like this happening in the near future and it becoming a hot topic.
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