Are Things Equal Between The Sexes In College Sports?
"Monday night football won't be shown this week, instead women's field
hockey will be aired." Monday night football has been a long lasting American
pastime and a change like this would tend to really shock and upset millions of
dedicated football fans. This group, made up of mostly men gather round the
tube each week for a chance to watch men running around a field carrying a ball
and running into each other. The situation I stated earlier probably won't
happen, at least not in the near future. Men's sports still seem to dominate,
and in order to allow this to be changed, certain steps must be taken. First of
all, the situation needs to be addressed as a serious problem, then those people
affected need to be determined. Next, the cause of the problem needs to be
addressed and finally, it is time to think of solutions.
So, first of all, is there really a problem? Why does it matter that
men get all the attention in sports? That's the way it has been for hundreds of
years dating back to the first Olympics. But then again why should men get all
the attention, women work just as hard as men at their sports, why not give them
some credit? Men and women are treated differently in sports ranging from the
size of budgets, the number of scholarships given, and in how many athletes are
Men's athletic budgets are without a doubt a lot higher than women's
athletic budgets. On average men's athletic budgets are nearly five times that
of women's (Moline 18). An example of this is at schools that offer women's
sports of field hockey and volleyball that have budgets less than 20% of that
which is allocated for men's sports (Hanmer 13). Overall operating funds for
women's sports are about three times that of men's (Moline 18). Funding for
individual sports is different but when all added together men receive a lot
more money for t...