Evolution of Women in Sports
Name
Institution
Evolution of Women in Sports
A typical play day refers to a day to relax and play. It can also be an organized a day where competing teams from different schools or colleges come together to play. A play day was more of a fun day than a competition. Play-day was advocated for since they believed that vigorous training by coaches was not necessary. The instructors argued that it was more thrilling to watch men’s sports owing to their prowess in skills and masterly of women. Their physical instructors conscientiously objected to women’s competitions over the years. Social activities were of more importance than winning the games. A typical model of a play day was to promote sports to women who preferred social participation to win the sports. While a competition requires the mastery of skills, play day needed no specific art or crafts and therefore was open to any team. Schools and colleges organized games, and although it was not adequately supported, the increasingly practice normalized the activity, and more schools embraced the idea. Women’s engagement in competitions was not recognized until the 1900s when the philosophy of women’s physical instructors conflicted with the varsities idea of it. (Gems & Pfister, 2017). So until then, it was not universal, and competitions played for the sake of plays.
Individual Athletes hold the urge to compete instinctively. Individuals hold the urge to compete and win in their souls. In the life of Mildred “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias, changed the view of femininity and womanhood. At an early age, Babe showed interest in boy’s games and physical involving sports activities. At the age of 15 years, Didrikson babe was the highest-scoring forwarder in the school’s baseball team in her school. After High school, Babe joined athletics where she broke world records in Javelin throw, 80 meters hurdle and high jump. She was the most talented male or female athlete of all time. Babe also played golf in the 1930s and played in the Texas state women championship. To her, she termed golf as a game of rhythm, coordination, and grace. She was later endorsed to give golf exhibitions countrywide. (Davies, 2016, pp.112)
Among many accomplishments, Didrikson remains the most recognized woman golfer ever after she won 17 successive tournaments. She engaged in sports mostly dominated by men and believed to male-oriented. However, Didrikson proved the notion otherwise by participating in the said sports and performed tremendously. Her effort, practice, commitment, and dedication was recognized and praised by news reporters.
However, these achievements did not come on a silver platter without prejudices from men who believed that women had no place in athletics. A woman was supposed to be pretty up in anticipation of male suitors. Others claimed that she could be disguising herself as a man. However, the sexism she faced braced her with more confidence and determination to win. She was a tomboy who they said was only in sports since no man could make a move on her (Davies, 2016, pp.129). In a world that believed masculinity and femininity as measures of success in games, Didrikson proved them wrong by not only engaging in almost all sports but performing exemplary.
Smith rules were rules that set to govern the conduct of players in a game. They stated that no physical contact with each other during play. Players needed to play on different courts. Another rule was that a defender was not allowed to snitch a ball from the opponent or deter them from scoring a goal. The ball was only to dribbled once.
In the understanding of gender roles, the smith laws teach us that rough play in the game is unnecessary and that any sport or game should not have physical contacts. According to Davies (2016), roughness in female games seemed to be higher than men’s, so to protect women, such rules governed the courts. It was not until the 1920s that women attained freedom rights and made them rise to the tasks that were considered male-oriented. They started leaving their homes where they were confined to home tasks to join sports, military, and other male-dominated fields. The stereotypes concerning women in games existed to lower the morale of women in sports to make them quit and leave the field to the males. Over time the females have increasingly joined sports like baseball, golf, and basketball in a bit to explore their physical strengths and interests. It only requires hard work and commitments to prove to the undoubting world that women are also equal to the tasks in sports.
References
Davies, R. O. (2016). Sports in American life: A history. John Wiley & Sons.
Gems, G., Borish, L., & Pfister, G. (2017). Sports in American History, 2E: From Colonization to Globalization. Human Kinetics.