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Girls playing with the Boys, and Boys playing with the Girls
Women, Sport, and Film - 2002
Student Papers
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Girls playing with the Boys, and Boys playing with the Girls
Zoe Meyer
On the athletic field, in the gym, or on the ice, there have always
been standards for the athletes to follow. These standards range from
what type of athletic equipment is not only necessary but appropriate,
to who can play when, where, and how. This last standard is the one
that is being challenged the most; can men play not only on women’s
teams, but can they also participate in female dominated sports without
being taunted? The same goes for women, can females, without fear,
really participate in traditionally male dominated sports? Although the
social costs to the individual participating in the non-traditional
sport are many, the benefits, if played well and correctly, can be and
are quite plentiful as well.
For men, this desire to participate in traditionally female dominated
sports is not quite as great as it is for females. This is because,
honestly, men have a wealth of opportunities for athletics, whether it
be professional or not, for every one chance women have. But, in the
case that a male does want to participate in a female dominated sport,
he will have a hard time being accepted, not necessarily by his female
teammates, but by the society watching the sport. Traditionally, male
athletes are supposed to be in rough and tumble sports. They are
supposed to be hard bodied, passionate about the game, and willing to
play no matter what the circumstances. Most female sports, even the
female counterpart of a male sport, is less rough and tumble and less
aggressive than male sports. For a man to participate in one of these
sports he is likely to get laughed off the field, taunted with jeers of
“homo” and suggestions that he is “not man enough” to play with the
“real men” in traditionally male dominated sports. This can not only be
damaging to the male playing, but it can also be damaging to the women
playing. The jeers could become aimed at the women on the field or the
ice and they could hint that women are not only incapable to play, but
that since they need a man to join their team to help them, they
obviously do not belong anywhere but on the sidelines.
This previous example is probably a little extreme, but the ideas
behind it are quite real. Imagine a man walking onto the deck of a
swimming pool, ready to compete in synchronized swimming. The expected
first impression would be, “what the…?” because men are not supposed to
be synchronized swimmers. There may not be jeers taunted at him, and he
may not get made fun of, but he is not looked upon favorably by those
watching the event. If, however, he is looked upon favorably, in
whatever female dominated sport he is participating, the benefits could
be plenty. Imagine the publicity the team would get, not to mention the
only man on the team! The endorsements for athletic equipment, shoes,
and many other things could support him for the rest of his life after
just one year of playing. Being the only man on a professional or
Olympic level team could potentially lead to more opportunities for
endorsements and such than being just another member of a men’s team.
This may seem well and good, but when a man “makes it big” playing for
a women’s team, there is always the question and suggestion that he
should then go play with the big boys. With this in mind, it is easy to
see that a male’s opportunity for continual benefits from playing on a
women’s team are slim. Again, this is something that is not very common
for men at the professional level, or even at an amateur level because
of the fact that men have more opportunities to play than women.
Women, on the other hand, often want to participate in, not only
traditionally male dominated sports because, at least now there are
female counterparts for them, but they want to “play with the big boys”
as well. For a female to “break into” a male sport is probably one of
the most difficult parts of actually being an athlete. The main
argument that is used almost regardless of the sport for women
participating in traditionally male dominated sports is that the female
body is not made to correctly function while participating. Also, the
idea that the women will lose their femininity if they play with men is
another reason to keep them off the field and out of the ring. For
women to be taken seriously in a male dominated sport they have to not
only be the best female in the ring, gym, or wherever, they also have
to be the best overall athlete.
Traditionally, women are thought of as more fragile, and less
aggressive than men. With this in mind, it is clear the reasons why it
is so difficult for women to participate in male dominated sports. The
costs to a woman playing with a man in the ring or on the field are
more numerous than simply getting laughed at and called names. Usually,
to really see the extent to which women can take playing with the boys,
the men will usually play their hardest, if not harder in an attempt to
push the women to their limits and eventually make them quit. Also,
since the woman is in a male dominated sport, the chances that there
are other females out there helping “the cause” are very small which
makes it even harder for her to be taken seriously.
The benefits for a woman in a man’s sport however are probably some of
the greatest out there. She will not only most likely be the star and
the sweetheart of the team, but she will also most likely get the most
attention both in and out of the game. Also, the endorsements for a
woman playing with men are unimaginable, especially with all the
feminists behind her and supporting her, she will most likely never
have to worry about money again. The one problem with all of this
though, is that she will probably have to be defending her sexuality
constantly from those that think all female athletes are gay. However,
if any woman can get through the taunting, and succeed in a male
dominated sport, then she truly will have “made it” in the world of
athletics.
For men and women to participate in sports not traditionally dominated
by their sex is probably a lot more difficult at first than would seem
worth it, but in the end it could be a major stepping stone into the
world of athletics as well as the rest of society. The costs to both
seem, at first, almost insurmountable, but once they have become versed
in the ways of the sport, the benefits out rule it all.
08/01/2005, from a Reader on the Web I am an african american FEMALE, who plays football. I started at the age of 5 when i played on a 6 yr old BOY TEAM. when i first started yea, it was harsh but as i got older boys became scared of me and girls didnt even look at me unless they were my friends because they knew who i was!!!! I was the best player on the team amd recieved a lot of MVP's. people shouldn't discriminate agaist girl(women) because girls "some" girls r as tough as boys. sure i had lil boyfriends and i still did girl thing but dont juge a girl by what they look like, because i could be the prettiest girl but also the "one who knows how to take care of business! till' this day noone messes with me or even THINKS about "tryin'" to pick on me even though i may not look like a football player i AM one! Sincxe i am omly 13 i still have lots to accomplish and i say yeah to ALL the girls who think they can handle the sport!!!!!!!!!!!!1 P.S- on my team after the games boys couldn't even tell i was a girl until' i took my helment off becouse i was that good, i am not afraid to brake a nail and i am not preppy i am "a football playin' female repin' all da guhs!!!!!GET THAT?!?!?!?!?
I am 14 years old and so into football... many people see its as strange (mostly females) but many other people (mostly males) think its cool. Its not that i wanna play with the "big boys" as your article states. I just like to play football. I am not trying to prove myself in anyway.. i just wanna play. What i'm trying to say is i disagree with the argument why females play male teams. |
there is no way that a girl can play football especially in the Texas 5A district I mean they would get killed. Plus I have played football with a girl and its weird it feels like u have to go easy on them or something.their also very dramatic and they might hurt themselfs ... Brennan Deuel, 15 May 2006
I love Football I have loved it forever! But I can't play on the team. I am in 8th grade and I am 14 I think that I can make up my mind if I want to play!! But the school sead that they don't want me to get hert! Give me a break I love football I can thow better then all the boys in my gym class. The boys think that I am not good enoph but give me a team and a football and I will show you what I can do! Even my dad sead that I am really good at home I have my own football and half the boys at school don't. So why can't I play?!?!?! ... Stephanie Garnett, 18 October 2006
i am 13 years old and i love to play football but my school wont let firls try out for football. i am really disappointed that i cant try out. i have also been told a number of times that i am a great thrower and sometimes a good chatcher. i would love to start playing football ... Falysha Raymond, 19 October 2006
WOW, what a great artical, congrats! all of it is so true...personally i think boys and girls should be able to participate in whichever sport, whenever and with who! it would be fantastic to see one day, during prime time, on a prime television station, a male dominated sport being played by females and gettin gthe same amount of surport as male sports do today ... Brooke, 9 November 2006
i am a 16 yr old girl that plays rugby and wrestles, because im interested in it and enjoy contact sports, Iv only been playin for two years and was introduced to it through my highschool. I wasn't treated differently by my friends and have continuously practised with the boys rugby team and wrestled with guy in practise. Im not particulary gifed in athletics, but just do it for fun and to stay in shape, and society has changed to accept females in contact sports ... Reader on the web, 5 December 2006
hey ya i think its so ture what the girls wrote we should be aloud to play football caus im a female and i love to play football iv been playing since i was 5 im 16 now and i still play. no girls think about messing me with and well u get know know alot of guys and they are cool about me playing with them they love it one year i didnt play cuz i broke a arm and they missed me ... Lee-Anna, 6 February 2007
I agree with the first person because most girls are tough like boys! I want to play football but the coaches are against it! I also love wrestling to but thier is no teams and of course the coaches won't let me try out! Any ways I soooooo agree with u! P.S girls are just as tough as boys! ... Elizabeth, 10 April 2007
Hi i am a female,some people think tht football is a game for boys only but is not,i am an african i love playing football but here in Cameroon most dont play i often play with the boys so i get stronger ,y dad supports me but my mom dont even think of it so i am pleading with any one who reads this which can help in any way to jon my fellow girls play should just mail me please ... Taka gina lor, 21 July 2007
I am 18 years old, and am currently coaching an all boys hockey team. I have been playing hockey from the time i was 5 and couldn't be happier. Yes i was playing on a all boys team for 12 years, but i think that it made me better at the sport becasue, i was challenged. I loved playing the sport and made some amazing friend threw it. I tried playing for a girls team but i missed my "boys". yes they do get pissed when they realize a girl just knocked them on thier butt but on the other hand it gave me more confidence as a girl playing a boy sport! MUCH LOVE! ... Stephanie, 12 November 2007
Im 14 years old and love to wrestle!! when i say i want to wrestle with the school!! they told me no cause i was a girl!! theres a couple of wrestling teams in the town that i live in!! but my parents say the only way i can is if i wrestle with the sschool team!! if there are other schools that r like mine i think its bull that they wont let u!! im already one of the girls that most people look at like o dont mess wit her!! ive wrestled before but now that im older i cant wrestle wit the clubs! but i hope i have a chance wit sumthing!! ... Page Slater, 13 November 2007
I have played soccer fo rthe last 8 years of my life and girls have been on my teams for my whole soccer "career" i dont see the problem with girls on my team i also wrestle and do cross country on my cross country team my best friend is tougher than i am when it comes to a pace and this is my first year wrestling and last year there was a girl on our team that lost only one of her matches and i have lost all of mine so anyone has no right to say that girls arent as tought as the men. i'm only 12 years old and i have many friends that play way harder in many sports that i play i think girls can play any sport they want to ... Austin, 6 December 2007
Comments
Girl Wrestler
Iam a girl wrestler, proof that girls can join and succeed in a "male" sport
i am writing a persuasive
i am writing a persuasive paper in English about why girls SHOULD play on boys teams, i need at least 10 quotes so I would be very interested in your opinions!
ela
Yes girls should be aloud to because we are just as good at sports than boyss are and plus we are sometimes better and tougher.too :)
Go For It
Im a 15 year old guy and i have shared the football field with lots of girls, and i belive that they are better then most guys. If you want to play a sport dont let anyone tell you you cant cause your a girl, or a guy, if you thing and belive you can play it then go for it. You guys who are like football is only for guys grow pair! Let the girls play if they want show them your tuff, and girls show the guys your tuffer then them. If it makes you happy go for it, follow your heat and you'll never have any regrets. You guys that dont want girls playing "our" sports E-mail me @ , i aint afread to set you straight so bring it!
hi
Im a 15 year old girl and i would like to share i really like that you think girls can play guy sports too and i would like to agree with you when you said girls are better then most guys on there team. i mean when my friend and i were in 4th grade we wanted to play tackle football and so we started to play on a team with a couple of friends that were boys that went to our school and a couple other boys we didnt know so we were the only girls but the first year she broke her arm so i was the only girl on the team and then me and my friend played in 5th grade she broke another bone so i was the only girl on the team again and then in 6th grade we played again and we both played no broken bones lol but then i quit and she didnt but anyways i also play Baseball on a boys team and its not a team for a school so i have been playing with boys or playing boy sports since i was like 6 and im not afraid to play with boys and from me playing with boys i kept getting asked by my friends that are girls if they should play this sport or that sport even if it was with boys and i would say yes and then they would play and they would like it. lol SO GIRLS CAN SOMETIMES EVEN PLAY WHATEVER SPORT THERE PLAYING BETTER THEN THE BOYS ON THERE TEAM
I'm 15 and a girl. I'm also
I'm 15 and a girl. I'm also the only girl on my high school football team:)
You Need To Realize
Ok you girls say your strong you say you've done stuff at young ages vs boys or with them but lease open your eyes and listen us men that are athletes aren't saying your below us in sports it's just there are standards when playing with us rules would h ave to be changed more money would need to be used just to let ya play with us... For example for girls who play basketball you really think your that nice?. Ok your beating guys on your block w.e. I bet half those guys couldn't beat someone in the NBA unless ya playing a Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Kobe, matter a fact Blake Griffin you can't play on a males team..yeah maybe in high school shoo maybe even college but when you girls talk about professional level your just living in a fantasy world not noticing the differences in body, strength, height,mentallity, focus, different ball size and higher rims... And for thoses girls who played or plays football ok great your proving your strong and can handle some hits but like I said professional level WAY different then who ever you been playing try taking a straight up hit from Ray Lewis nd let me see you get up I'm not sayin you girls can't do it but I think playing on your level of play with other women is better but there are a lot of other sports women should play with men like soccer, tennis, swimming, track and maybe even golf but ALL just for equality?? Nah your getting a little to over yourselves
Focus?
You r really saying boys are better at focusing at sports than girls?
I hate to contradict you, but
I hate to contradict you, but I am a 15 year old girl and play football and basketball. You are throwing all these big-shot names into the mix, but think, they had to start somewhere right? I bet they all were playin on the street before they were in the NBA. Girls can too, I mean, we all have to start somewhere right? Just chill and let it go. We can handle ourselves, on or off the field.
ok i agree with you, but
ok i agree with you, but football come on...... or should i say rug be or baseball or any sport like wrestling its older than your time in sports alone and they except the fact that girls can do it yes we all have our own opinion in things but if the oldest sport in time excepts girls and knows that they can keep up with boys then why not, ya were not like a pro but i have made it as experiences for being close i got offered a scholarship to be pro but i didn’t you. Have you if not then no rum to judge or say yes 30 years ago girls didn’t do that but were in the 20th century not the 18th or 19th
girls should be sllowed to be
girls should be sllowed to be on the same team as boys
FYI
Just so you all know there is only about an 8% difference in strength between men and women, so I think that if the girl proves herself to be good at whatever sport she wants to join then they should let her play. Cm'on people I thought this was the 21st century! Why don't we all leave the sexist crap to the idiots who thought the Earth was flat ok? :)
girls can play football
I am 14 and i am from minnesota, i dont get y girls cant play football i played in 5th grade and i kick but the boys wanted me to be on there team we always playtwo hand touch in the school yard and i was always the running back. it was always me and my friend ( girl ) now that I'm at a different school they dont let girls play and i dont think its fair!!!
Girls should be allowed we
Girls should be allowed we are just as good as boys we may not be all buff and and you may think we arent strong enough but you know what if we want to play then why not its not your decision its ours and i mean if we're good then UM Hello we should be allowed and we are JUST AS GOOD AS YOU some may be dramatic but thats not how we all are DUHHHH
Girl plays QB
I'm a girl and I play quarterback for GNMFA football. So tell me girls can't play again?
Lacrosse
I am a 15 year old girl. I have been playing lacrosse on an all girls team since I was six. I recently moved to a new town where they don't have any girls lacrosse teams at the high school level. After much debate at my new school and numerous meetings with the boys lacrosse coach, it was decided that I could play with the boys as long as I can keep up with them. No one is really concerned about me getting hurt anymore because I have proved to everyone that I am just as tough as any boy on the field. I have cut my hair short so that I don't stand out as much on the field, so most people don't even know I'm a girl until I take my helmet off. My teammates respect me because Im the only girl on the team. I have never been teased by anyone for playing with the boys. I think more girls should play on boys teams, so that one day that awful stereotype that we are weak and unathletic will no longer be a viable argument when it comes to mixed gender teams. I love my sport, and will do anything to keep on playing, even if it means being the only girl on the team.
I am a 12-year old girl and
I am a 12-year old girl and play boys hockey. Me, my BFF and 2 other girls. You could tell we were not wanted by the boys because they would take the puck from us, their own teammates and when I complained about having to play girls hockey they told me I should! But it is soooo fun playing with the boys!!!!
basketball
Im a girl who plays on a boys basketball team but there voting on whether girls can play with boys when i grew up playing with boys. So its not fair at all and i may never play with or practice with boys again its so stupid. :(
should girls be able to football with boys
Girls should not be able to play with boys because the majority of girls are not physically capable of playing with boys.Another thing is that games with physical contact can get sketchy and uncomfortable for the other players,and girls often get harmed by those boys who do play aggressively.The last thing is that girls prefer to play sports with other girls; they are afraid of the boys physicality and roughness
agreeing is also nice
you are correct girls an d boys should be able to play on the same sports team because they shouldn't have different teams for girls and boys girls might like some boy sports like basketball soccor and baseball etc etc. boys might love volleyball and stuff they wanna be able to play i say LET THE POOR KIDS PLAY ON THE SAME SPORTS TEAM.
sincerely,
Jessika Noel Marie Turner Mosscccotto
Girls SHOULD be able to play on boy sports team
Girls are as tough as boys!!!!!!! We are human beings just like them. So we have the same abilitys as you boys out there.
ok i understand but whast if
ok i understand but whast if that girl is capable of playing that sport why shouldnt they be allowed to play and its not like their saying all girls have to play its simply saying that if they want to why not if they can take the heat (shall we say) then its should be fine if they can play and if their good why not
Actually girls are tougher
Actually girls are tougher than boys, their nerves are more resistant to pain and also I'm 13 and a guy and there's a girl on my football team andnshes better than everyone else on the team
Hate to burst your little bubble there...
I'd hate to shatter your little fantasy there, but... What intelligence would it take to realise that YOU ARE WRONG... You're a 13 yo kid, You have no idea, The males are built for this kind of danger, SOME (Not all are as fragile) will become injured in these rough sports. I have no problem that girls play football, soccer, etc... But It stops there. No playing with the guys, They will often get the wrong kind of attention.. It's also shameful that you're a guy too...
Hate to burst your little bubble there...
I'd hate to shatter YOUR little fantasy there( the fantasy where you think your better than everyone else) but... What intelligence would it take to realise that YOU ARE A SEXIST JERK... I am a 13 yo girl and I can play whichever sport I want with whoever I want. Also, I have no idea what those last two parts were supposed to mean, "they will get the wrong kind of attention...it's also shameful that your a guy"., but I do know that you need to put your ego in check, because your just being rude.
Sexist
i myself am a guy and women can be TOUGHER than some guys. women have every right to play any sport that men play.
sooo how is that boys and
sooo how is that boys and girls cant play sports together yet they have gym classes together...which i know when i went to school we had to the same work outs as the boys did...yes some of the girls had to use lighter weight than the boys but i myself was able to lift more than most boys in that class. we all had to play the sports together we was not allowed to be seperated. so what is the diffrence in have boys and girls in gym working together as much as they would be out on a feild?
YOU YOURSELF SAID THE
YOU YOURSELF SAID THE MAJORITY. So the minority of girls who can should not be aloud. I'm sorry but that doesn't sound right
soccer
am 14 years old and i love soccer so much and i go to the club every day so there was a girl in my school she love soccer sooo much and she want to play with the school team so she ask the couh if she can play to the team and he sayes he can not because she was a girl
Hmmm
I live in Canada where there is no sexism (very little) in schools. It's good but I do Karate (I'm male) and sometimes I spar the girls (there are 2 girls at our club) and it's a bit awkward because one always cries and the other is just really bad. I think girls should play but in different leagues. If we're going to start mixing boys and girls teams we may as well do the same with age etc.
im with the girls on this one
i have a friend named savannah and she is total BA on the gridiron but because she was under 90 LBS she couldnt play for her highschool team which is stupid cause she was there star quarterback.
boys and girls
well im on both sides because they have the right to play with boys because it would not be fair if the girls wrer excluded from boy sports and the boys were excluded from well like girl sports so really this is just a stupid argument!
:)
ME & MY FRND THINK GIRLS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO PLAY ON GUYS SPORTS TEAM!!!!!! YEAHH BUDDY!!:)
thank you! im a 16 year old
thank you! im a 16 year old girl that has been playing football for 9 years.
none
i think they should
firls dont have the muscles
firls dont have the muscles to handlrd getting tackled by football players
girls can play
girls are strong enough dude it doesn't matter if they play guys should understand that
All girls are strong enough
All girls are strong enough to do anything they/we want as long as we work for it. Im stronger than half the guys in my class!
Girls that are the same
Girls that are the same height and body mass as boys are shown to have more muscle
Um...no..
You're kidding right?
Wrong!
There is such a thing as women strongmen, ya know? And that is (usually) a stereotype anyway.
mm hm about that
so you are saying that you think girls are weak and cant do a thing ?
well, you thought WRONG
you know how houses are built
by strong men AND woman drywallers, carpenders and such my mom has helped with all of
the houses my dad has built includin ours
when my GIRL soccer team moved the goal and that thing weighed a ton
we moved it all the way to half feild
and then we scrimaged
and today at 4:15 we are going to kick them to the moon and beyond!
Yeah Bitch!
can't spell
dude you cannot spell...you talking crap about us girls and you can't even spell the right word.
I'm a girl and I play
I'm a girl and I play football. I can handle getting tackled just fine since I play defense. Don't judge until you know.
Reply
EXCUSE ME? I happen to be the only girl in my baseball team and I happen to be the best. I ride horses (and NO you do not just SIT on the horse) and I have to lift 100-200 pound people onto them, so don't you DARE say that women don't have the strength to be tackled. I could beat you up if I wanted to.
Umm excuse me. I play
Umm excuse me. I play football and I have been tackled by a 145 pound kid so don't even say that a girl can not handle being tackled cuz I just as well have taken a lot of hits and didn't cry once. So stop being sexist against girls playing football.
let them play
i am a linemen and i am in 8th grade i weigh 234 LBS teehee
Seriously just because guys
Seriously just because guys have more testosterone in there bodys than girls does not mean that girls can not play. I am a full hearted football player and believe in aggression and will fight any one as i plead... Ive knocked a boy down and made his nose bleed. Was playing soccer and pushed 7 people down and put 1 on crutches. Tell me a girl cant play football well just watch what some of these young women can do now days.
Also Female
I agree - I have beat up 3 boys in my 8th grade class so far. Everyone in the grade knows not to mess with me.
Football.
I played back in 5th grade (am a girl. and proud of it.) and I dominated on the field. Typically, the other team wasn't aware they were playing with a girl, til I took off that helmet. While it was nice seeing their reactions, it did cause problems at times. We even had one team forfeit because they wouldn't play against a girl.
Frankly, I don't play to "be with the big boys". Nor to try and show others up, or to try and be cool. I play to play.
Unfortunately, I've had bad experiences with the school I attended after 5th grade. The coaches and other members weren't fond of the idea of a girl being on the team, and made it absolutely miserable. Despite that I loved the sport, they ruined it for me, making me not even want to play it with how horrible they were making it. Wouldn't give me a play book, torn and massive jersey because they didnt have any others (note, replaced with a brand new one a week or two later when I went to get my helmet fixed.) It was heart breaking, having to tear myself away from the sport because of the pride of the others.
I now have to resort to playing in gym - and even earned a nickname for myself. I'm still good at it, as I'm told, and would love to try and get back onto the team. It's just dealing with all of the sexist people who think "the girl" will cry when she gets hit, when she's used to making others cry.
:/ It's a sad world out there.