This following blog is a response to the questions on slide 8 of last Thursday's PowerPoint. The first question says are all men bigger, stronger, and faster than women? This question is easy to answer because there are women out there that are bigger, stronger, and faster than most men. Now the thing I think here is that we don't always get a chance to see these women in action because they are overshadowed by men. Typically when we see a women lift a weight in the olympics, she is followed by a male lifting more. When we see a woman run track in the olympics, we then see the males run the 100m and they beat the women easily. So there are women out there bigger, faster, and stronger than men. We just don't see them. The second question asks if not, at what age(s) do the differences emerge? I firmly believe that we start seeing the skills of both genders really coming into play during their high school years. These years are when kids are starting to mature, hit puberty, and develop the most. The third question is do men dominate in some physical skills and women in others? I firmly believe this. Men for instance are more prone to taking hits in a football game all day, than they are standing on a balance beam. This is because of their body types. Men usually tend to be more broad in the shoulders, and carry more weight in general. This is why it think men are usually better in the physical aspects of sports than the grace aspects. The fourth question is how much does hard work and/or technique factor into differences? I firmly believe hard work and technique play a huge factor in these differences. The harder you work at your techniques the more mentally sound you will be come game time. I'd rather be a hard worker, and have worked on my technique than to be lucky when a game was on the line. Finally, the last quest is how much should we consider the process of socialization? I think this is huge to why so many girls drop out of sports compared to males. Females have so much pressure on their shoulders to remain feminine, and act womanly. They see all these fashion shows, makeup commercials, celebrities in dresses, and they think they have to be like that. Males on the other hand constantly see athletes. No one wants their boy to grow up, and be a cheerleader (at least I don't think so). They want their son to grow up, and do well in a big time sport. The mother's of these young girls also influence their daughters to have a womanly appearance. However, the father wants his son to be as tough as possible.
Patrick McFall
Hi Pat,
ReplyDeleteThanks for answering the questions in the slides. Since we did not get to discuss them in class, I am glad that you addressed them. I would be interested to know what others think - especially about the aspect of socialization. I liked what you wrote when you said: "I'd rather be a hard worker, and have worked on my technique than to be lucky when a game was on the line."
Dr. Spencer
I completely agree that men dominate in some physical skills while women dominate in others. The University of Georgia had their football team and women's gymnastics team compete in a conditioning contest against each other. Most people would probably think right away that the football team would dominate over the gymnastics team, however that was not the case. The football team could bench more weight and squat more weight, but the gymnastics team dominated things such as chin ups and leg lifts. Another example of how men dominate in some physical skills while women dominate in others would be one of the fitness tests my team had to pass. For the test a panel mat is pushed back and forth across the floor for a 3 minute time period, a 2 minute time period, and finally a 1 minute time period. You have to get a certain amount of pushes each time to pass. Two football players had said they could pass it easily with no problems. One of them ended up throwing up in the middle of the test. The other one ended up not being able to finish. They both admitted at the end that the test was one of the hardest forms of conditioning they had done. I think it is very interesting to see the strengths and weaknesses of male and females. I think a factor that plays into what strengths and weaknesses a person has is what sports they participate in. Different sports require different things.
ReplyDeleteSunny Marchand
I agree with the fact that men in some cases are bigger, faster, and stronger. Football players are usually very strong, but as far as conditioning goes it is different. You condition to go hard for a minute or two then you get a short rest in the huddle then go again. So I believe a lot of women athletes are faster and better conditioned. I think it also depends on who you are trying to compare to one another. Are NBA players bigger, stronger, and faster than WNBA players probably? Now are women's track athletes faster than NBA players, yes. When it comes to socialization, I agree with Pat that in our society women are usually pushed to even if they play sports to remain a sense of feminine. While men are usually pushed to be a big sports star and be a man. I think these stereotypes are wrong, what is wrong with a guy taking dance for instance? Or a girl who is dominate at basketball like Brittany Grinner? The answer should be nothing, we are all different and grow up in different environments, with different believes and unfortunately a lot of those are affected by our society.
ReplyDeleteDouglas Deprest
I would have to agree that most men are bigger, faster, and stronger. But Like the video we saw in class of the women boxer being “stronger” that then male boxer, just shows that some women are stronger than some men. Also take Brittany Grinner for instance; I’m sure she is bigger and stronger than some guys in the NBA, but like Patrick said women just sometimes seem to get over shadowed by men. I also believe that we start seeing the skills of both genders really coming emerge during their high school years, around their later years (junior or senior years). That’s normally when you start lifting more, start actually taking a sport serious, and just start focusing on physical skills to try and get into college with a sport scholarship. Lastly, I totally agree that men dominate in some physical skills and women in others. I say this because most men can’t do the splits or even do most stretches that women are able to do, and I’m pretty sure women wouldn’t even think about wrestling or getting hit all day in football (well most women).
ReplyDelete-Danielle Miller
I agree with you on the fact that socialization is a huge factor as to why women drop out of sports, and why so many men feel the need to compete in the "manly" sports as opposed to cheerleading. I believe that socialization takes away from the women's talents that they possess. Many women that drop out of sports, are in fact, great athletes and could make something of themselves by partcipating in that sport, but because of socialization and the overwhelming thought that women should be feminine and should be more into fashion and dresses than sports, pushes them away and makes them forget about the talent in which they possess. In turn, it takes away from the women's professional sports in a way, because many women drop out before they reach that level. As well as socialization effecting women, it does effect men as well. Men are forced to do the manly sports, and are criticized when they want to participate in a more feminine sport, such as cheerleading or even ice skating. So, it takes away from men participating in sports that they actually want to do and follow their dreams within because they don't want to be criticized or don't want to be made fun of by their family or friends.
ReplyDelete-Paxin Stern
I also agree that socialization is a key factor in the decline of women in sports. There is such a burden on young women to be more womanly that is nearly impossible to not be outcast if you don't follow the norm. It is unfair that society acts in such a way but it will be difficult to change none the less. It should be based upon the women's talent on whether or not she wants to stop playing not the fact of how she will be viewed by society. I am thankful that I do not have that pressure on my shoulders as a male but I also feel sorry for all of the fantastic female athletes that have given up their talent just to fit into society's predetermined notion of what is feminine and what isn't.
ReplyDeleteMike Frank