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Since the days of cavemen and hunter-gatherers, gender roles and obligations have been rigidly defined. With the advent of societies and cultures, the roles of both men and women have been transformed drastically. The recent developments in the fight against gender discrimination and bias have turned this debate into a full-fledged rumble.
In competitive games and sports, different commentators have contrasting opinions. There is no denying that there is a clear distinction between permission and capability, regarding whether girls playing boys’ sports is such a good idea.
In this article, we will go through some of the logical and practical reasons why females should not play male sports.
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Reasons Why Females Should Not Play Male Sports?
Following are some reasons why females should not play male sports:
- ➡️ Sports is War
- ➡️ Injury-Magnets
- ➡️ Commercial Appeal
- ➡️ Poor Promotion
- ➡️ Inefficiency of Title IX
- ➡️ Pay Gap
- ➡️ Lack of Support Staff
- ➡️ The Sex Factor
- ➡️ Stardom & Celebrity Status
Now, let us explore each of the reasons in detail.
Sports is War
There is nothing like “just a game” in competitive games and sports, at both domestic and international levels. When it comes to the play and its aftermaths, sports are more about making a statement and legacy for both players on the fields and the spectators in the stadiums.
For instance, Olympics was designed to witness the military prowess of warriors from all sides outside of combat. They wanted to see which nation had the graces of gods as they would stand triumphant in the face of actual war.
All of this makes sports a purely manly affair that’s why females should not play male sports. The resemblance between sports and war games led the US Department of Defense to redesign and re-calibrate military equipment for female recruits along with leniency in other training and practice regimes.
This led to another specific question and resulting debate; does the military gets weaker as it alters the training standards to accommodate the “weaker” or “fairer” sex?
Injury-Magnets
Studies put the frequency of female athletes getting hurt across diverse sports around 50% to 500%, depending on the game when compared to that of male athletes.
Male athletes are injured less because of their anatomical structure and the structure of organized sports.
Since males hit puberty, their bodies produce testosterone in excess which results in accelerated muscle growth as well as aggression and competitiveness. Compared to this, female bodies produce estrogen resulting in more fat production.
This puts female athletes at a disadvantageous position as they get weaker when the time comes for competitive sports.
This is one of the scientific and more understandable reasons why it would not be fair for women to play men’s sports.
Commercial Appeal
The fact that saying football or baseball would automatically give the impression of “male” football or baseball sports rather than a female can clear up why females should participate or be transgender in sports dominated by males.
Ticket sales, attendance, and viewership records are some of the important metrics that show the gulf between the reception of male and girls’ sports teams. Since many sports and competitive games enterprises are private affairs, they would only support a cause that can make maximum profits for them.
Apart from these “empirical” reasons, even fans are more attracted to the importance and legacy of male sports and its continuity rather than to seeing females play male sports.
Poor Promotion
In many sports including basketball and football, male games are well-funded and are broadcast through cutting-edge technology. This added production value along with brand endorsements and promotions led to higher numbers, resulting in the importance of sports and legacy.
One of the reasons behind poor reception and promotion is the level of competence in the male and female versions of the same sport. This is what collides with the premise of competitive sports and the highest standards in physical and mental prowess to win the game.
Since female sports have “compromised” or “lenient” standards compared to male sports, this resulted in the argument of inequality between sports and players attached to the two.
Inefficiency of Title IX
During the presidency of Nixon, a law was mandated that prescribed schools receiving federal funding to never discriminate in sports and games. Even though this was devised with zeal and vigor, it failed to hold its ground because of the complications in “funding” and “discrimination”.
Since the promulgation of this law, it has been amended and struck down various times under both Democratic and Conservative presidents.
Today, schools receiving federal grants play around with the law to avoid penalties. In terms of staying true to the regulations of girls playing boys’ sports, they continue the play on boys’ sports teams or give “leniency” to female teams in terms of rules and regulations to produce favorable numbers.
There is no denying that if that law was implemented with the same zeal it was passed, then maybe girls’ teams could have matched the boys’ team based on compromised and watered-down rules and regulations.
Since that hasn’t happened nor it will in the foreseeable future, it will be a distant, and perhaps inaccessible, dream for females to play alongside males.
Pay Gap
The pay gap exists between both male and female teams for the same sport, but there is no conspiracy surrounding it nor there is any ill-advised reason for the big wigs to do that.
A classic example is mentioned here to highlight this fact. In 2015, the US Women’s Soccer Team won the World Cup and was awarded $2 million as a bonus. The men’s team was out of the race in the first round yet it received $8 million. This pay gap was due to purely commercial reasons and not the “boy sport” tag.
Since spectators and fans are more attached to the athletes who play football or other contact sports, they end up getting better exposure and salary deals.
This is another reason why females cannot and should not compete with males in competitive and organized sports.
Lack of Support Staff
Although it is the players that run around and get injuries and concussions on the field, there is a whole team of support staff outside the field. For a typical professional team, there are often hundreds of members for support, including medics, coordinators, physical trainers, managers, coaches, etc.
In addition to this, referees, commentators, and the stature of the two in the sports fraternity help in boosting ticket sales and enhancing the importance of a sports affair.
Contrary to this, girls’ team programs, and women’s sports in general, are still dependent on male support and promotional staff because females are yet to break into this parallel realm for sports when compared to boys’ teams.
In the absence of this support staff, female sports teams do not possess the necessary muscle to compete with their male counterparts.
The Sex Factor
Even when girls play and progress the ranks and come up at the top in their leagues, they still cannot be dubbed as the best across the formats and genders. Simply put, the best male tennis player is called the best tennis player in the world whereas the best female tennis player cannot be equated with her male counterpart.
The reasons are simple yet they have been made controversial. One prominent row was between major media personnel and John McEnroe where the latter refused to call Serena Williams the best tennis player.
The reason is simple – even the best female athletes in a game cannot compete with the best on the male side. This phenomenon is often witnessed in the tennis doubles where both sides have one male and one female player.
Stardom & Celebrity Status
In terms of star players and celebrities, female sports teams are not very rich. They have very few renowned, first-class players to begin with, and even then, they have a hard time finding ground in the hearts and minds of fans and spectators.
This is true and consistent throughout every sport. Part of the reason is the anatomical and physical limitations that female athletes cannot best. Other than that, they cannot risk adopting a gladiatorial role because they could risk career-compromising injuries.
That’s why both organized sports and their fans do not consider female sports equal to the boys’ sports teams.
Aside from that, female athletes often end up becoming highly sexualized due to their sports attire and overall persona through tabloids. This makes them more like female models rather than sportspersons.
Conclusion
Whether females should play male sports is an ongoing debate. There is no denying that female athletes are very capable to play sports. Still, it is always counterproductive to compare boys’ sports teams with their female counterparts because both play in different zones. Male and female sports teams have their own rules and regulations that determine the competency and level of acumen of the players. Instead of inciting controversy by bundling them into the same sports teams, it is best to keep them in their respective fields.
As far as the race to the top is concerned, the boys’ sports team enjoys better stats, fame, and money and there is nothing anyone can do about it for now.