Women have a long tradition of participating in sports. It is a past filled with division and prejudice, but simultaneously with tremendous achievements by female players and significant advancements in equity of the sexes and women and girls’ empowerment. Sports have proved their great potential for empowering women and girls in the past years (Canadian Women and Sport, 2020). It is a great strategy for spreading essential information to huge audiences in a joyous setting. It resonates with youngsters and connects the international society. It brings connects individuals from different nationalities and cultural divides. It also instills in the parties involved crucial qualities and attributes of correlation, self-reliance, resilience, and multiplier effect on their well-being and management and educational skills. It supports self-esteem, fosters social relationships, and questions detrimental gender accords (Adriaanse & Claringbould, 2016).
Women have risen to the pinnacle of sports administration ranks, including C.E.Os. and National Olympic Associations General secretary. Women are increasingly seeking jobs in all aspects of the sport, particularly as trainers, administrators, officials, and athletics reporters. Despite significant obstacles depending on gender inequality (Adriaanse & Claringbould, 2016). Women were once considered extremely frail for sports, especially endurance sports like races, bodybuilding, and cycling. It has been widely assumed that sport was hazardous to women’s reproductive health. Gender-based segregation in physical training, competitive and leisure sport, sporting associations, and sports press was fueled by prejudices like these. Hence, this paper discusses the inequalities and prejudice pressuring women in sports, the advantages of physical training and sports for women and girls, and the advantages of women’s engagement in sports for both sport and the community (Giordano & Harris, 2005).
Inequalities and Prejudice Pressuring Women in Sports
Gender-based harassment in all fields and aspects of sports and physical events, fostered by continuing presumptions of females’ bodily abilities and social roles, limits the advantageous impacts of sports for gender equity and women ‘s delegation. Women are consistently coerced to engage in sporting activities and tournaments designed explicitly for women (Harrigan et al.,2004). From the regional to the global arena, women and girls’ participation in leadership areas and judgment calls is confined. Women’s sporting activities are regularly undermined, resulting in low funding and unbalanced revenues and prizes. Female sports are not only disregarded in the press, but it is also commonly portrayed in a different way that represents and propagates gender biases. Men’s superiority, bodily prowess, and resilience are typically revealed in male athletics, and oppression against women, extortion, and intimidation in sports are representations of these conceptions.
Furthermore, Canadian women and girls have been participating in sports activities. At the top-level magnitudes since the 1800s, the antagonism and mockery they encountered for ‘infiltrating’ the customary territory of men kept them from advocating for parity until the 1960s. In the backdrop of second-wave women’s rights and ‘women ‘s emancipation,’ Canadian women’s sports began campaigning for social equality in athletics, alluding to the unequal possibilities in contrast to men (Hayhurst et al., 2021). The royal commission supported women’s sports based on women’s status. In 1970, it recommended that the federal government should ensure they encourage girls to engage in sporting activities and provide a conducive environment for fair participation.
In 1974, the first national women’s congress was organized by eminent Canadian Olympians such as Petra Burka, Abby Hoffman, and Marion lay. The primary goal of this conference was to advocate for fair treatment in the establishment and management of sports in Canada, which is still present today (Norman et al., 2021). To institutionalize activism, sportswomen and conventional feminist organizations founded the Canadian association to advance women in sport in 1981. It is worth noting that participants decided on the title at the inaugural convention. They believed it was critical to improve women’s prospects and change sports’ misandrist nature, which they considered a fundamental obstacle to women’s involvement. The federal administration adopted a “Women’s Program” in 1986, aiming for gender parity (Norman et al., 2021).
While women’s involvement and sporting accomplishments in Canada have increased considerably over the last few decades, equity and equality have remained elusive for various factors. To begin with, authorities and sports organizations have hardly followed up on guideline declarations with adherence to surveillance and implementation. Sport Canada, for instance, has demanded a metric of gender parity amongst financed sports groups for over 25 years and gathers data; nevertheless, because it was obsessed with awards and the platform, it ignores when a physically gifted accomplished sports organization fails to satisfy the needs. In a poll by an inter-administration task committee on women and sports, the absence of comprehensive oversight for conformity was the most often mentioned problem (Norman et al., 2021).
Second, because Canada’s national structure, policies, rules, and financing differ widely from one province to the next, third, elected administrations routinely reverse the policies of their successors. This mishmash of circumstances has resulted in various political tactics, including parliamentary lobbying, union bargaining, and judicial issues. These measures have had some effectiveness in ensuring that women have the chance to participate at the top elite of a sport while still preserving women’s sport from undesired invasions by less talented men (Norman et al., 2021).
Additionally, in many distinct domains, such as women and athletics, various key aspects have been highlighted to combat gender bias and unbalanced gender issues and create an ideal atmosphere for gender equity and women ‘s emancipation (Marshall, 2015). Enhancing women’s accessibility to and sovereignty over prospects and facilities, such as jobs and income assets; boosting their agency and governance positions; preserving and advocating their civil dignity; and guaranteeing their safety, together with freedom from harassment, are among them. Men play a significant role in cross-examining and refining unbalanced power dynamics. In past years, there has been a huge prominence on the significant impact men can and do have in championing women’s accreditation in various environments, such as family, community, and places of work. Because of male prominence in sports, their engagement and endeavor to achieve gender parity in this sector are crucial (Norman et al., 2021).
Advantages of Physical Training and Sports for Women and Girls
Women’s physical fitness and sports involvement have long been known to provide medical benefits. Even though several clinical experiments and observational data in healthcare studies have eliminated women, the evidence collected suggests that an athletic lifestyle has numerous health advantages for women. Sport and bodily exercise can help avoid various non – infectious illnesses, representing more than 60% of worldwide fatalities and 66% of fatalities in developing nations. It can enhance girls’ childhood wellness and minimize their danger of terminal illnesses later in life (Marshall, 2015).
Furthermore, it can help avert cardiovascular illnesses in older women, contributing to one-third of all mortality worldwide and 50% of all fatalities among women over 50 in underdeveloped nations. Physical exercise also aids in the prevention of osteoporosis, which females are more likely to experience than males (Marshall, 2015). Other permanent and degenerative ageing disorders can be prevented and treated by physical exercise, including type 2 diabetes, hypotension, arthritis, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular irregularities. It also assists in constructing and preserving healthy bones, ligaments, joints, and weight control. Physical exercise has been shown to minimize the risk of accidents in older women.
Physical exercise plays a vital role in the lives of older women by allowing them to maintain their autonomy. Inactivity is currently recognized as the cause of deteriorating health that was once assumed to be an unavoidable part of ageing (Meier, 2000). At the same time, no one can promise that activity will make you live longer; it can help older women maintain their freedom. The advantages for disabled women and girls are equally well established. Sport has been observed to bring a dual advantage to women with impairments by giving individually and collectively affirmations of consciousness.
Regular exercise can help women of all ages maintain positive mental health, such as administering mental diseases like Alzheimer’s disease. It can help with stress, tension, loneliness, and misery by boosting self-esteem, courage, and social inclusion and reducing stress, nervousness, and depression (Reid et al., 2000). Besides improving health, wellness, and standard of living, physical exercise and sport foster characteristics such as collaboration, goal-setting, striving for perfection in execution, and other amazing accomplishment behaviours that females with impairments may not be introduced to in other settings.
Women and girls may enjoy distinct social advantages from participating in athletics and improved health. This is especially noteworthy because depression prevalence among females in developing and developed nations is nearly twice as high as among males (Trolan, 2013). Teenage girls are quite susceptible to anxiety and mood symptoms than boys at the age of 15; they are much more susceptible than boys to have genuinely pondered suicide. Sport offers females a unique way to participate in their societies’ contemporary culture, promoting free speech, interpersonal connections, great possibilities, and greater self-esteem. It also increases educational possibilities and the development of key life skills, such as communication. By getting physically active regularly, inactive individuals can quickly enhance their fitness and well-being. Physical exercise does not have to be difficult to reap medical benefits as well as it
Advantages of Women’s Engagement in Sports for Both Sport and The Community
Sport’s Place in Society Sports certainly significantly influenced almost all our lives for several years. They have been utilized for amusement, and many would claim that this is their entire purpose and that they teach no other significant lessons. Games give us various benefits, including the competition that sports such as football, baseball, and basketball necessitate. Females who participate in sports are also taught numerous life skills and values. Sporting activities can help children learn leadership, main objectives, discipline, and tolerance. They do not only desire to love the game they are doing if we don’t have sportsmanship; they want everyone to share that emotion (Trolan, 2013).
Sports participation by women can substantially impact social life and social building. Women’s greater participation in sport can support good evolution by offering alternative conventions, values, perspectives, knowledge, capacities, encounters and advantages for girls and women. Women’s accomplishments, especially in leadership roles, can add variety and alternative perspectives to fields like management, training, and sports writing and extend the talent pool. Female engagement in sports fights gender prejudices and inequality and can thus be used to support women’s rights and female empowerment. Women in sports management, in particular, can influence perceptions of women’s leadership and decision-making ability, particularly in traditionally masculine fields (Trolan, 2013).
Individually, sport inspires girls by instilling courage, teamwork, and management qualities that they will take with them for their entire lives. Moreover, research has indicated that sports leagues have a role in socialization in the community to work under certain administrative systems, preparing them for their debut in the job in a culturally masculinized workplace setting. Sports can assist girls in learning abilities that will give them a competitive advantage on a relatively equal basis when they enter the industry, especially if they seek hierarchically organized business occupations, without believing that these settings should or are the norm (Huggins & Randell, 2007).
Competitive sports may teach female players how to project an image of assurance even when they are fearful or uncertain and accept that making errors and improving from them is essential. Children build self-belief in their capacity to assume new roles or responsibilities, and they become more at ease with ‘studying by doing (Huggins & Randell, 2007). Sport promotes collaboration characteristics such as group loyalty, respect for a trainer’s decisions, and the reality that squads are formed based on comparable skills rather than fame or character. Players realize that pressure, constraints, and competitiveness can be enjoyable, and they are better prepared to deal with these factors in the workplace. Most of these abilities are extremely appreciated in the profession, and instilling these beliefs in women and girls prepares them to engage and compete with their counterparts (Huggins & Randell, 2007).
Promoting chances for women to participate in games is about more than just pushing for their right to do so. It comprises recognizing economic and social impediments to female and female athletes’ engagement in sports and developing programs that are especially meaningful to women and girls. Welfare dependency hurdles, such as insufficient gear, clothing, or hygiene supplies, affect girls (Huggins & Randell, 2007). Physical dangers linked with engagement special to females, such as risks connected with athletic activities that detain girls beyond dark, are among the limitations on females’ leisure time.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Sports have proved their great potential for empowering women and girls in the past years. It resonates with youngsters and connects the international society. It brings connects individuals from different nationalities and cultural divides. Even though several clinical experiments and observational data in healthcare studies have eliminated women, the evidence collected suggests that an athletic lifestyle has numerous health advantages for women. Sport’s Place in Society Sports certainly significantly influenced almost all our lives for several years. They have been utilized for amusement, and many would claim that this is their entire purpose and that they teach no other significant lessons.
References
Adriaanse, J. A., & Claringbould, I. (2016). Gender equality in sport leadership: From the Brighton Declaration to the Sydney Scoreboard. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 51(5), 547-566. https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/67535/1/paper%20gender%20equality%20in%20sport%20leadership%20FINAL%202014.pdf
Canadian Women and Sport, (2020). The rally report: encouraging action to improve the sport for women and girls [online]. Available from: https://womenandsport.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Canadian-Women-Sport_The-Rally-Report.pdf.
Giordano, S., & Harris, J. (2005). 18 What is gender equality in sports? Genetic technology and sport: ethical questions, 209.
Harrigan, Patrick J. (Patrick Joseph) (2004). The Girl and the Game: A History of Women’s Sport in Canada (review). The Canadian Historical Review, 85(1), 184–185. https://sci-hub.hkvisa.net/10.1353/can.2004.0028
Hayhurst, L. M., Thorpe, H., & Chawansky, M. (2021). Introducing Sport, Gender and Development: A Critical Intersection. In Sport, Gender and Development. Emerald Publishing Limited. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/978-1-83867-863-020211001/full/html
Heritage, C. (2009). Actively engaged: A policy on sport for women and girls. Ottawa, ON: https://www.sportanddev.org/sites/default/files/downloads/women_sport_policy_english.pdf
Huggins, A., & Randell, S. (2007, April). The contribution of sports to gender equality and women’s empowerment. In A paper presented at the International Conference on Gender Equity on Sports for Social Change, Kigali. Retrieved March (Vol. 3, p. 2009). https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.517.2234&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Marshall, T. (2015). The History of Canadian Women in Sport. In The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-history-of-canadian-women-in-sport
Meier, M. (2000). Gender equity, sport and development. Swiss academy for development. https://www.sportanddev.org/sites/default/files/downloads/59__gender_equity__sport_and_development.pdf
Norman, M., Donnelly, P., & Kidd, B. (2021). Gender inequality in Canadian interuniversity sport: participation opportunities and leadership positions from 2010-11 to 2016-17. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 13(2), 207-223. https://doi.org/10.1080/19406940.2020.1834433
Reid, C., & BC Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health. (2000). The health benefits of physical activity for girls and women: literature review and recommendations for future research and policy. British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.613.8374&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Trolan, E. J. (2013). The impact of the media on gender inequality within the sport. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 91, 215-227. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042813025512/pdf?md5=397cc4b5c75b16be22e7895bdf3a3d32&pid=1-s2.0-S1877042813025512-main.pdf&_valck=1
