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You did a very thorough job expressing how obesity or food insecurity is related to socio-economic status. It made sense that people in good economic and social standing are more likely to be categorized as obese because they would have more access to food, and a sure means of transportation to get food. Likewise, people in poverty are more likely to experience food insecurity because they lack resources to feed themselves, and might lack transportation to get food as much as they need to. I like how you offered a variety of solutions to the issue of food insecurity, which should definitely be implemented in every area experiencing these problems. Sometimes the little things like food donations can really add up and make a difference. 

Food insecurity is a big issue in the United States that impacts low-income minorities disproportionately. Food insecurity can cause health issues and tough economic choices. There are many solutions to the issue, the biggest and most important one being the elimination of poverty (Sustainable Table). Other solutions include food donations, soup kitchens and programs, educational programs, sustainable agriculture, and policy changes (GRACE Communications Foundation 2017). Rates have lowered since the recession, but hopefully they will continue to steadily lower in the future and food insecurity will no longer be an issue that affects one in seven people. 

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This video really was a great addition to your personal findings on color blindness, and definitely helped break down the social construct of race. It was interesting to learn that race is not biological, and helped reaffirm your claim that color blindness can not fix racial issues. By claiming that you “don’t see color,” does nothing but avoid the topic of racism. Even for those that claim to be color blind, it becomes irrelevant in studies like the name test. I was shocked to learn how many more “white” sounding names were offered interviews compared to those with “black” sounding names. This brought into perspective all of the different racial issues that people of color must face in the workplace. As you mentioned in other postings throughout your blog, there’s a wide variety of challenges that people of color face in the workplace, and these issues cannot be ignored. The only way to fix these problems is by addressing them and breaking out of the social construct of race. 

This issue also reminded me of No More Invisible Man! We learned a lot about the social constraints that black men face in the workplace, which is definitely applicable to your topic of social inequality. These men were constantly judged based on their skin color rather than their actual job qualifications. 

The effects of color blindness and how it is a failed tactic on fixing racial issues

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Introduction

Society is continuously taking strides towards creating gender equality, however, the world of sports might be stagnant in this progressive movement. Men and women in sports have historically been treated unequally, and still are today. Although there have been great efforts since the establishment of Title IX, society seems to have reached a point that is stuck on old ideologies of how gender should be perceived. As a child, boys are taught that it’s good to be masculine, tough, and strong; whereas girls are taught to be feminine, proper, and delicate. Female athletes go against these assumed gender roles, which then invite issues of stereotyping. While women are completely capable of maintaining femininity and athleticism, society seems to think otherwise. This constant struggle for female athletes to establish themselves in a male-dominated world is further complicated by unequal pay and recognition. In addition, sports media has improved in covering more female sports, but usually covers topics in a way that is disrespectful or unfair. This misrepresentation in the media only adds to prior stereotypes associated with females in sports (lesbian, manly, etc.). Due to the male hegemonic structure of society, early socialization, performance and culture of gender, perceived interests, and biased sports media, female athletes continue to receive unfair treatment. In order for society to change its outlook on sports, these aspects of social inequality must be addressed.

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Performance of Gender

Upon observing an opening ceremony for a boy’s 4-5 year old soccer team, and girl’s 4-5 year old soccer team, Michael Messner found a gendered moment of group life under which gendered boundaries are activated and enforced. He observed the boys’ team, the Sea Monsters, and the girls’ team, Barbie girls. The first noticeable difference is the children’s reactions to their team banner. The boys are very proud of their award-winning team banner, and pose proudly with it for pictures. The girls, on the other hand, ignore their banner and decide to focus on a “float” that they made themselves. The float supported a 3-foot rotating Barbie doll, dressed in their team uniform. The girls played a Barbie song from the float, and joined hands as they walked around the float and sang along to the tune together. Eventually, girls from other teams joined in the fun. The boys notice the Barbie display and in unison began to chant, “NO BARBIE, NO BARBIE, NO BARBIE,” (Messner 4). Messner analyzes this interaction as a group-based, crosscutting, and mutually constitutive gender performances. The girls were performing a conventional from of femininity for their age group, whereas the boys were performing a masculinity that acted in opposition to Barbie. This observation shows girls and boys performing gender in a way that constitutes them as two separate, opposed groups.

The parents’ reactions to this scene further encourage the separation of the two groups. As they watched the boys chanting around the girls, they laughed at “how different they were,” and smiling approval of what happened. Such approval adds to the naturalized categorical differences at hand. This can easily be compared to current sports spectators that encourage all of the attention that male sports get, while ignoring women’s sports. By continuing to focus so much attention on male sports, it encourages sports media to give the viewers what they want.

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Structure of Gender

The difficulty to see the empirical reality of sex similarity is due to the determining factor of institutional context. This is characterized by informally structured sex segregation throughout entire sports organizations (like the youth soccer league). These organizations tend to reflect, reflect, and re-create, and naturalize a hegemonic order of gender. Hegemonic success is obtained when the elite class (men) uses tactics of manipulation against the masses to establish ideological domination. Economically, male hegemonic systems reserve income, occupations, and prestige, primarily for men (Schell and Rodriguez). 

Starting at the top of the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO), with the volunteer board of directors, Messner observed it was primarily composed of men. The board consisted of 21 men and 9 women, with the top 2 positions, commissioner and assistant commissioner, held by men (Messner 9). Among the organization’s head coachers, there were 133 men and 23 women. Team managers, who took on more of an organization role, were primarily roles taken on by women. Interestingly, Messner noticed that many of the parents and coaches referred to the team managers as the “team mom.” This clear differentiation between men and women’s roles in the organization exemplify how sexual divisions of labor support divisions of power among men and women. 

Such divisions of power can be related to Weber’s theories on status, and further, the certain privileges that come along with status. According to Weber, “stratification by status goes hand in hand with a monopolization of ideal and material goods,” (Weber 191). With men having so much power in sports, they are likely to monopolize the best leadership positions, and receive the best income, whether it’s a player or coach’s salary. This reaffirms recent findings that international sports are run by an exclusive “men’s club.” Upon release of the 2016 International Sports Report Card on Women in Leadership Roles, the report highlights the lack of representation of women in leadership roles, giving the International Olympic Committee a D+. The grade is a direct reflection of an exclusive men’s club that runs international affiliations with the Olympics. Over results of the report reveal shockingly low numbers for women in leadership roles. In 2016, women made up 5.7% of International Federations presidents, 12.2% of vice presidents, 13.1% of executive committee members, and 24.4% of members of the IOC (ESPN). 

Structure of gender also shows how people’s choices to volunteer for certain positions are constrained by previous institutional practices. Men’s tendencies to volunteer for coaching positions, and women’s tendencies to volunteer for team manager positions can be viewed as a logical collective result of the ways sport has enable previous options and experiences. Since boys and men have had more opportunities to play organized sports and thus to gain skills and knowledge, it appears rational for adult men to be in positions of knowledgeable authority, with women serving in a support capacity (Messner 11).  

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Culture of Gender

Cultural symbols such as team names, team colors, uniforms, songs, and banners carry encoded gender meanings that are taken up by children in ways that construct gender divisions and boundaries.

The AYSO issued two team colors to each team, and teams were encouraged to choose names that correlated with their colors. Many girls’ teams were issued pink uniforms, and limited to choosing ‘sweet names,’ like “Beanie Babes, Pink Flamingos, and Barbie Girls.” These names communicate vulnerability and are encoded with feminine meanings. According to more masculine colors of red, green, and blue, boys’ teams were more likely to choose ‘power names,” such as, “Killer Whales, Shark Attack, and Sea Monsters.”

Stratification

The team names, colors, uniforms, and songs for both boys and girls reveal mechanisms of Massey’s theories on stratification. According to Massey, “stratification refers to the unequal distribution of people across social categories that are characterized by differential access to scarce resources. The resources may be material, such as income and wealth; they may be symbolic, such as prestige and social standing; or they may be emotional, such as love, affection, and, of course, sex,” (Massey 1). In terms of the AYSO, the different team names and colors would be considered symbolic resources that contribute to further gender inequality in sports. While girls are limited to certain feminine colors and names, they are subject to categorical inequality. Further, the girls experience exploitation in the sense that the boys are expropriating the symbolic resources of any masculine team name or color (Massey 6). 

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Interest in Participation

Based on a study of a recreational sports program for low-income minority girls in the Metropolitan Los Angeles area, Cheryl Cooky aims to prove how structures constrain certain forms of agency while enabling other forms. 

Over the last few years, there has been an increase in female participation in sports, making people believe that girls and women have equal opportunity to participate, and those who do not are choosing not to (Cooky 260). Cooky argues that this is not the case, as women in sports still face issues of limited opportunity, structural barriers, and gender ideologies. Opportunities for girls and women of color, and girls from low-income areas are especially limited, as they face challenges including, lack of transportation to and from sports activities; lack of funds to pay for equipment and registration fees; lack of organizations that provide sports to girls in urban communities, societal gender roles; and societal ideologies that associate athleticism with masculinity. 

Cooky tested these theories by conducting research on the Girls Play Los Angeles recreation sport program. She observed a total of 6 girls’ basketball teams between the “Fairview” and “Centerville” recreation centers. Teams from both centers were composed of mostly Latina girls. There were also several white, Asian/Pacific Islander, and South Asian/Indian girls in the league. Cooky studied these teams by observing their weekly games, and conducting interviews with 13 of the girls (Cooky 263). Each girl was asked questions on her sport background, why she chose to participate in the GPLA program, her likes and dislikes of the program and of sport, her thoughts on and experiences in the program and with sport, and her thoughts on how the program might be changed or improved.

Past research has found positive correlations between girls’ sport performance and academic performance, self-esteem, and body image. In addition, there’s a negative correlation between sport participation and the risk of teen pregnancy. These findings lead to the establishment of Title IX. The origination of the GPLA program reinforced the belief that girls have the right to participate in sport, and that social institutions are obligated to create structures of opportunity for girls to participate. Sport participation is believed to promote increased levels of self-esteem, academic performance, decreased sexual activity, and other socially valued characteristics contributed to a cultural understanding that sport is good for the overall health and well being of girls (Cooky 265). Thus, girls’ participation in sport should be socially supported and encouraged.

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Title IX

The Title IX law states, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to dis- crimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance,” (Cooky 265). Although women in sports have more opportunities now than they ever have in the past, Women’s Sport Foundation estimates that 80% of universities and colleges are not in compliance with Title IX. In addition, the experiences of white middle-class girls and women in sports have become the representation of all women in sports. This leaves out the ways race, class, and gender intersect to create further forms of inequality.

Intersectionality

Kimberle Crenshaw elaborates on specific issues of intersectionality in “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex,” by addressing how different types of discrimination interact. As Cooky found, the experiences of white middle-class girls are representing all women in sports, while leaving out women of other race and class. Crenshaw would argue that such anti-discrimination laws, like Title IX, look at race and gender separately. Further, this “single-axis framework erases black women in the conceptualization, identification, and remediation of race and sex discrimination by limiting inquiry to the experiences of otherwise-priveleged members of the group,” (Crenshaw 140). So while Title IX may be addressing inequality for the general female population, women of color might experience overlapping discrimination that puts them at a further disadvantage than everyone else. In support of Crenshaw’s theory, this would mean that black women do not receive the same benefits of white women since the implementation of Title IX. 

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Sports Media

In reference to the historic US Women’s Soccer Team victory over China in July 1999, Messner’s “Taking the Field” challenges the common belief that media attention towards women’s sports has improved. After the World Cup victory, the stars of the team made appearances on magazine covers, commercial advertisements, television images, and sports commentary. Women athletes were certainly not being ignored like they used to be. However, there is still evidence of favoring men’s sports by large organizations like ESPN. In 2010, “Gender in Televised Sports,” revealed that while both organizations were in-season in July, there were 5 stories of the WNBA on ESPN, compared to 21 stories of the NBA (442, Messner & Cooky). Despite breakthroughs in media, it actually set the stage for the exploitation of a new, precisely designed marketing strategy. Respectful coverage of women’s sports is mostly limited to small cable channels, web sites, or specialized magazines. This leaves intact the masculine cultural center of the sport-media-commercial complex. For example, the December 2000 issue of Sports Illustrated for Women featured a cover photo celebrating Venus Williams, and all of the “women who ruled in 2000,” (Messner 92). However, the existence of this entire magazine is ironic because it relieves the responsibility for publishers of Sports Illustrated to incorporate more reports on women’s sports. It should be noted that it’s not called Sports Illustrated for Men, therefore creating certain constraints for women in sports, but not men.

Based on the explosion of female athleticism, the sports-media-commercial complex has responded with: silence, humorous sexualization, backlash, and selective incorporation of standout female athletes. Many sports news channels have chosen to ignore women’s sports, or devote very little coverage to it. For example, ESPN’s popular sports highlights show, Sports Center, has earned its name as “sport’s center” while only devoting 2.2 percent of its coverage to women’s sports (Messner 95). Within that 2.2%, there is very little coverage that is actually fair and respectful. Messner’s studies revealed two common themes in female sports coverage: it was either devoted to humorous feature stories on non-serious matters in female sports, and there was often a humorous sexualization of these athletes. For example, one sports station did a feature on women who were “nude bungee jumping,” which included a video clip of the women. The commentators were laughing at the display, completely sexualizing the women and dissociating women with serious aspects of sports. Also, consider the cover images of women on Sports Illustrated, compared to the cover images of men. In the past, most women have been pictured to be sexually appealing in some way , whereas men are featured in a sports uniform of some sort.

Additionally, much of the media attention that women sports have received has been in some form of backlash. Messner refers to the Tom Leykis Show, which features an antifeminist backlash, and discusses a strong stance against women receiving the same benefits as men in sports. Messner tuned into a specific episode that was criticizing his own work during a telephone interview with a caller. Leykis asked the caller do give his thoughts on whether or not women deserved more coverage during TV sportscasts. The caller, Brad, replied About 90 to 95 percent of the sports that are being performed by athletes, whether it be professional or collegiate, are performed BY MEN! NOT WOMEN! The only pro events that women have are golf and, basically, basketball. But you know what? There’s no woman basketball player like a Shaquille O’Neal to even be worth reporting,” (Messner 107). Brad’s inaccurate and ignorant opinions on female sports clearly exemplify the backlash that Messner spoke of, showing the ways that major sports media ignores women in sports.

When sports media does decide to focus their attention on a female athlete, it’s mostly due to high profit potential, and when nationalism can be invoked. For example, US track star, Marion Jones, was depicted in the 2000 Olympics as “our” hope and “our” champion against the rest of the world (Messner 109). Cultural studies further argue that the WNBA was launched by the foregrounding images of athletes as mothers and attractive role models. The league offered fans a “return to the purity of the game.” In short, when female athletes are given the center of attention in sports, it’s mostly due to extrinsic motives of the media outlets or related organizations.

Consumers 

Jeffrey James’ study on Women’s and Men’s Basketball took a closer look at sports media consumers, which showed that the differentiation in consumption of men and women’s sports is based on the audience, and the motives of the different audiences. 

Women consumers explained that they attended sporting events to see specific players, whereas, men claimed that they enjoyed watching the game, and learning about it. By taking a closer look at attendees specifically with basketball games, women’s basketball attendees clearly differentiated from men’s basketball attendees. A majority of those who went to women’s games were found to be female, and a lower income audience (between $40,001-$55,000). On the other hand, those who attended male basketball games were mostly male, and had higher income ($75,000+). James offers a possible explanation that the cost to attend women’s basketball games is cheaper than the cost to attend men’s basketball games. In conclusion, motives of fans that attend women’s games, and the motives of fans that attend men’s games are relatively similar in that they have respect for the game. Interestingly, the difference lies in the extent to which females and males thought of themselves as being sport fans.

“The lack of coverage in women’s sports leads the sports consumer to believe that women’s sports and athletes are not important and not worthy of being covered,” (Trolan 217).

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Unequal Income/Compensation

Collegiate Athletics 

· Although the gap has narrowed, male athletes still receive 55% of NCAA college athletic scholarship dollars (Divisions I and II), leaving only 45% to women

· When examining median expenses per NCAA Division I institutions, women’s teams receive only 40% of college sport operating dollars and 36% of college athletic team recruitment spending

Professional Sports

· Total prize money for the 2014 PGA tour, over $340 million, is more than five times that of the new-high for the 2015 LPGA tour, $61.6 million

· For a WNBA player in the 2015 season, the minimum salary was $38,913, the maximum salary was $109,500, and the team salary cap in 2012 was $878,000. For NBA players in the 2015-2016 season, the minimum salary is $525,093, the maximum salary is $16.407 million, and the team salary cap is an all-time high of $70 million.

· For winning the 2015 Women’s World Cup, the U.S. Women’s National Team won $2 million. Germany’s men’s team took home $35 million for winning the 2014 World Cup.

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Looks vs. Ability

Sports media has manufactured the belief that the more attractive a female athlete is, the more media attention they’ll receive. With women’s sports gaining slightly more attention in the media than they’ve had in the past, facing the stereotype of the attractive female athlete is inevitable. Attractive female athletes feel pressured to do more to justify their attention, and others have to come to terms in realizing why they don’t receive the same amount of attention, even if they’re equally or more talented.

In the world of women’s golf, Natalie Gulbis is given much of the media attention. On the other hand, Yani Tseng’s name is barely recognizable by sports fans unless you specifically follow women’s golf. Gulbis has won three tournaments in her entire career, whereas Tseng won as many in one year, putting her only 3 wins away from making the hall of fame in 2012 (Women’s Views on News). Tseng is ranked number 1 in the Ladies Professional Golf Association, and Gulbis is ranked 77. You would think that Tseng’s accomplishments would make her much more prominent in the media, however that is not the case. In fact, Gulbis has her own show on the golf channel, The Natalie Gulbis Show, and has advertised photos of her in nothing but body paint (Women’s Views on News).

These advantages that attractive women athletes, like Gulbis, are granted is blurring the line between sport and Hollywood. Now, sports create additional incentives in being awarded with endorsements, magazine covers, and any other form of flattering publicity. Sports have moved away from the primary focus on the game, and have become fixated on matters that worsen inequality in women’s sports.

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Stereotypes in Women’s Sports

Study: Being Both Athletic and Feminine (Duff, Gebelt, and Royce)

Traditionally, athletics have been viewed as incompatible with traditional feminist roles for women. This study offers an explanation of the multiplicity of selves perspective, which specifically applies to female athletes. It supports the idea that being an athlete is simply “one piece of a larger, multidimensional self-system,” (Duff 48). In this context, everyone has multiple roles and identities, which vary based on one’s social environment. This perspective makes it possible to see oneself as having multiple roles, behaving differently in different situations, yet still having an overall sense of a unified self. Thus, women are able to perceive themselves as capable of achieving their traditional feminine role in certain circumstances, while fulfilling their athletic role in other situations.

Though this study reveals an improved view on how women view themselves in sports, and how other male athletes view women athletes, there’s still an existence of stereotypical views on how non-athletes perceive women athletes. Certain sports are still perceived as “masculine,” and others perceived as “feminine.” Sports labeled as feminine are less aggressive and associated with feminist characteristics such as, gentle, compassionate, and grateful (Duff 49). Negative stereotypes still exist for women athletes involved in ‘masculine sports,’ categorizing women athletes as, “butch, lesbian, or manly.” Findings indicate that the females involved with these more aggressive, manly sports practice identity management behaviors, in which they emphasize femininity when not engaged in sports.

Upon collecting survey data from a private NCAA Division 1 university in the western USA, the authors gathered information on attitudes and perceptions of athletes and sports. Surveys were administered to 565 students. Then in depth interviews were conducted with a diverse sample of the university’s population: 33 athletes and 31 non-athletes. Of that selection, 38 were women and 26 were men (Duff 50). The interviews gauged the respondents’ respect for male and female athletes based on series of questions that were answered on a scale from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.”

Findings from the interviews and surveys revealed that collegiate female athletes are respected, and seen as feminine by men and women. In general, athletes had more respect for female athletes than non-athletes. Additionally, non-athletes viewed female athletes as less feminine, suggesting that common stereotypes of female athletes are more prominent among a non-athlete population. Men also perceived female athletes as less feminine, further adding to differentiating views of the “out group.” Women who disagreed that female athletes were not feminine explained that feminism and athleticism are two separate issues. This reaffirms that author’s theories on multiplicity of selves. When asked if physically strong women were feminine, most men responded negatively. Even some female athletes drew the line at having too much muscle. One female athlete exclaimed, “Body builders are not feminine. That is gross!” (Duff 56). These responses suggest that it’s not athletics, but one’s physique and self-presentation that affect perceptions of femininity.

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Personal Experience

Gender Inequality in sports has always related to me on a personal level, as I have been involved in competitive sports since a young age. As a Division 1 collegiate athlete, I have experienced and witnessed instances of inequality all around me. I’ve seen men’s teams receive far more glory than women’s teams of the same sport, and I’ve noticed female athletes not receiving the personal recognition that they deserve. Stereotyping still remains a major part of women’s athletics, which I have experienced on a personal level, and from an observational perspective. As a softball player, I have heard “lesbian” and “butch” connotations directed at teammates, merely because the sport is more masculine than say, figure skating. People have jokingly accused me of “being on steroids” just because I lift a lot of weight for a girl. These accusations are certainly not a laughing matter, and take away from the actual accomplishments of being a female athlete. The assumptions and judgements from an outsider’s perspective are endless, and are the exact reason why gender inequality still exists in sports. Inequalities can even exist in smaller matters such as, uniform and field quality, attention from the school sports photographer, and ways of transportation to competitions- all of which I’ve observed and have either effected teammates, or myself. 

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Even here at URI, men and women’s sports receive different treatment. The first image is of the softball field, and the second image is of the baseball team’s field. The difference in field quality is noticeably different, showing that baseball is clearly favored over softball.

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Conclusion

Although women in sports have certainly come a long way, there seems to be much more to go before there is absolute gender equality in sports. Due to the male hegemonic structure of society, early socialization, performance and culture of gender, and biased sports media, women in sports remain at an unfair disadvantage. Society has learned to accept males as hegemonic authorities of power in all aspects of the sports world including, positions in coaching, playing, or directing sports affiliated organizations (ESPN, IOC, etc.). Research has shown that in any of these scenarios, men are given an advantage over women. In addition, adolescents are immediately exposed to aspects of socialization that force the idea that men are supposed to be “masculine,” and women are supposed to be “feminine.” This idea conditions society to believe that women who participate in aggressive sports are going against their gender role by contradicting femininity. Such beliefs have long since contributed to the structure, performance, and culture of gender. Finally, sports media plays a major role in the gender gap by reporting far less on women’s sports than men’s. Within the small media spotlight that female athletes receive, content is rarely fair or respectful. Coverage of women’s sports is either approached with: silence, humorous sexualization, backlash, or selective incorporation of standout athletes. With these additional constraints in sports media, even the most successful of female athletes struggle to attain equal treatment.

The world of sports has undoubtedly made leaps and bounds in working towards closing the gender gap. Since the implementation of Title IX, women’s opportunities and participation in sports have skyrocketed. However, there’s much more that we, as a community, could do to further promote equality. We can take action by attending women’s sporting events, supporting advocate programs for women’s athletics, encouraging the media to cover women’s sports, volunteering with a girls’ sports team or program, and encouraging young women to participate in sports. In addition, females that are personally involved in athletics, like myself, can speak as advocates for women's rights in sports. If society as a whole learns to encourage women’s sports like men’s sports are encouraged, we can eventually reach equality.