Change in a World of Male Dominated Sports

In a very competitive and more open minded world, more women are participating in male dominated sports. But unfortunately, this attempt for cross-gender sports can still be a difficult subject when addressed in certain company.

Over the past decade women integrating into more aggressive sports that are male-dominated, like football and ice hockey, has been rough yet successful! Women are literally "taking the bull by the horns" (like becoming female matadors) by organizing and joining athletics that many people once deemed as unsuitable for a woman.

Although the media doesn't discuss mixed gender sports, because they are few and far between, having all women sports is a huge step in the right direction for feminism! Now there is a Independent Women's Football League that have teams located all over the U.S. consisting of all women players that take football seriously. There are also college women's hockey leagues where these devil's on ice fight for that puck!

This year Life Magazine created a page on their website showing the beautiful and strong women that consider themselves female matadors. These women are risking their lives against beasts that weigh a couple hundred pounds and have sharp horns. These women show the beauty, elegance and poise a matador is expected to possess. But, women being accepted into this sport still generates harsh judgments amongst families that have generations of male matadors. Being a matador in countries like Spain is a sport of male-dominated pride that is passed from generation to generation. So why is there a double standard of the tradition being passed to a daughter?

A sport that is becoming so wide spread that started underground and is now being featured in various movies, is women's roller derby! There is even a Women's Flat Track Derby Association where women try out all over the country in a brutal and aggressive sport. I first came across roller derby over a year ago when I lived in Savannah, Georgia when I wrote articles for my colleges paper called The Inkwell. My editor skated for the womens derby team, The Savannah Derby Devil's and she was a feminist goddess in my eyes...Even though I never told her.

This is a subject that truly intrigues me. I am so proud to be a strong woman in our society today. And I am proud of the strong women in the world who challenge the conventional male-dominated world of sports and speak for many women around the world.

Today's Consumers: A Different Animal

Ad's are everywhere! And advertisement agencies are becoming more creative each day, finding new ways to advertise in more places. For example, domains like youtube.com that now, unlike before, places ad's before the viewers selected clip. And hulu.com is a website that's main goal is to provide it's customers with as many television shows and movies at the comfort of one's home and now, unlike in the past, now interrupt's the viewers program with periodic ad's. Exactly what it's customer's tried to avoid. And something that we all are becoming more conditioned to, is product placement within television shows that cleverly place name brands like Coca-Cola and Cover Girl Cosmetics into an actors hand for all viewers to see.

Advertising constantly changes because advertisement agencies try to produce what their consumers want. For example, in a study conducted in 2006, tweens and teens were more likely to purchase a product if it was advertised by a celebrity, sports star, or movie star. But, recent studies, like a study conducted in 2010, shows that consumers aren't as stimulated by celebrities and aren't as willing to buy a product because it was advertised by a celebrity. The study also showed statistics that less than twelve percent of ad's using celebrities exceeded a ten percent lift of that product.

Today ad's are becoming more aesthetically creative for it's viewer's. Such as these ad's found by Pokkisan:

Fed Ex

GNC Weight Loss Supplement

Laser Hair Removal


Law Enforcement for Graffiti

Audiences today, are more likely to be persuaded to purchase a product through social networking. This means that not only social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter are loading their side bars with advertisements, but also through what their peers say. That's why websites and other tools are adding rating systems of their products that immediately place them on their profiles for all their friends to see. Companies are also creating profiles to update their "friends" about new and exciting products. Colleges are joining the band wagon and actually hiring individuals to solely control and operate their social networking sites. These individuals answer all students and future students questions and everyday post upcoming events and campus news.

It's funny if you think about how advertising influences our lives. Even if it seems to be a small impact in your life, it still impacts various decisions you make. And with the upcoming holidays, see how the influence of ad's and product placement influence your decisions on what holiday ham to buy, what gift card you buy for your sister, or even what coffee you buy for your relatives coming in from out of town.

Single Sex Education Should Be Extinct

Yesterday, I was driving home from work and listening to the radio. An ad came on the radio for a local all boys school stating that the transition from middle to high school was a tough transition for boys and they need help from male leaders in the class room to athletics. Right after that ad, a local all girl's school came on with an eighth grade girl saying how her teachers are always there for her whenever she needs help and the teachers specialize in hands-on interactive learning.

As I continued to research the topic of single sex education, teaching boys and girls separately, I came across the reason as to why some individuals believe boys and girls should be taught in different classrooms. The reason being boys are naturally competitive and being amongst other boys will "soften their competitive edge". And girls, are naturally shy and being with other girls will help them "take risks in a single sex setting". This same article continues to state that there is no real proof that backs up the idea that boys and girls learn better when separated.

Several articles even go as far as assuming, like most of society, that boys and girls are heterosexual and go on to say that single sex education helps prevent many issues like girls fighting over boys and boys worrying what other girls think of how they play sports. No matter what, these issues will be present. Wake up, world!

I came across a book called, "The Boys and Girls Learn Differently: A Guide for Teachers and Parents" that helps teachers and parents learn different ways to help boys and girls learn differently...And in my opinion, be different. This just helps separate men and women by furthermore placing them into two very distinct categories. Generalizes that boys like the color blue and like being outdoors in the mud and girls love the color pink and love shopping. I feel like schools like this help support the statistics saying that boys are "naturally" better at math and science and girls are better at English and history.


I'm hoping that the lines of gender are blurred one day. I especially hope that parents aren't trying to push their generalized expectations about gender onto their children, like forbidding their son to have a pink slinky because "pink is for girls" (like a parent did at a past job of mine). Or a mom suggesting her daughter join cheer leading instead of playing soccer because soccer is too aggressive.