User:Browan1/Misogyny in sports

'*****All content in my sandbox is original; meant to be supplemental/additional to the content already covered on the original wikipedia page on "Misogyny in sports." Nothing is copied/pasted from the original wikipedia page on this topic.'

Defining Misogyny
Traditionally, misogyny can be defined as the hated of, aversion to, or prejudice against women. Sexism is similarly defined as prejudice or discrimination based on sex; especially discrimination against women. However, in recent and emerging literature, there has been additional commentary on what "misogyny" is and what it entails. For example, there has been a push away from the idea that misogyny is about hatred towards women, rather, it is more about controlling a punishing women who challenge male dominance and the patriarchy. In this view, misogyny is seen as something that is engrained in our society and culture; something that is systemic and influences inequalities.

Beginnings of Women's Participation in Sports
Since women first began participating in sports; a world once only open to men and today still dominated by men, nineteenth century views of women's involvement in sports gave the impression they were absent altogether. Into the early twentieth century, in the United States and in other Western societies, this was at a time when sports solely functioned for men; to display their “manliness,” and affirm, to themselves and others, their manhood. In this sense, characteristics now attributed to being a successful athlete; including aggression, physicality, and competitiveness, were all labeled as masculine traits; all necessary for achieving true manliness. This notion went unquestioned and was purported by a polarized concept of gender, which dominated Victorian America in the decades prior to the twentieth century. Ever since women emerged in the sports realm, they stood to threaten this exclusive male terrain, and came to exemplify not just the urge to play, but the ways in which women were breaking free of traditional gender roles, tearing down the sphere of domesticity.

History of Sexuality, Lesbians, and Homophobia in Women's Sports
Women's participation in sports, and the figure of the athletic woman, sparked both interest and controversy within the United States in the early decades of the twentieth century. This “New Woman” athlete was perceived by the public as both sexy and scary. While they were praised for their enthusiasm, energy, vitality, and vigor, they were also the targets of condemnation and criticism. They were shamed for doing activities that, were claimed, would emasculate them, damage their reproductive capacity, and ultimately lead to the loss of sexual control; having erotic desires in line with those of men and unrespectable women. However, these claims presumed heterosexuality, and neither critics nor supporters, at the time, suggested that a woman’s athleticism might indicate or induce homosexual love.

But a turn in the commentary took place during the 1930s; as fears of lesbianism and a medical classification of homosexuality as “deviant” entered the world of sports. Critics now came to the conclusion, based on the stereotype of a “mannish” female athlete, that sport-induced mannishness disqualified women as candidates for heterosexual love. This implied that female athleticism was contrary to heterosexual norms, sexual codes, and feminine scripts. A 1920s heterosexual woman was now in opposition to her sexual counterpart, the "mannish" lesbian.

Implications
By the 1940s and 1950s, homosexuality became more present in the United States, and the fear of lesbians in sport grew. Colleges and universities took steps to protect women’s sports from charges of lesbianism, including adopting a curriculum change to physical education to help women "develop an interest in school dances and mixers and a desire to voluntarily attend them." Additionally, new dress codes were written and enforced; some of which forbade slacks and men's shirts or socks, a ban on "boyish hair cuts" and unshaven legs, and issued warnings against "casual styles." Women athletes also learned to present a feminine exterior and placed an emphasis on their heterosexuality. But while attempting to infuse sports with femininity, this reinforced society’s fear of mannish lesbian athletes.