When I mention the words “workout” and “girls” what comes to mind? Perhaps the rows of occupied elliptical machines at Yates steadily spinning away while the girls on them read the lastest issue of Cosmo? An exercise ball might even be involved, but what remains consistent in any image is the intent to break the least amount of sweat while still managing to get the body in shape.
But for men, you’ll picture the pick-up basketball game, homerun derby or intense weight training. The more sweat the better, right?
There is a common perception that girls and sports don’t go together. Whether it is that they don’t understand them, don’t want to spend their time on them, can’t handle the competition or just don’t like them in general, sports are, more often than not, portrayed as the man’s world—a world women can’t appreciate. It might appear that this is the case when you peruse the names of the writers in this section, or watch ten minutes of ESPN. In general, we watch and hear about are men’s sports. But, as cliché as it may be, looks can be deceiving.
While the numbers do show that more men play sports, it’s not as significant a difference as the world portrays it. According to the Women’s Sports and Physical Activity Facts and Statistics, 42.8 percent of college athletes were women in 2005, but based on media coverage you would never have known it.
There are plenty of girls out there that enjoy organized sports. They have fun, appreciate the competition and like doing something they are good at—and yes, they are good at it. The best team on campus last fall was the women’s soccer team. In the professional world, look at the U.S. Women’s soccer team: in 1999 the Women’s World Cup competition of the U.S. versus China was the most viewed soccer competition on U.S. television. That’s right, a women’s game.
In 2001, 2 in 5 women participated in high school sports. For these women and those who play in college, the aforementioned “stereotypical” female workout doesn’t cut it; pushing themselves to the limit and challenging competition is more like it.
It isn’t abnormal for women to play sports or enjoy them, so next time a girl joins the boys’ pick-up game, she’s not stepping out of the box because she likes to play sports, she’s just not afraid to play with the boys.
