Higher English – Discursive Essay
Sports Equality – Rachel Crawford
Should there be absolute equality in all sports? Since the suffragettes movement from the late 19th century to early 20th century women have come a long way. Sport currently does have some equality. As seen in the Commonwealth Games and Olympics there are mixed doubles competition. An example of this is Tin-Tin Ho and Liam Pitchford who play table tennis won a bronze medal for mixed doubles in the 2014 Commonwealth Games for England. This shows that people go and support mixed teams and showing the sport on the television promotes both men and women in sport. But why is there never male versus female competition? If women are exceptional enough to compete with men they should have the chance to fight and achieve victory against them. If women had the opportunity to challenge men who are professionals in a particular sport like football and won, it would be a shock head title on newspapers as the general public wouldn’t believe that women could defeat men in football. This would promote women in sport. More funding goes towards men than women in sport. The total prize money for the PGA tour is $256,000 which is just for men compared to the Ladies PGA tour and the winner receives only $50,000. This shows that not all professional sports have equal prize money for both sexes. TV barely shows any sportswomen showing off their talent. There should be more equal coverage on television to show that both sexes are as enjoyable to watch. Football and rugby are two of the most popular sports shown on BBC television and has always shown men competing at sport. Why are men more exciting to watch? Citizens sitting at home watching it on TV or watching in the stadium are entertained by seeing aggression, strength and skill. In football and rugby you have to have physicality and strong men are known for this. The crowd appreciate seeing men play men because of the excitement; the male players are well-known more than women. The general public believe that woman are less intriguing to watch as women are known as mothers, workers and carers. If women got treated equal with sponsorship they would therefore train more often and be able to compete and get more flattering trainers and kit to make them feel confident in their sport. Women in sport have role models to look up to; for example Rebecca Addlington and Jessica Ennis who have both shown that women competition is skilled and thrilling to watch. Rebecca Addlington won a Gold medal for Great Britain in the 800 metre free style at the Olympics in 2008. The spectators were so enthusiastic sitting off their seats with excitement all over Britain cheering on this particular women in swimming. Jessica Ennis also won a Gold medal but in a different sport, heptathlon at the London 2012 Olympic Games. She is an inspiration and role model for sporting women and shows that all the training and previous competition get you to the final spot of success. Both of these achievements are unforgettable moments of sporting pride. These achievements have also been won by other women which proves that women have a lot of success in sporting events which have been achieved by sporting celebrities. At live matches and games it is still prejudice that people prefer to watch the men play sport rather than women. The only sports that are popular for women is gymnastics, swimming and beach volleyball. All three of these sports have the women wearing tight outfits showing off their body. The women’s beach volleyball is the most popular sport for men to watch women truly because of the skin-tight shorts and tops. It’s as if the only thing that attracts people to women’s sport is what they are wearing! There is never absolute equality shown within the sport of weightlifting. Men are physically stronger with a bigger build and more powerful. Separate competition has always been the case for both sexes in the sport of weightlifting. Zoe Smith won