Women athletes in sports
(a) Family
(b) School
(c) Culture
(d) lack of facility
(e) Lack of role model
(f) Less of coaches
Detailed Answer : Sociological aspects of participation by women athletes in sports are :
(a) Family : It is a very significant social factor which is said to be generally responsible for early sports socialization. Males usually get more support and encouragement to get involved in sports activities. However, females are not encouraged to get involved in sports activities. Some sports sociologists argue that females are encouraged only in such sports which are considered to be feminine. Most of the parents believe in not sending their daughters for sports activities. While on the other hand, some parents understand the value of sports and always try to motivate their daughters to participate in sports.
(b) School : If the pressure to participate is not laid at home it may come from coaches, peers and particularly from the teachers who are the main driving forces within the educational sectors. School is thus important as it moulds the lives of our developing teenagers. In some schools there is still a discrimination as to which gender (male/female) should participate in games. As a matter of fact, a lot of schools do not have girls’ football, or volleyball teams. It depends on the school whether females are encouraged or not.
(c) Culture : It has been seen that cultural belief can affect the progress of certain areas in life. In fact, cultural believes have a great impact on the involvement of females in sport. Participation in sport is seen as masculine activity and therefore, female participation is viewed negatively.
(d) Attitudes and prejudices of society : Some females avoid certain sports due to fear of being perceived masculine. Such attitude and prejudices of societies regarding sexuality, inhibit the females from participating.