Why Women Should Be Considered Athletes When American’s turn on SportsCenter, they would have to wait quite awhile to watch a story on a female athlete. Female athletes do not receive the attention or the credit that they deserve. Women can be, if not are, more talented than their male counterparts at sports. Even though women are not looked at as competitive athletes, they should be given the credit they deserve because of the dedication they have for sports, the talent that they posses, and the overall ability to change sports. When the public sees a women's sports match, they tend to ignore it or block it out because they do not care to watch women play a man’s game. Society does not believe that women have the capability to play sports and play them well. In the article “Why Sports Matter,” author Wilfrid Sheed said, “A football equals work, a volleyball is only play” (497). Football is considered to be a sport while a girl playing volleyball is just participants playing around. Football takes hard work and dedication to the sport. Maratta argues that, “It shouldn’t matter who is on the rink, track, or field--what should matter is that they are there because they love the sport just as much as I do” (Maratta 543). It should not matter who or what gender the athlete is that plays the game as long as they love it. The athletes go through physical and emotional pain to partake in this activity so it is a sport. In the opinion of few sports enthusiasts, volleyball is a sport. Women that take part in sports are looked down upon because of their gender, but their dedication to sports is what makes these women athletes. Women, just like men, have to be dedicated to the sports they play. Women’s sports also require physical and emotional attention. For example, in the article, “Women Who Hit Very Hard and How They’ve Changed Tennis,” author Michael Kimmelman states, “Women have certainly never hit harder and not just on account of improved equipment. They’re stronger, bigger, faster, better trained…” (513). Women have to be in peak physical condition to participate in sports just like men. If women have to go through all of the same training for their sports just as men why are women not looked at as athletes? The answer to this question is in the article “Move Over Boys, Make Room in the Crease,” Author Sara Maratta explained, “Female athletes are just as capable and accomplished as the men” (539). Women are just as capable as men and they are just as talented as men. Women are talented athletes and should be looked at as so. When asked to think about talented athletes, a large number of individuals would only think of the male gender. However, women are also talented at sports. Female athletes are not given the credit they deserve when it comes to the talent that they possess. Sports spectators would not believe the story if they heard someone say that a woman could beat a man. Michael Kimmelman acknowledges, “She began exchanging ground strokes… with a hitting partner, one of the men that the top women hire to practice with, a tall powerful young Briton, Scott Sears, who missed a few shots…” (513). In other words, a girl who was practicing with one of the top trainers in the world made him miss his shots, showing that women can be better or more talented than men. Sheed states, “...athletes are already used to policing themselves and, if necessary, each other” (494). With the athletes policing themselves, it makes them better and therefore, increases their talent. So if women can beat men and are more talented than men in certain cases, why are they not looked at as athletes? Women that are this talented have the ability to change the face of sports as we know it. Sports rarely change, but when they do it is because of a phenomenal event that happens. Women have changed sports for as long as they have been able to take part in them. For instance, in the article titled, "Brittney Griner Wins Two ESPYs: ‘Female Athlete of the Year’ and ‘Best Female College Athlete’,” there was a statement that said, “Griner made history on March 20, when she threw a one-handed dunk during a game against the Florida Gators. Griner is the second woman to ever dunk in a NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament” (par. 3). Brittney Griner changed the sport of women’s college basketball because of her ability to dunk. Over time, women have gotten bigger, faster, and stronger allowing them to be better and keep rewriting the history books. For example, Serena and Venus Williams did change the game of Tennis (Kimmelman 515). Women are capable of changing sports then they should be looked at as athletes. When Americans turn their TV on SportsCenter they should see more stories and more highlights of female athletes because they put forth the same amount of work to prepare for their sports as males and females sports can be more challenging than male sports. Even though women are not looked at as competitive athletes, they should be given the credit they deserve because of the dedication they have for sports, the talent that they posses, and the overall ability to change sports. Athletes are athletes no matter the gender.
Works Cited Times, International Business. "Brittney Griner Wins Two ESPYs: ‘Female Athlete of the Year’ and ‘Best Female College Athlete’." International Business Times. N.p.: Y, 2012. N. pag. Regional Business News. Web. 20 Feb. 2017. Maratta, Sara. “Move Over Boys,Make Room in the Crease.” They Say I Say, 2nd ed., W.W. Norton & Company, New York, NY, 2012, pp. 1–701. Sheed, Wilfrid. “Why Sports Matter.” They Say I Say, 2nd ed., W.W. Norton & Company, New York, NY, 2012, pp. 1–701. Kimmelman, Michael. “Women Who Hit Very Hard and How They’ve Changed Tennis.” They Say I Say, 2nd ed., W.W. Norton & Company, New York, NY, 2012, pp. 1–701.