Professional Opportunities

What is the status of women in coaching positions? Before the passage of Title IX in 1972, women coached more than 90 percent of women’s intercollegiate teams. In 2016, just over 40 percent of those programs had a woman at the helm. According to the...

Sex Segregation

Why do we segregate sport on the basis of sex? In Playing With the Boys: Why Separate Is Not Equal, scholars Eileen McDonagh and Laura Pappano argue that there have been “three I’s” historically used to justify sex segregation in sport: Women’s physical differences from...

A Brief History of Women’s Sport

How long have women played sport? Women have always engaged in various sport forms. Much of our knowledge about these activities is pieced together from archeological evidence, artistic renderings, and literary traces, all of which are subject to the fickle nature of interpretation. In addition,...

The Sport–Health Connection

Is sport healthy? Sport can be a healthy pursuit associated with a variety of physical, psychological, and social benefits, as mentioned in Chapter 1. It is therefore important that everyone has access to sport and other forms of physical activity. Yet too many...

Gender and Sport

Do the terms “sex” and “gender” mean the same thing? The terms “sex” and “gender” are often used interchangeably, but there are important differences between them. Sex refers to biological or physiological characteristics that define male and female. As discussed in Chapter 6,...

Why Women’s Sport Matters

Why does sport matter? For better or for worse, sport matters. It brings together friends, families, communities, and stadia full of strangers. It rallies nations and stokes rivalries. Sport gives us a sense of history, a sense of tradition, and a sense of identity. It...

Moving On

If sport provides so many benefits, why don’t all girls and women participate? As mentioned throughout this book, there are many physical, mental, and social benefits that come from playing sport. In brief, those who play sports suffer fewer health problems, are more confident, learn...

Women, Sport, and the Media

Do male and female athletes receive the same amount of coverage in sport media? Studies conducted in North America, Europe, Australasia, Canada, Africa, and parts of Asia have all yielded similar results: Women are significantly under-represented in sport media. Dependent on the culture, sportswomen receive...

The Olympic and Paralympic Games

How is the Olympic Movement organized and what role do women play in its organization? The Olympic Movement includes organizations and individuals who comply with the rules, guidelines, and fundamental principles defined in the Olympic Charter. There are three main constituents of the Olympic Movement:...

Sexualities and Sport

What were the historical concerns about women’s sexuality in sport? For the first three decades of the twentieth century, argues historian Susan K. Cahn in Coming on Strong: Gender and Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Women’s Sport, there were fears that sport would incite women’s...