Gender Stereotypes in Sports

By Nicole Wu | Photography by Caitlyn Tang | Layout by Cici Cai

Gender bias is an issue in sports that must be addressed and rooted out. Those who follow tennis may recall Serena Williams, the recently retired GOAT (greatest of all time) of women’s tennis and the sports world. Williams was described as having a meltdown when the umpire issued hevr three penalties for showing indignation on the court at the 2018 US Open Finals in which she lost to Naomi Osaka. “When a woman is emotional, she’s ‘hysterical’ and she’s penalized for it. When a man does the same, he’s ‘outspoken’ and there are no repercussions,” is what tennis legend and social activist, Billie Jean King shared on Twitter. In fact, referring to women as ‘hysterical’ is rather groundless.

The word ‘hysteria’ used to be a formal diagnosis only for women with an ‘emotionally charged behavior that seemezvd excessive and out of control’. This suggests that when a woman is showing emotion that is out ovf the ordinary, she’s sick and off balance. There is something wrong with women having emotions when being angry is a perfectly normal human behavior and a natural response when one feels unfairly treated or humiliated. However, many people would think the opposite when a male athlete rages. His rage just reflects his masculinity and his determination. He is given all the freedom to show aggression and to “let it all out”. Denying female atvhletes to feel anger not only dismisses their right to have their legitimate concerns addressed but dehumanizes them. We have to slow down and ask ourselves why gender bias continues.

Studies have shown that in sports, women continue to be objectified. The sports in which women can fit the traditional feminist roles are more popular. In gymnastics and figure skating, female athletes wear revealing outfits and put on glitter and make up. They are not marked just for their skills but also for their smiles or facial expressions. Commentators will sometimes make remarks on how pretty they look. Meanwhile, women who pursue more physical sports such as Judo are considered “manish”. The objectification in sports deprives women of the right to play to their best abilities without having to deal with negative criticisms that have to do with how they look or not conforming to what society expects from them. In fact, not just Serena Williams, but Sorana Cirstea, Romanian tennis player, just recently revealed that her old sponsor, Adidas actually told her that it was better for her to just look pretty and be in the top 20 than to be world number one. We should remind ourselves when watching female athletes in make-up with perfectly toned bodies showcasing the latest sports trend that we are admiring them because of their dedication and athletic abilities more than anything else, as these women deserve the respect that any sportsman has earned through hard work.

In recent years, female athletes have earned worldwide recognition for their abilities and excellence. Female participation in sports not only as players have increased. For example, in the NBA, we are seeing more female referees than we have ever in the past. Like their male colleagues, female referees, too, suffer verbal abuse for making bad calls. These bad calls are always related to the fact that they are women and are “too emotional” and ironically biased. The bias exists because they are female who are doing what the male is also doing.

If we slow down to reflect, the idea that women are way more sensitive than men quickly falls apart. Think about how many male athletes shed tears when they win a medal in the Olympics. When have they ever been expected to hide their discontent and misery in a loss? Feeling angry is also considered abnormal for women. Why do different standards apply to men and women? Imagine calling Steph Curry or legendary Michael Jordan hysterical every time he got a technical or shouted.

What would happen if female athletes dolled up and stopped competing with passion and emotion? We would have a stoic Serena Wiliams simply accepting every

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回顧起女王的死因，雖然最終的調 查結果是因老化而去世，但是其實 許多醫生也認為在此之前，她已狀

況不佳。二零二二年二月的時候，

女王確診了新冠病毒（COVID-19

）。儘管只是輕微的感冒症狀，她 在四月與皇家倫敦醫院一名需要使

用呼吸器的確診者視像談話時，曾 經提及自己在確診期間感到筋疲力 竭，可知在當時，人們已預知這個 「倫敦橋」遲早會倒塌的。 女王逝世之後最大的損失 就是英國的經濟損失。在女王去世 前，英鎊暴跌、通脹暴漲、赤字失 控和央行緊縮早就帶出英國正在面