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Boy shames girl for playing "like a girl"

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Boy shames girl for playing "like a girl"

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Roughly one-third of parents think boys are better at sports than girls are, a new poll finds.

The research indicates that gender stereotypes and double standards, where female athletes are treated differently or aren't taken as seriously as male counterparts, persist.

Researchers polled more than 3,000 boys and girls aged 7 to 17 and their parents/guardians across the country and found that parents of youth who have never played sports are more likely to believe that girls are not as competitive as boys and that sports are more important to boys than girls.

The Women's Sports Foundation, in partnership with The Dick's Sporting Goods Foundation, has shared a report on the findings.

While the study did not specifically look at the sexualization of girls in sports, these stereotypes can lead to the type of sexualization of female athletes evident in the Olympic uniform controversy, in which the Norwegian women's beach handball team faced a fine for refusing to play in skimpy, mandated bikini outfits, says coauthor Philip Veliz of the University of Michigan School of Nursing.

Girls in (and out) of sports

The poll indicates that gender stereotypes and the dearth of female coaches as role models are among the biggest reasons that girls quit or don't participate in sports, Veliz says.

"The average age that kids enter sports is six, which requires heavy parental involvement," Veliz says. "If you believe that boys are better than girls, you may be taking girls to a different activity or not doing sports at all."

Girls (43%) are more likely to have never played sports than boys (35%) and less likely to be currently playing sports-36% of girls compared to nearly 46% of boys. Overall, about 40% of youth surveyed said they currently play sports.

"Sport is the most popular extracurricular activity in the United States for both boys and girls. Yet, we see this gender gap in participation persist, and parents may be driving some of this," says Veliz, a research assistant professor at the School of Nursing and Institute for Research on Women and Gender, and associate director of the Sport, Health, and Activity Research and Policy Center.

The poll results indicate African American and low-income youths overall, but especially girls, were least likely to be current players, and most likely to have never played or to have dropped out. Boys and girls both reported teasing, but for girls, the teasing was worse for teens than during their younger years.

Coach Mom?

Veliz says that another problem for girls is the relative lack of female coaches. Only 58% of girls had a female coach, compared to 88% of boys who reported having a male coach.

"We're seeing a big gender disparity between who's coaching boys and girls," he says. "We need to ask why we don't have more female coaches. We should have 88% of girls saying they have a female coach. However, we still see females being underrepresented in coaching at the youth level and beyond."

Veliz says it's important to convince parents that boys and girls are equally interested in sports, and also to eliminate barriers to entry for female coaches. As more female athletes have daughters, this will naturally improve, he says.

"If you have a mom who used to play sports, she will be more likely to say, 'I want my daughter to participate in these activities like I did,'" he says.

Another surprise was that few kids reported quitting sports because of injury for either boys or girls. However, of the 16% of kids who reported experiencing a concussion from sports, over a third quit. While this finding was not broken down by gender, it may be a factor that could differentially funnel girls out of sport, Veliz says.

Indeed, the study finds that the average age of kids who quit sports for any reason was 11. This could mean that sports became something different or that it was no longer fun.

"One of the problems with sports in the United States is it's really about the competition, and some kids just want to play for fun," says Veliz, who would like to see kids play until they graduate. "Sports is really the main source of physical activity for kids. It will set the stage for them as they grow up."

Coauthors are from the University of South Carolina and D'Youville College.
Source: University of Michigan

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Poll: 32% of parents say girls aren't as good at sports - Futurity

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Roughly one-third of parents think boys are better at sports than girls are, a new poll finds. The research indicates that gender stereotypes and double standards, where female athletes are treated differently or aren't taken as seriously as male counterparts, persist.

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10 Memorable Times Women Beat Men in Sports

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The debate on whether males or females are better (or if they're actually equal) has raged on for centuries, and the field of sports has certainly not been spared from the discourse. Of course, the issue is still up for discussion, but any conversation involving gender comparison in sports has to include the acknowledgment of particular facts.

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Haley doesn't want to go back to doing gymnastics because of the stereotype of it being a girly sport even though she has serious talent

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"See, I'm a hardcore gymnast. No way jumping up and down yelling "Go Team Go!" is gonna satisfy me."

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- weak
- not capable
- lazy
- too girly
- afraid to get dirty
- uncoordinated
- difficult
- dumb
- slow
- not their expertise
- unaware

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"You play like a girl!"

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- strong
- motivated
- powerful
- smart
- fast
- capable
- determined
- athletic
- goal-oriented
- competitive
- aware

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Lauren longed to play football. She was sure she would be good at it. She had watched endless videos of matches, especially of her hero, Lionel Messi, and she spent hours practising her ball skills in her tiny back yard and in the passageway behind her house, and on the wasteland next to an old, disused factory near her house. She had often watched the boys from a distance and she was certain that she was more skilful than most of them. The trouble was, she had never played in a game. She could dribble in and out of the obstacle courses she set up for herself using plastic bottles and drinks cans, and she could trap and volley the ball as she bounced it off the brick wall of the old factory. What she did not know was if she could use her skills when other people were trying to take the ball from her. But before she could find out, she had to persuade the boys to let her play!

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Girls Can't Play Football [Waugh, David] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Girls Can't Play Football

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Girl Banned From Tournament Because She "Looks Like a Boy"

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Girl Banned From Tournament Because She "Looks Like a Boy"

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The organizers of a Nebraska soccer tournament disqualified an Omaha team this weekend after insisting one of the girls on the squad was actually a boy, her family said.

Mili Hernandez, 8, is talented enough to play for the Azzuri Cachorros's 11-year-old squad and had helped lead the club to the finals at the Springfield Soccer Club tournament on Sunday. Shortly before kickoff, though, Mili was told that she and her team had been disqualified because she looks like a boy.

"Just because I look like a boy doesn't mean I am a boy," Mili told local television station WOWT 6. "They don't have a reason to kick the whole club out."

The shocking decision left Mili in tears, her father, Gerardo, said.

The family pleaded with organizers to reverse their decision, showing them Mili's health insurance card, which identified her as female. Tournament officials were unconvinced, though.

Organizers later said Mili had erroneously been marked as a boy on the team roster and that her short hair was not not a factor in the decision. The state soccer association issued an apology.

After hearing Mili's story, American women's soccer greats Mia Hamm, Abby Wambach, Julie Foudy and Megan Rapinoe expressed their support and reached out to meet and help her.

The good news is Mili won't let the insult keep her from playing the sport she loves, telling WOWT "There's other tournaments that I can play."

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Girl, 8, banned from tournament because she 'looks like a boy'

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The organizers of a Nebraska soccer tournament disqualified an Omaha team this weekend after insisting one of the girls on the squad was actually a boy, her family said. Mili Hernandez, 8, is talented enough to play for the Azzuri Cachorros's 11-year-old squad and had helped lead the club to the finals at the Springfield Soccer Club tournament on Sunday.

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Maidenform will make you good at basketball

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Maidenform will make you good at basketball

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A determined young Sheffield United fan has beaten bullies who told her: "You can't play football, you're a girl."

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A determined young Sheffield United fan has beaten bullies who told her: "You can't play football, you're a girl."

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Aspiring young footballer Jessie Adams has become a source of inspiration for girls everywhere who want to play football after she was bullied at school for playing 'the beautiful game'.

Her story comes during Girls' Football Week, which takes place from 23-29 April and comes after Jessie, six, was told by fellow pupils that she couldn't join in a game of football - because she was a girl.

Jessie, from Creswell, north Derbyshire, has been supported by Sheffield United Ladies and England Women after the bullying incident.

Within days and having seen a tweet from Jessie's mum Anna expressing sadness at her daughter being denied the chance to play football, Sheffield United Ladies got in touch - offering Jessie the chance to lead the Blades out as mascot in their fixture against Radcliffe.

And, having seen the initial social media post, England Women made contact, which led to Jessie leading out the national team at Southampton's St. Mary's stadium for the World Cup Qualifier against Wales.

Anna, 32, said: "There's nothing worse than your daughter coming home from school upset. Jessie was told by peers that she wasn't allowed to play football because she was a girl.

"That's pretty much what I said in the tweet I published - I was just so sad, but the responses to it were so positive - it all blew up in a couple of hours.

"I never expected it to go as far as it did. Sheffield United Ladies got in touch straight away and wanted to go to the school to speak to the children.

"The Lionesses also got in touch too and before we knew it, Jessie had lived her dream of leading out not just Sheffield United Ladies but England Women out too!

"Initially, we took the tweet down simply because we didn't want people to get the wrong idea and think that we were trying to get freebies - but I regret taking it down now because it has had such a positive impact for girls in football."

"Jessie's school has been brilliant in helping combat the issue too - they've really supported us in fighting the supposed 'stigma' attached to girls playing football.

Carla Ward, interim manager of Sheffield United Ladies, said: "Jessie's story is one which we should all get behind and learn from during Girls Football Week.

"While it represents and highlights the struggle that so many girls and women still face when trying to get into football, it also highlights how the rest of the football community can come together as one. That's something which I believe is starting to happen at all levels, to encourage and support inclusion and participation among girls, but needs to keep happening and happen more often.

"Jessie is also extremely talented! She's certainly got something about her and she's someone we will be keeping a close eye on as she and develops."

Anna, a full-time student nurse, added: "As her mum of course I hope she becomes a professional.

"She's always telling me 'I'm going play for Sheffield United when I'm older' so I really hope she progresses as well as we all know she could and who knows, in 10, 12 years' time we may be talking about a professional footballer."

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VIDEO: 'You can't play football, you're a girl:' Sheffield United fan Jessie beats bullies to play game

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Aspiring young footballer Jessie Adams has become a source of inspiration for girls everywhere who want to play football after she was bullied at school for playing 'the beautiful game'. Her story comes during Girls' Football Week, which takes place from 23-29 April and comes after Jessie, six, was told by fellow pupils that she couldn't join in a game of football - because she was a girl.

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Here's What Men Hope Will Happen When You Say You're a Sports Fan

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Here's What Men Hope Will Happen When You Say You're a Sports Fan

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Understand the Big Loss Depression Spiral__

If you walk away from a devastating loss and immediately begin thinking about what's on TV later, or work, or how hungry you are, or anything other than the traumatic event you just witnessed, then you are not a sports fan the way a guy is a sports fan. We feel those losses deeply, and for an amount of time disproportionate to all reason. It's been eight years since my favorite soccer team Arsenal lost in the Champions League final to Barcelona, and just mentioning it today brings a catch to my throat. I once had to rescue a friend from trying to pick a bar fight after his Michigan State Spartans lost to Duke in the Sweet Sixteen. We feel losses deeply, and no amount of reason or logic will dictate otherwise.
Treat the Players Like You Are a Mafia Don
In every professional sport players will get traded, or leave for more money, or leave for a better chance to win a championship. It's just a fact of life. But sometimes, when a player leaves our team for the wrong reasons, or what we perceive as the wrong reasons, we go all mafia boss on them. Lebron James is going to Miami? He's dead to me. His family's dead to me. Don't mention his name in this house again. For the sin of putting on a rival team's jersey, we will (metaphorically) erase that player from existence and then bitch about his betrayal for the next decade. Don't ever take sides with anyone against the family.
Be Able to Recite Statistics Minutiae
Know how many RBI Ken Griffey Jr. drove in during his rookie season? We do, at least those of us who are Mariners fans. When it comes to the stats of our favorite players or teams, we're like Rain Man. We don't just know all the players; we know where the players came from, what teams they played on before, where they went to college, what they like for breakfast. If it's been documented anywhere for anything, we know it.

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There Is No Rooting for Another Team. Ever.__

This is one that a lot of women I know seem especially prone to. They're visiting a new town and end up going to a game, so they buy a hat at that game to root for the home team. This is no good. When in foreign territory, you are Switzerland, you are completely neutral. Oh, sure, you can root against the team they are playing. You can even sympathize somewhat with the home team. But you are not a fan. You haven't earned that hat through decades of tears and irrational behavior. Remember, Switzerland.
For Every Big Play, Tell a Story of a Similar Big Play
"Oh my God, it was amazing, it was just like Kirk Gibson's home run in '88." Yeah, we like to compare something we just saw in a game to a play we saw 20 years ago. It allows us to both regale our friends with our deep well of sporting knowledge as well as brag about the longstanding quality of our team. If you claim to be a Denver Broncos fan but can't compare, in hyper detail, John Elway's Super Bowl performance to Peyton Manning's, then you should probably just pack up your jersey and go home.

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Fantasy Leagues Are Everything__

Look, the truth is that, as men, our tether to the real world is tenuous at best. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that one of our favorite sports-related activities involves the word "fantasy." Don't for one second think that you can call yourself a sports fan without playing in at least one fantasy league. And by play, we mean play. No setting up a team on auto-draft and then ignoring it for five months. When you start four injured players and two who are on a by-week, we'll know you aren't paying attention.
Now, after reading all that, are you still a sports fan? Great! Share any comments you had below.

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7 Things Men Expect When You Say You're a Sports Fan

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It's a wonderful thing that the world of sports obsession is no longer a males-only enterprise. It was definitely getting a bit testosterone-y in here! For us sporty guys, a woman who will happily discuss the pros and cons of zone defense is a huge plus.