violence in sports

I was looking through videos of violence in womens sports and the most common sport i found was actually ice hockey. This was most interesting to me simple because I wouldn't have been able to tell that these were women ice hockey players simply by watching the fight. Though I have seen fights in movies with all the slamming into glass and punching each other, something about these fights somehow seemed not as violent, as if they were staged for fun. Yet at the same time, I could tell that these women were really pissed, which made me think that maybe it was just the combination of ice, awkwardly sized uniforms, and skates and hockey sticks that made the fight that much slower. After scanning through the hundreds of connected links to other women's hockey fights, I read through the comments, which were rather depressing. Most of the people watching had commented on the fact that these women 'fought like girls', or 'couldnt throw a real punch if they tried'. It's kind of sad how all the emotion and energy that these women were putting into a sport (whether for a goal or to simply beat up on their opponents) was simply disregarded and commented on with sexist comments and comparisons to their much larger and stronger male counterparts. Much like Robin Hextrum's art on how rowers hurt their bodies in return for the emotional rush of working hard for the team and for the sake of the sport, these women were pushing themselves out of the norm that 'women can't play hockey' to prove themselves in a sport they loved.
The link that struck me the most was titled "why hockey is not for women". Though not a video of actual violence in sports, it implies the (negative) effects that participating in sports, especially violent ones, has on a woman and her appearance and chances of 'getting a guy', which is being emphasized more than her scoring a goal or putting up a good defense. Whether she is being violent or not, the idea of women in sports is still not being looked at fairly when she's not allowed to express the emotions that are always being used to label women in other aspects of life.

Female Violence in Sports - Emmanuel Casillas

The fight that broke out in Providence, Rhode Island between the two girls soccer teams was an intense fight where there were punches thrown. It is interesting to note how the media reacts over a girls' fight but simply glazes over fights in masculine sports. As in hockey, men fight each other and referees allow the fight to go on for a time. It is seen as an important part of the sport. And the fans, rather than showing distress that a player might receive an injury goad them to go at it harder. In the girls' fight people rushed onto the field to stop the fight. It may be that because women are classified as gentle and fragile creatures that this fight had such an impact. When men fight, even in soccer, the fights are not emphasized as much. To see women fight is a rarity because of how social structures stress that they are not as aggressive as men. But people forget that women are as human as men and that anger is common to both.

Female Violence in Sports

Violence in sports is not an uncommon thing. Many athletes, in the heat of the moment, loser their cool and get their frustration out on their competitors. It is something that is very common in male sports, especially that of Hockey. In fact, fights in professional hockey matches have become an integral part of the game. The referee's are often told to let the fighters handle their business and intervene at a safe time. However, women sports has just as much violence as male sports, it just isn't as publicized. For example, the huge fight that broke out in the Woman's hockey match along with the soccer game between BYU and New Mexico. Clearly in both instances, the violence got to levels of punching, kicking, cheap shots, and even hair pulling. With instances like this, the media seems to be more intrigued by female violence than clips of male violence because it is often believed that it is not in a girls nature to be that aggressive. These videos of female violence clearly prove that notion incorrect.

Violence in Female Athletics Response

I believe that the violence within female based athletics has been highlighted because these acts go against the societal expectations of women being naturally maternal and loving. I have to admit that I was completely shocked by the vicious girl in the soccer team video. It wasn't because of her gender, it had to do with her lack of respect toward the other players. When Zidane head butt another player during the world cup in 2006 I was just as shocked as I was watching the woman in the soccer video. I wouldn't contribute my disbelief toward these acts to one's gender, instead I would base it off of one's lack of moral character. I played AYSO soccer for about ten years and I never felt that violence on the field was condoned, but when it did happen it wasn't looked down upon based on our gender. It was looked down upon based on poor sportsmanship (in this case sportswomanship). I will say however that the referees are much more lenient with calling fowls and carding while witnessing male soccer teams playing. For example, I recently went to one of my brother's soccer games and I noticed that they are allowed much more physical contact with one another than women are without getting penalized for it. I feel that female soccer players are more prone to getting penalized for their physical contact than male soccer players. Obviously this is unfair and I don't feel that this aspect of sports is very well recognized within the athletic arena.

SWMS Presentation- Violence in Womens' Sports

http://www.wpri.com/dpp/new/local_wpri_providence_high_school_girls_soccer_brawl_20091109_BRT

The story is about a fight that took place on the field during a girls' high school soccer game in Providence, Rhode Island. While there was only a minute left in the game, one girl bumped into another, which in turn led to an all-out brawl breaking out- complete with punching, pushing and hair pulling. The story mentions that a similar incident occurred not long ago, which could have had an impact on this situation.

Women have traditionally been seen as less aggressive than their male counterparts, but sports have afforded women and girls an outlet to release their frustrations and strengths in a positive manner. Only recently have women been able to express themselves in such a physical way and still be accepted by society. Sports have traditionally been the domain of men in which they can express their aggression and masculinity freely- and now women have a place on the field as well. Personally, I believe that womens' participation in sports is a good thing that allows women to released their repressed aggression and frustrations. However, it's very important that this aggression is channeld into fair play and not into violence.

Incidents like the high school soccer fight are of course not unique to girls or to soccer- in such a competitive environment as the sports field, there are bound to be disagreements and fighting between teams. Therefore, both male and female players need to control themselves and transform their frustrations and anger into determination to win. It might be more shocking to see women enaging in such violent acts because of our preconceptions that they should be docile and understanding by nature, but it's also important to note that these girls are still sports players. They're playing very competitive games and their drive to win is the same as men, so we shouldn't be surprised if they occasionally get into fights.

Any increase we're seeing in violence in girls' sports is probably a byproduct of the fact that far fewer women have competed up to this point. They're really only leveling out with men and being human- competitive. In the end, sports can be a great outlet for both men and women, as long as the competition is kept to fair play and the players learn to control themselves.

Women in Sports- Rhode Island High School Soccer Fight

I was very surprised to see the television news clip of the Rhode Island high school soccer fight. I have played soccer all my life; beginning at AYSO to club to Olympic development, and even on the high school level. During the soccer matches, people become passionate about winning and frustrated when their team is consistently stopped, yet never have I seen it progress to a full team versus team fight.
Second, I was even more surprised that it was women who were fighting. Both of my younger sisters play soccer on a very competitive level, yet never would I have imagined that young women players such as the ones in the video would possess the aggressive impulses to turn a mere high school soccer match into a fight that most likely got them suspended or in deeper trouble. But as the video commented, most men view women in sports as fragile and innocent; even the news commentator said that it was "mostly hair pulling" when really it was a full-on serious brawl. This example shows that the public views the aggressive impulses of women incorrectly; in actuality they can be as aggressive as men and in sports they can act as passionately as men.
Overall I am both disgusted and surprised by the video. It has opened my eyes to realize that women, just like men, can be aggressive on the soccer pitch or even in any sport. Women, like men, become passionate and put all their energy into the matches, unfortunately sometimes it can end in violence just as this video has shown.

Female's sports.

This is very interesting to watching the youtube of girl's soccer and basketball.
The following is a link is a news that talking about basketball http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om4sCT78qPw. In many time, we always focus on guy’s basketball and guy’s soccer. There are many people ignore the female sports competition. The Beijing Olympic 2008 is a very good example. At that time, I was in Hong Kong, all the channels of TV are playing different competition of Olympic. This is crystal clear like that TV producers would only choose some famous competitions to play on the TVs, therefore, the TV shows are reflecting the people’s preferences. At that time, all TVs show is separate into male and females parts. TVs only playing female sports, like gymnastic and volleyball. They seldom play the female basketball and football competition. However, TVs would play many BALL’S game that played by guy.
Therefore, this is a very good example of traditional sports attitude to different gender.

Girl's Hockey

I think it is interesting to look at the youtube video of the girl's hockey fight. In guy's hockey, a fight is a usual occurrence, and in fact they made the rules a lot less strict about fighting because the fans seem to like it a lot. However, in women's hockey the fighting seems to be more of a cat fight and not extremely exciting. It is, indeed a fight though, as seen by the girl at the end that is on the floor and can't get up. I was looking at the comments that people left though, and they were saying how this wasn't a fight and how it was embarrassing to watch. I believe that if it was a men's hockey team having that exact same fight, people would be saying how intense the fight was, or how cool one particular player was. This was a women's math though, and people oftentimes think that women can't fight, and are not competitive.

Agression, Gender, and Sports

Aggression and sports are two things that go hand in hand. When people engage in aggressive behavior naturally violence occurs. Fights break out in every sport that you can think of. When men get into fights people watch and even encourage them. After the fight, whoever came out on top is looked at as the more masculine of the two. So, fighting between men is acceptable in sports because it is all part of male aggression. When it comes to women in sports, it's a different story. Like scholars have said for years women only get the positive attributes out of sports. This is why violence in female sports is really looked down upon. One student posted that women in sports are looked at as pretty, fragile, and something else. I disagree with this. I think that women in sports are looked at with masculine qualities. They are looked at as beastly, aggressive, and just plain manly. The reason people make a big deal about women acting violent in sports is because it contradicts the main view of how women are viewed. I think that although there is violence in sports, the positives still outweigh the negatives. Not only do sports have positive physical outcomes for the children competing, they also build many other positive attributes. They breed competitiveness, strength (physical and mental), and serve as a social tool. I am all for sports!

Women's Violence in Sports Response

I was shocked when I saw the video on the BYU vs. New Mexico soccer game, in which a New Mexico player injured a BYU Player. I don't play sports, so I don't constantly think about the aggression involved in them. I think this event may have gotten a lot of attention because women generally aren't attributed as aggressive, even though in many of the sports they play aggression a component of the game. Women in sports are portrayed as fragile, delicate, and beautiful, because people are more comfortable attributing traits such as violence and aggression with masculinity, as evidenced in the "Sex and Sports" art show and presentation by Robin Hextrom. Although, in this game, the player went beyond the limits of aggression and was violent. The amount of violence that the New Mexico player executed is unacceptable in any sport, for any gender. It bothered me that the player intentionally wanted to hurt the player on the other team. This lesson demonstrates that women's capacity for violence in sports should not be underestimated just because it is under reported. Aggression in sports should be recognized amongst both males and females as a component of the games.

Women's Violence as Exhibited the Sports Arena

As we watched in the previous video in class, when female athletes are portrayed in sports magazines, they are commonly objectified. Instead of focusing on their athletic talents and abilities, such women are portrayed in scantily clothed attire, emphasizing their sexuality in comparison to men who are often depicted in their sports' habitat. A male athletics champion, for example, might be on the cover of Sports Illustrated holding a football rather than laying practically nude on a beach, as the sun highlights his muscles. The media just does not function in this manner, at least in terms of publicly conveying male athletes. Extremely accomplished women, on the other hand, are given the opportunities to pose on the cover of magazines such as Sports Illustrated but they are framed in a narrow light (like men). It is the choice of each and every individual to assume these roles, however, their offered roles are often limited.

The very nature of conveying women in a feminized, over-sexualized framework and men in a masculinized, over-athleticized framework, in my opinion, impacts the way in which we treat gendered sports violence. For men, it is almost assumed. Unless someone is critically injured, male sports violence does not appear to be much of a surprise, as we do not see such acts in the headlines. Contrarily, when female sports violence occurs, including the recent soccer fight, we are bombarded with media coverage from news channel to news channel. I see a connection between the way women are portrayed in the media and the way we treat female sports violence. When a female athlete poses in a magazine, an observer who does not know a thing about sports could easily assume that she is solely a model, not athletic or aggressive at all, characteristics that are frequently associated with male athletes and possibly men in general. By focusing on the soccer fight that took place not too long ago, I find that aggression in correlation to sports is viewed as a male concept that, in turn, reinforces the dichotomy between men and women.

violence in women's sports response

I find it interesting that boys are encouraged to play sports so that they can perform their masculinity, and that girls are also in a way encouraged to perform masculinity in sports, but there is never a time when femininity is valued in sports. In fact, the sports that value femininity, like dance, gymnastics, and cheerleading, are often not considered real sports. I don't think that women are expected to be violent in sports at the level that men are. However, when they do get in fights, this creats a paradox between success in sports, which we correspond with strength and toughness, and correct representation of the female gender, which we correspond with kindness and a gentle, nurturing manner. The media's representation of violence in women's sports has a big impact on how this violence is viewed. When women are cheered on for fighting with one another, and complimented for being aggressive players, women are being rewarded for acting masculine. However, the media often demonstrates female violence as unnecessary and unnatural. Why is it that there is a place for violence in men's sports that does not exist in women's sports? Is it because women choose not to be violent, or is it because it is not socially acceptable for women to be violent? Even when women atheletes do not start fights, they gain respect by being tough and strong, qualities that are still associated with the male gender. By studying violence in women's sports in terms of the violence we see in men's sports and what we expect of the female gender, we are supporting gender essentialism rather than acknowledging the possibility that there is an association with athletics and violence that can apply equally to male and female athletes.

Violence in Women's Sports

The violence in everyday soccer games is miniscule in comparison to men's violence in their everyday sports. Men are known to push, shove, punch, and act "manly." Manly acts would include yelling, spitting and fighting. However, when women fight it is not seen in the same light. When men fight on the field, the audience is intrigued and sees the players as "tough." Men are never seen in a negative light for fighting unless they cause injury to other players. Women though are seen as masculine if they fight or "play dirty." Women are not accepted when they fight. They are seen in a new light and mostly this light is negative. Most of the time when violence is discussed in sports it is directed towards men, it is seen as a masculine norm, in a way, for sports. What the audience does not see is the fact that women are much like men when they play sports. They are competitive and cruel. They will fight just as hard as men, although many dispute that women cannot be good enough to compete with males.

The ironic piece is that is is unacceptable for women to fight in their sport. Why can women not show emotion for their sports just as men do? Women are just as passionate about their sports as men are. Women fights usually are more emotional then men--they don't just want to hit a random girl. Women's fights differ from men's fights in this way. Women become more emotionally attached in the fight and will not let it go as easily as men.

The problem with fights in professional level sports, or college and high school, is that these sports encourage competitive nature and to play dirty. Kids are then taught to do what they need to do in order to win. Kid's then begin aggressive play at an extremely young age and will develop into an intense player at a very young age. Just playing a sport for fun is a term that is beginning to disappear. As children grow, sports are getting more and more competitive daily. This encourages rough-housing and cheap play which will lead to fights and violence in sports.

Group Presentation - Violence in Women's Sports

http://fights.caught-on-video.com/video/Another-girls-soccer-fight

This video shows a fight ensuing during a girls' soccer game at the high school level. Just recently, a similar story became well-known in the media but instead it involved female soccer players at the college level. This previous incident occurred across the course of the game and was mainly one athlete doing extremely violent penalties against the women on the other team. This college level contact then seemed to spread to the high school level. These younger girls became very violent as well. During an extremely intense soccer game, the girls got a little too emotionally involved and ended up starting a fight. The news broadcasters began to comment on the incident and the female claimed it was similar to what happens at most "major league baseball games." The male broadcasters disagreed and claimed that the girls were pulling hair and implied that men do more physical acts such as punching and kicking. In reality, there was just as much intensity and punching in this fight between girls as there would have been between boys.

Sports are typically discussed as stirring up violence in males while creating a more well-balanced environment for girls. In this case, there is definitely a great amount of violence that was directly related to the game and the pressures that come with it. In lecture and in Messner's book, the importance of violence in male athletics has dominated discussion. Also, the female athlete being treated differently or exposing her body has become a topic of analysis. This video clip goes against Messner's ideas somewhat just because it shows that females can have a stronger competition than ever before and can generate a similar intensity to the boys. It is important to think about the impact of sports and the connection between gender behaviors in athletics. In order to blur the lines of gender and segregated sports, the public must recognize the similarities, especially in competition and violence among young women in sports. This will help the two genders be able to merge or at least cut back on the stereotype of the woman's lack of athleticism and competitiveness in sports.

Although there has been so much controversy about how youth sports fester too much violence and competitive spirit, it is important to recognize the positives of these organizations. Youth sports allow children, males and females, to release the energy and emotion involved in every day life. Without it, children would lack on ideas of expressing enthusiasm and intensity. These events also create a space for youth to develop in the social aspect of life and meet a lot of new people in a setting that is fun and exciting. In this case, the positives in youth sports outweigh the negatives and the few incidences of violence cannot diminish the importance of sports in a young child's life.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8922532972028418734&ei=kvoAS7SSEZD-qAPJ_YzmCQ&q=violent+women+in+sports&hl=en&view=3&client=safari#

This video depicts a fight that breaks out between women basketball players on the court. A member from one of the teams violently attacks a member of the other by knocking her down and punching her while she is down on the ground, while a second member of the team comes up and drops the basketball on her face. There is a distinct different between violent aggressiveness between players while fighting for the ball but this instance is simply violence due to anger and personal retaliation rather than determination in the game. 

When it comes to playing sports, many women are aggressive in their performance which is held in high regard as they show dedication to their sport and do not let their feminine natures interfere with their ability to play their sports. They gain more respect in the world of athletics by displaying signs of aggression and determination as that mirrors the aspects that men display, the original members of the world of sports. The issue of sports having a negative affect on women, however, can be brought up in the issue of women violence in sports. Granted attacking another player cannot be seen as position so naturally one cannot say that sports have only positive affects on women. However, these affects are the same for men as many men are violent on the field or courts they play on. No one seeks to take a step back and examine if sports have negative affects on men as that is their "natural" outlet of activity and violence among men is nothing uncommon. Why, then, should violence between women in sports evoke such feelings of concern that sports are negative for women? There is clearly a double standard existing in the arena of sports that people should consider.

There clearly is a correlation between sports and violence as discussed by Messner for men and, clearly, for women as well. It may be said that sports only create positive effects in women which is not the case as violence is not a positive occurrence. Although sports may increase the chances of women being violent with each other, as it does for men, sports are still good outlets for women to develop healthy lifestyles and prove that they are no less able to perform well in sports than men. The violent acts occur occasionally between women while playing sports are bound to happen, such as is the case with men, but that does not make sports a negative influence upon women. Whereas sports and violence are usually associated with men, it is not a surprise that once women enter the world of sports they exhibit certain masculine qualities as well such as violence.

Women & Violence in Sports

http://sports.espn.go.com/videohub/video/video?id=4628040

This is a video of a soccer game in which one girl (#15) is obviously acting violent to the other players in a way that is not acceptable in the game of soccer. Being a female soccer player myself, I know how violent it can get out on the field during intense games. However, this is not a prevailing act. This raises the conclusion that violence is not only spurred among men in sports, but in females as well. It is not right to assume that only males would harbor enough aggression inside them to externally display it during a sports game because as #15 shows, this is clearly not the case. She was doing things hurtful to the other players although it was just a game and therefore, she exemplifies, and thereby condtradicts the issue at hand.

It's interesting to me that in the leagues that didn't really establish different games for the female division of the sport, for example, AYSO, (as opposed to softball/little league) that we see more violent coverage in the media of these female sports. This observation implies that maybe people still aren't entirely okay with the idea of female athletes since they focus on the violence it spurs in girls as opposed to their athletic abilities. If this were a boy soccer team, ESPN coverage would probably cover it more lightly and dismiss it playfully. (I am pretty confident in this assertion because my boyfriend watches ESPN ALLLL THE TIME and I'm forced to watch with him and I notice the differences between female and male coverage frequently.

The video also contradicts the idea that sports only produce positive impacts in female because as we see, the girl has been reduced to doing inappropriate acts to express her anger in losing the game. However, this does not mean that it's okay for men to engage in this kind of behavior and not be called out as well. It's important to think about the violence fostered by sports for both genders because we shouldn't be in a society that positively reinforces men for violent behavior and then put females under similar circumstances and expect them to not act with some aggression. We shouldn't want either gender or any genders to be super violent and reinforce their behavior when they are. HOWEVER, I do not think that the negative impacts sports evoke outweigh the positive because sports have the ability to bring people together and find common interests. It also teaches various characteristics such as teamwork, determination, persistence, and others that can be useful and as we can see from the video, the majority of participants were not engaging in inappropriately violent behavior, rather it was just one of the girls.

Sports Analysis Group Presentation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZAehXzjG0w


This YouTube video captures the events of a women’s ice hockey game in which two distinct fights break out in its duration. The girls begin checking and punching each other and throwing each other to the floor. The referees try to interfere and break the girls apart but there are too many girls and fights going on to stop them all. The goalie on one of the teams even steps aside to watch the fight and then jumps in and gangs up on a member of the other team to help her teammate out. This video clip is evidence that violence is not only a factor associated with men’s athletics. Women too can get heated up and aggressive over a sports game. The belief that women’s participation in sports can only produce positive effects therefore cannot be one hundred percent true. This clip is only one of many that demonstrate aggression and violence in female athletics. Hockey is a sport especially known for heavy contact with players of the opposite team, primarily in men’s games, where fights typically break out and are encouraged by the fan base. Males particularly act upon this in order to prove their masculinity and their opposition towards acting as “sissies” when coming into contact with each other, as Messner would suggest. Female hockey players may too feel the need to play down the role of “sissy “moves by becoming aggressive and violent with each other while participating in the game. It is important to think about the connection between violence and sports for both genders because violence is not only associated with males sports; it is also a feature seen in women’s games. Though there may be roughhousing and fighting involved in some sports games, I believe violence is not always encouraged. I would ultimately state that the positive aspects of youth sports do outweigh the negative because being involved in sports is a great way for children to meet and interact with people their age as well as elders, like coaches and staff, and it can act as an outlet for emotions and built up tension that children might have. Though these feelings may sometimes come out aggressively, they do not always have to be hostile and violent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE4s3C93Ex4

The video clip presented above is a fight that occurred during a WNBA game between Detroit and Los Angeles. When initially watching the video, it may seem that the player of the Los Angeles team was pushed by the player of the Detroit team but it was actually initiated by the player of the Detroit team while another player was making a free throw. This shows that it wasn't just one player on a team being aggressive but rather both players. Thus, these video clips contradict the argument that the relationship between violence and sports only occurs with boys because clearly that is not the case. Women are people do and there will be certain things that will trigger anger in them, just like with men. Therefore, this claim that the relationship between sports and violence should not disregard that these incidents of violence in sports occurs with women as well.

The argument stated above regarding the relationship between boys and violence in sports is true because most men are assumed to have a relatively aggressive nature, a feature they are able to express through sports. Therefore, when brawls occur during male sports, the media doesn't really pay mind to them because they happen so often and have become representative of males. When men play sports, they feel as though if someone behaves out of order they need to become aggressive with that person to show their "manliness." People expect to see males fight frequently during the game, especially in contact sports. When girls behave in this same way, however, it is looked down upon. Girls are not usually portrayed to be belligerent but rather calm and logical, even in sports. This is similar to how women coaches, as explained in Professor Messner's book "It's all about the Kids," try to be more calm and practical about their coaching even though their goal is the same as the male coaches': to win. Many women will not behave as men by lashing out during sports games but others will. Therefore, when the media does see a rare incident as such, they over-exaggerate it because they know it will spur much attention. It is important to realize, however, that every individual is different and regardless of the stereotype that men are aggressive and women are not, each person will behave in varying ways. Furthermore, boys should not be excused by the society for starting fights during sports simply because of their stereotype while women are criticized for behaving in the same way.

It is clear that there are some negative effects of sports but there are many positive ones that could potentially outweigh the negative. Women are able to gain the same good out of playing sports as men such as learning how to be leaders, learning how to be competitive and also learning how to work well with other people. These are lessons that are strongly encouraged by the coaches during their practices in order to make each individual player better and therefore make the entire team better. Nonetheless, the negative effects of violence and the media's need to exaggerate this violence can be thought of as hindering the overall journey of being on a sports team; at the same time, it also brings about a healthy challenge for women. The women need to prove to the society that they are as good at sports as men are and should not be thought of as differently for behaving the same way the men do on the playing field.