Introduction
Sport is an important part of people's social lives all over the world. Different people with different ethnicity, cultural background and political histories and inclination, all come together at the mention of sports and interact in a way that is recognized by all. As global as it is, sports starts at a lower local level. Talented sportsmen and women are recognized and get to participate in national events. The national champions then get the chance to represent their country in global events. There are particular issues which tend to undermine sports at every level. The world has tried to come to terms with issues such as gender equality in sports and still to date, women do not get the recognition they deserve in sports. Deviance in sports is yet another issue which affects every level of sports from the local all the way to the global sports arena. Globalization has also changed the face of sporting activities with talented athletes migrating to various countries to participate in better sporting events and arenas.
Gender Equality in Sports
To start with, one would want to take a look at some of the disparities between men's and women's sports. The average women NBA player makes around seventy-two thousand dollars while the average NBA player makes about five million dollars. At the local level, women do not get involved in the various sports as men. Most women do not have interests in sporting activities while some have better things to do. Some of the women who beat the odds get to participate in the national events. Talented women may then find themselves in the global arena doing what other women think only men can perform. The mindset of most women alone literally kills gender equality in sports (Hargreaves & Anderson, 2014). There are various sporting events in which women are recognized such as the athletics and tennis. In the majority of sporting events, starting from the local level, no one recognizes women. In the modern world, almost every form of sports includes women. There is soccer for women just as there is soccer for men. The difference is that the women’s sports events do not get the recognition seen in men’s sports events. You get to a sports stadium in a men's sporting event, and you find it full of fans, cheering throughout the game. The same sporting event in the same stadium with women playing is as empty as a dream.
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Deviance in Sports
Today people perceive sports in a rather different way. People actually view sports as an idealistic form of how people's culture represents itself. The local community is aligned with their local team. For instance, people living in Columbus naturally become fans of the Columbus basketball team. The sense of belonging to a team must be made recognizable to other people. Fans and athletes act out in ways that disrupt and disgrace the romanticized view of professional sports. Deviance in sports presents in different ways. Gambling has accompanied sports almost since the onset of sporting activities. Gambling is seen in all levels of sports; local, national and global sporting events. There have been reports of athletes who were paid to throw away games so that gamblers could win large sums of money. Today, most athletes align themselves towards big money and are willing to head to areas where they are offered good money at the expense of ruining their talents (Deviance, 2015).
Globalization and sports
Sports did not start yesterday; rather there have been a lot changes in relation to how sporting events are held. Globalization has made it possible for athletes to secure opportunities in various regions in the world. Sporting activities can be conducted internationally, thanks to globalization. Globalization has affected the local, national and global sports. The most recognizable and attractive sporting events attract more audience and disconnect people from their local sporting events. For instance, most people would prefer watching a British football match on TV (say an Arsenal vs. Chelsea game) to watching an actual soccer in their local town.
References
Hargreaves, J., & Anderson, E. (Eds.). (2014). Routledge handbook of sport, gender, and sexuality . Routledge.
Deviance, A. S. C. O. (2015). Breaking the Normative Rules: The Problems of Deviance in Sports. Sociological Perspectives on Sport: The Games Outside the Games , 393.
