Gender Roles and Stereotypes in Youth Sports

Posted by: Vanessa Diaz

Carefully examine the two group photos. Is there anything peculiar about these photos? At first glance, the photos may appear to depict traditional American youth engaging in two of the great American pastimes; however, upon closer examination one may note a particular imbalance.



The above photos are taken from two popular American youth sports films. The first photo is a scene from the movie “The Bad News Bears”, a family comedy released in 1976. The second photo is taken from the 1994 children’s sports film “Little Giants”. Although a generation apart, these two films carry on a tradition of minimalizing the importance of female contributions to sports in American society. In a bigger context, these sorts of films, perhaps inadvertently, enculturate youth with the idea that girls in sports are not equal to boys, and perhaps by extension, the idea that women are not equal to men. Let us examine 5 popular youth sports films from the last 30 years with the purpose of analyzing the importance of young females, as compared to young males, within the context of each film. Our purpose will be to judge if the films do or do not (whether purposefully or inadvertently) reinforce negative gender stereotypes.



Let us begin with an American classic: The 1976 film “The Bad News Bears”. In brief, this is a baseball film about a bunch of underdog misfit kids, led by an unfit coach, who against all odds earn respectability, if not a championship. The film does go to some lengths to give credit to the female sports figure. The lone female Amanda Whurlitzer, played by Tatem O’Neil, is the team’s only skilled pitcher and with her contribution, she helps the Bear’s go from last place to second place. However, the mother of Amanda (who is never actually seen in the film, but is in fact mentioned) rejects her daughter’s desire to play baseball for fear that it is strictly a boy’s endeavor. As a result, Amanda is immediately placed outside the bounds of social norms. In other words, by disapproving of her daughter’s interest in baseball, the mother is not only strengthening, but in fact, reinforcing gender stereotypes.



Moving along, we arrive at the 1992 hockey film “The Mighty Ducks”. In sum, this movie is about a young man, who because of his personal irresponsibilities, is court-ordered to serve community service by coaching a peewee hockey team consisting of a group of incompetent youths. This film focuses on a hockey team made up of a diverse number of boys and girls. Unlike “The Bad News Bears”, there are no male characters in this film that are openly prejudiced towards their female counterparts. In fact, the girls are equally accepted by their male teammates and even play a significant role in their team’s success. However, what you may or may not have noticed is that this film illustrates a distinct gender ratio bias: the team is made up of 11 boys and only 2 girls. The girl’s overall contributions to the team cannot be denied; however, their sheer lack of numbers has a tendency to minimalize their importance to the team in comparison to that of their male counterparts.



Next in line is the 1993 children’s baseball film “The Sandlot”. This film revolves around a young group of boys who fall into misadventure and find commonality through their passion for the game. Completely absent from the landscape of this film is any female participation in the athletic experience. In fact, it’s made explicitly clear that a girl’s presence in the all boy’s fraternity would be considered something of a joke. This is exemplified by one of the film’s most famous lines: “You play ball like a girl!” This line is uttered during a heated taunt exchange between the boys of the sandlot and their neighborhood rivals. This insult clearly suggests the sentiment that girls do not belong on the same field with boys. Could watching a film like this possibly influence young boys to think the same way, thereby reinforcing the idea of feminine inferiority?

I have attached a short clip from the movie “The Sandlot”. Click below to see a short scene from the movie, which includes the famous line “You Play Ball Like A Girl!”





Another popular youth sports film is the 1994 football movie “Little Giants”. This film is about two small-town peewee football teams who compete for the coveted role of town champion. The main character, Becky O’Shea (also known as “Icebox”), tries out for the peewee football team that is coached by her uncle, and despite being one of the best players during tryouts, is rejected from participation specifically because she is a girl. In addition to this, Becky later decides to quit football in favor of cheerleading in order to earn the affection of a young boy whom she fears sees her as a tomboy. These circumstances seem to suggest that if girl crosses over into male-dominated arenas, she automatically abandons her femininity and appeal altogether.



The final film that I will be discussing is the 2006 soccer film “She’s The Man”. This film revolves around a young girl who is passionate about the game of soccer. After receiving the news that her school has cut the girls’ soccer team, Viola Hastings, played by Amanda Bynes, decides to try out for the boy’s team, but is immediately rejected by her coach because as he states, “Everybody knows girls aren’t as fast, or strong, or athletic as girls.” As a result, Viola chooses to impersonate her brother and try out for a rival school’s boys’ team, not only to play the game she loves, but to prove that girls are fully capable, and therefore, just as athletic as boys. This film creates a conflict between male and female gender roles. Viola seems to inhabit two separate worlds: the girl’s world and the boy’s world, debutante and soccer player. Rather than challenging gender stereotypes, this film seems to imply that males and females are at opposite ends of a clearly defined spectrum, leaving no room for gender crossing.

Children are taught from a very early age what it means to be a boy or a girl in our society. In a society that is filled with gender stereotypes and gender biases, children inevitably adopt gender roles which are not always fair to both sexes. As children grow, they are exposed to many factors which influence their attitudes and behaviors toward gender roles. These are generally learned first from the parents and are further reinforced by other elements in their environment, such as school, friends, the media, and even sports. Through all these socialization agents, children learn about gender stereotypes and gender biases.