Publicity For Women’s Sports
Publicity for women’s sports in India got famous only after the release of the movie “Chak De India”. Until then, we knew of sports, we knew of women playing sports but the coverage of women in sports was never adequate. Participation in sport traditionally has been less amongst women than men due to social norms. We expect women to behave in a “particular way” and dress in a “socially approved manner” and so on.
But as times are changing, we now encourage women to maintain an active lifestyle for the positive physical (significant and undeniable health benefits), mental (boosts self-confidence, relieves the symptoms of anxiety, stress and depression) and social (a great way to meet people) effects. Women’s teams and sports have been around for a long time and when they are given an equal opportunity to succeed in sport, they do. Sexism should not have any place in the world of sports.
There are many ways that publicity for women’s Sports can be increased and they all have nothing to do with money. To start with, we need to encourage more people to come and watch women’s sports and women’s teams perform. Women need to be encouraged at an early stage to enter into active sports and women teams at college levels need to be given proper funding and support. Women’s teams need to be given information on funding and sponsorships along with information on the different events that are being organised in their arena.
It is very important that women’s sport receives adequate publicity and press coverage that highlights their performance in the field of sport, rather than fashion, drug trials or sexist images. We should recognise the great achievements of our sports women for they serve as active role models for our young girls.