Sport as an Institution for Gender Stereotype Challenge and Women Empowerment: A Reflection on Nigerian Elite Sportswomen at the Olympics

Abstract

This paper is a documental research based on literary review on the role of sport in challenging gender stereotype and serving as an institution for women empowerment in Nigeria. Women are always looking for how to address certain social issues and problems that affect them. Women empowerment is a social issue which women all over the world are clamoring for. Women have initiated and are still initiating movements geared towards ensuring that they have control over their socio-economic and political lives. Women have adopted several strategies including education to ensure that they achieve their goals. One of the strategies that could be used for women empowerment is sports. Sport is an empowerment avenue for all. Sport has also challenged gender stereotype that women are weak and inferior in social organizations. Among the areas that reflect one's empowerment are physical, economic, and social lives of the individuals. Sport empowers its participants including women physically by enhancing their strength, endurance, flexibility, power, agility; economically through salaries, match allowances as officiating officials and match commissioners, endorsement fees, and socially through interpersonal relationships, self-efficacy, friendship, among others. Among the challenges facing women empowerment through sports in Nigeria that were discussed include sexual harassment of women in sports; poor media coverage of women in sports; inadequate, substandard, and poor condition of sports facilities and equipment for women; poor funding of women's sports; inadequate motivation of women in sports; societal negative attitude towards women participation in sports, among others. Recommendations were made to improve the sports atmosphere for women, which will ensure women's maximization of the opportunity of being empowered through sports.