Female Boxing's Lack Of Equality In Olympics

Equality has a Ring to It

The pinnacle of any amateur athlete's success is measured in the Olympic

Stadium. Upon the conclusion of the 2004 Athens Olympics, the International

Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board met to review its program and make

changes for the upcoming Summer Games. The committee discussed changes for

events within the 28 existing sports, as well as options to add new disciplines.

The board rejected the International Amateur Boxing Association's (AIBA's)

proposal to add a women's boxing program to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

IOC sports director, Kelly Fairweather said the decision was taken on a "purely

technical basis." The IOC did not feel it has reached the stage where it merits

inclusion (dailytimes.com)

Women's boxing was denied in the 2008 Olympic Games, to be held in Beijing because there aren't enough countries with an established national women's boxing program. The increase in women participants was not significant enough to merit inclusion into the 2008 Beijing games. The talent and skill level haven't increased with the progression of time since the first women's world championships took place which was in 2001. For women's boxing to be added, some of the men's games would have to be removed from the Olympics to make room for the women (USABoxing.org)

While boxing has been contested since the Ancient Games in Athens, Greece, it

is the only event in the modern Games without a female counterpart. Women were

banned from Olympic events such as the triathlon until 1987 because some medical

experts believed women might injure their organs by participating in such

competitions. Scientific studies have shown otherwise and female athletes have

gone on to shatter men's records just to prove it one step further. Women like

Babe, Billie and Lucia; one by one breaking down walls and opening doors for the

next generation of female athletes. The Olympic movement would provide a heroine

for women in the boxing ring and also inspire women to reach for glory in other

fields that require strong minds and strong bodies.

In 1972, Congress signed Title IX which called for equal opportunities for

women in the field of sports. The Amateur Sports Act, passed in 1978, requires

the United States Olympic Committee and its National Governing Bodies for each

sport to operate in a nondiscriminatory manner, yet women still suffer from

frequent discrimination in their access or practice of both amateur and professional sports (boxer.senate.gov). Women are being discriminated against simply because they are women and perceived as a weaker sex. Women remain second-class in the athletic field when they aren't afforded the same opportunities as the males in the same sport and boxing is the perfect example. The only way to reach gender equality is for both male and females to have the same support (boxer.senate.gov).

Women's boxing first appeared as an exhibition sport in the 1904 Olympic Games

in St. Louis. However, most nations banned women from boxing throughout most of

the 20th century. Sweden was the first country to revive an organized women's

boxing program in 1988 and many European countries soon followed. In October of

1993, United States Amateur Boxing (USAB) officially lifted its ban on a women's

boxing program, acting on a lawsuit filed by sixteen year old Dallas Malloy of

Washington State (USABoxing.org).

It wasn't until 1997 that USAB reluctantly sanctioned the first women's

national Golden Gloves tournament with 66 boxers competing in Augusta, Georgia.

In 2001, another historical event in women's boxing took place when 27 countries

competed in the first world championships. There are currently over 2,000

females registered in the USA and women can compete in tournaments in the United

States and internationally. According to AIBA, the governing body of over 34

countries with a women's boxing program, there