When women did dare to participate in sports were thought of as unfeminine or maybe even homosexual. The roles between gender were also being enforced with in the home. Sex is a biological characteristic while gender refers to an ongoing cultural process that socially constructs differences between men and women. Each culture constructs and teaches its young the social role expectations for males and females, about what is considered masculine and what is considered feminine. Gender-role ideology comes from a range of social sources, including peers, teachers, ministers, mass media, and mainly parents.
Parents are the first influence that children have when it comes to gender differences.
Generally parents encourage different activities and attitudes in their male and female children. Male children are generally encouraged to be more aggressive and independent, while female children are more often encouraged to be passive, nurturing, and dependent. There are also many myths surrounding women in sports. The first of these myths is that sports tend to masculinize females. There is no evidence however that participation in sports causes a female to become more masculine.