When you think sports, what comes to mind first? Football? Baseball? Basketball? Who do you picture in those sports? Probably men right? I don't blame you, I do it too.
Men have dominated the playing field for centuries. Men's collegiate sports and professional sports has historically brought in more fans and money than women's sports. But thanks to the U.S. Women's National Team, the tables have turned. An article describing the disparity between men's and women's pay, clearly describes the unacceptable gap between the two. Writer, Laura Santhanam states: "In 2015 World Cup play, for example, the filing outlined that “women earned four times less than the men while performing demonstrably better.” Last year, the women won their third World Cup, while the men have not advanced past the quarterfinals in the modern era."
This indisputable fact alone should convince you of the need for change throughout all of women's sports. The Women's U.S. National Team is projected to profit $5.2 million by 2017, while the Men's U.S. National Team is projected to cost the program $1 million without any profit.
The U.S. Women's National Team is just one example of the discrimination within the sports world. Female athletes put in the same amount of work, dedication, time, effort, and heart to their sport, yet receive only a portion of the praise that male athletes do.
Perhaps this is because of the way that women have been told to act. Perhaps, this is because women are not expected to build muscle to be stronger and faster. Or maybe because women are not expected to get excited after making the game winning play by yelling and pumping their fist into the air. Or maybe, its because we can't possibly imagine a woman can play sports at a competitive level without being judged for how she looks in her uniform.
As a female athlete, I have heard comments from men regarding a female athlete's appearance instead of her athletic abilities. While watching a women's basketball game this week, I heard one of my male friends chatting about some of the players. His conversation consisted of stating that "number five is really good, but she's mostly really hot."
These types of comments are what bring the morale of women's sports down. Men watch women's sports and see women that are "too muscular" or have "too short of hair". They talk about which ones they would date or which ones they find the most attractive.
Next time you're watching a female sporting event, listen to the conversations around you. Listen to the judgments made about the women who have prepared day in and day out for that competition. Those women don't care what you think about their bodies, those women don't care if they are too muscular for your liking. You judge the woman who is too bulky, or too manly or too pumped up, while you're sitting on your couch eating from a jumbo bag of Cheetos, drinking a beer and staring at the T.V. screen.
Yeah, okay buddy.
