It’s a man’s world, right?
Apparently some sports journalists still think so.
Nearing the end of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio and we’ve witnessed proof that sexism is still alive and well—especially in the world of competitive athletics.
Sportscasters have been notorious for mentioning a woman’s gender when completely irrelevant to the accomplishment since, well, forever. Whether it’s commenting on their image or appearance, sexualizing their skills, or attributing men to their achievements—these comments often occur without realization. Especially on live TV when there is no time for revisions or edits. Yes, people make mistakes, and in the heat of the moment have probably worded something unintentionally sexist, but 90% of the time these comments spout from the mouth conditioned by a system of gender inequality.
One that really caught people’s attention was when Corey Cogdell-Unrein, a three-time Olympian, won a bronze medal in trap shooting and was referred to as “wife of a Bears lineman” by the Chicago Tribune. The Tribune shared the article via Twitter and tweeted it with a headline that didn’t even mention her name.
In the Tribune’s defense, it is Chicago, so naturally they will connect anything Olympic-related to their city’s main sports teams if possible. But it is deeper that. Take a look at the reversed role—what if a headline read like this:
“Husband of Olympic trap shooter's pass rush against Detroit last Sunday was outstanding"
I'm not great at writing sports headlines, but you get the picture.
It sounds abnormal right? Just unnatural. When it comes to interviews, it actually sounds funny to ask men some of the same questions women are asked:
#CoverTheAthlete is a campaign aiming to combat sexism in sports and shift the focus from physical appearance to athletic ability. This video proves the problem by showing the absurd reactions from male athletes when asked questions women receive regularly.
After this year’s sexist comments from the Olympics coverage—crediting Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszú’s win to her husband, referring to the women’s judo final as a “catfight,” or the comparison of USA gold-medalist's Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky's athletic ability to a man’s—it shows these comments still come naturally to many.
This poses a greater question. Why is this the norm? Yes, women are beautiful and amazing, and admiring those qualities is inevitable to the human sex drive—but treating them like sexual objects on display is not. Referring to a woman through her husband’s fame is not a good news hook. And most of all, a man should never be credited for a woman’s ability and success she spent her life working towards.
The only way to combat a system designed to make men superior is to set aside the differences of physical appearance and refer to athletes and Olympians as simply one thing and one thing only—humans.
