We need to address how female athletes get treated differently than male athletes. There is a clear double standard, and this hurts both female and male athletes.
Serena Williams is a tennis superstar, yet instead of focusing on her successful career, people constantly bash her appearance. For some reason, they believe that a woman can't be both athletic and feminine. Why do we want female athletes to look a certain way?
We don't watch men's basketball and say that the players are "too muscular," but women get called "manly" if their body shows any signs of going to the gym. We should praise women for their accomplishments, just as we praise men, and stop focusing on what their bodies look like.
Another issue with the way we treat female athletes is that they are not always punished when they should be. While men's sports are not a shining example of how teams should discipline players, we seem to let some female athletes get away with things that they shouldn't. Hope Solo, who was arrested on two counts of domestic violence (the case was eventually dismissed), did not receive any punishment for her actions.
While Hope Solo was not disciplined for getting arrested, she did receive a suspension in 2015 for an incident ending with her husband getting charged with a DUI. Most recently, U.S. Soccer terminated Solo's contract with the women's national team because of comments Solo made after the U.S. women's soccer team was eliminated in the Olympics.
Hope Solo alone is a clear example of the weird standards we hold our female athletes to. They can get exhibit completely reckless behavior with little or no punishment, but if they are sore losers and say something in spite after a big loss, then they had better pack their bags. We need to begin holding female athletes accountable like we should, and sometimes do, hold men athletes accountable when they break rules.
At the end of the day, female athletes are just as incredible and talented as male athletes, and they deserve the same respect and treatment that men receive.
