I took a class this semester titled “Sports Journalism”. Dr. Carlin, my favorite professor at Shippensburg University, teaches this course. It is by far the best course I have ever taken. Truthfully, it’s not a course I just take. I virtually show up every day, fully engaging myself to try and to soak up all of the information I possibly can. Hyper-focusing on the big hand, counting down the minutes until I could leave was not an activity I partook in during this class.
I will spare you the time reading you the course description, but I have to tell you about some of it. We have learned about some pretty important topics this semester like how Michael Jordan has changed the sneaker industry, the underrepresentation of female sports being broadcasted, the reality of Title IX, gender representation in sports broadcasting- I could go on. I picked a pretty cool major if I do say so myself.
The very last task I was assigned, was to write a sports column that would be published on a sports website or in a print publication. Dr. Carlin taught us that writing columns takes an advanced writer as the proficiency of the writing needs to involve exceptional storytelling, adequate reasoning and eminent debate skills to support your reasoning.
Dr. Carlin told us to pick a topic we were passionate about.
*hits Staples “that was easy” button*
Close out of this tab if you don’t care. Keep scrolling if you want to be a part of the change. Women deserve better. We’ve had enough.
Women are Worth Watching
People don’t care enough about women in sports. If they did, I wouldn’t be writing this.
49 years. It has been 49 years since women first experienced equal opportunity in athletics. But we are still here in 2021 feeling like the minority.
According to the NCAA, “Title IX of the Education Amendment Acts of 1972 is a federal law that states: ‘No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal assistance.’”
To no one’s surprise, the NCAA failed to abide by this law during this year’s March Madness tournament- or this was at least the first time they were publicly blasted on Tik Tok. Oregon’s women’s basketball star Sedona Prince exposed the NCAA for their pitiful attempt at providing the women with the same resources, opportunities and experience as the men.
Despite the excuses and the actions the NCAA took after the video, the female athletes were proven to be seen as an afterthought. In fact, I will argue that the attempt to equalize the men’s and women’s experience was done to uplift the NCAA's branding, not because they care about the female student-athletes as people.
The opportunistic exclusion of female athletes goes far beyond the college level, unfortunately. The sports world is high key a patriarchy. This is why our society believes that women’s sports aren’t worth watching. I’ll tell you why:
Women make up just under half, 40%, of participants in sports yet they earn a whopping 4% of sports media coverage.
At the end of the day, sports editors have a job of selling a story. The lingering fear that writing an unsuccessful story on a women’s sport isn’t believable to me. I don’t think they’ve taken enough risks or try hard enough.
It all circles back to money. That’s the bottom line. But have you ever taken into consideration that 90% of sports editors are male? And 90% of those males are white?
Take a look at these screenshots from a NY Daily News article.
Women who talk about sports are outnumbered because the people in charge believe that no one will give a woman the time of day to hear her opinion about last night’s game or the upcoming draft. The trickle-down effect will take place and the company will lose views resulting in a loss of money- unless you look like Sam Ponder or Erin Andrews who our sick male-based fan club value these women’s looks more than their talent.
So, the question now is, do you think there would be more reporting on women’s sports if more sports editors, reporters and anchors were female? Well, the obvious answer is yes because female sportscasters would make that a goal of theirs. However, this still does not solve the issue of the hegemonic ideologies from the white men who control the sports entertainment industry.
I have to consider the idea that if women’s sports were worthy of more coverage, they would receive it. Actually, let me rephrase that. I will consider the idea that women’s sports that are identical to male sports (such as soccer and basketball) do not receive as much coverage because they aren’t on the same level of entertainment due to the difference of quality of content through play. Right now, in today’s society, female athletes that play the same sport as male athletes feel the lack of hope to never be as popular as male sports because not only are they always compared but also because they are never, ever given equal opportunity to do so.
Ponder this: women’s sports that you see on television may not seem as exciting as men’s sports because men’s sports are produced in a finer way. Seriously, they are.
If you were to compare the production of a WNBA game to an NBA game, the NBA game would have higher quality coverage, play during primetime television hours, show significantly more instant replays, have way better camera angles, more experienced commentators, and put together an overall better production. These qualities that are missing in a WNBA game or any women’s game for that matter contribute to the stereotypes that women’s sports are a less exciting, slower game that isn’t as enjoyable. Even women believe this. I was once a victim.
So, then that brings up another argument. How the heck are men ever going to hold female sports to the same value as male sports if females don’t even look at female sports in that light? There is this twisted objective that we as females ALL must believe in ourselves or else there will be no progress within the opposing gender.
But I will not accept that idea as anything less than ridiculous. We as females should not have to have the support of every female to ever walk the earth to gain the respect from men. That literally contradicts the concept of feminism.
I have found that aesthetic sports such as gymnastics, skiing, beach volleyball, tennis and ice skating are the only female athletes that receive somewhat proper recognition from the male gaze. Could this be because men have accepted that they never want to attempt a split? Possibly. Could this be because the sports as such that display the strengths of women that aren’t comparable to men? Mhm. Could this be because the women look more physically appealing competing which is why they get more recognition? Definitely.
I mean look at our beloved ‘Fab 5’ Olympic Gymnastic, Aly Raisman who posed nude for a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. Alex Morgan is another great example. Her brunette ponytail held back by pink prewrap isn’t the only thing that is tight and right on that field. Men have no problem broadcasting, writing or watching a female athlete in a skin-sucking leotard but they do have a problem with watching WNBA players who wear their baggy shorts to their knees and might be into females.
And no, I am not saying that people don’t watch the USWNT compete or women’s college basketball- they do. In fact, 4.007 million people watched Stanford beat Arizona and the 2019 Women’s World Cup final had 22% higher viewership than the 2018 men’s final.
My point is that even with that outstanding viewership, these female athletes deserve more than they receive. Women are constantly getting shorted- in earnings, television rights, recognition, and opportunity.
One of the best moments in sports was when USWNT player Brandi Chastain ripped her shirt off in celebration of scoring a game- winning penalty kick in the World Cup versus China in 1999.
By some, she was ridiculed for making the game about her body, being unlady like and reveling private parts of her body on camera. Well listen up, Johnny! Women have breasts. It is basic anatomy. Christiano Ronaldo had no problem taking his shirt off to show off his shredded body as the only thing he had to fear was a possible yellow card.
We look at iconic female athletes like Billie Jean King, Megan Rapinoe, Brandi Chastine, Sedona Prince and Maggie Nichols and hope that there are other female athletes inspired by their leadership to help advocate for the well deserved change.
We want a voice, we want to be heard, we want to be seen. Give us a seat at the table. Turn on our mics. Believe in us. Watch us. Listen to us. Women have talent. You just have to start paying attention to it.