4 major reasons why it is harder being a female athlete
It’s been proven that female athletes have more difficulty in the sporting industry than male athletes; these are four major reasons why gender inequality in sports is such a vital and detrimental issue in society.
- Sexualising female athletes
Rebecca Adlington is one of Great Britain’s most successful swimmers, yet she received a significant amount of online abuse because of how the public viewed her. According to ‘The Guardian’, she believes 80% of the abuse she receives is from men but it’s the other 20% from women that hurts her the most. Adlington said: “I get called, ugly, a whale, a dolphin…”
On the other hand, we have athletes that have been extremely sexualised, for example the USA Gymnastics scandal. The unforgettable and unbearable suffering some American gymnasts received from Larry Nassar, who was the doctor for USA Gymnastics. He was jailed for life for sexually assaulting and grooming gymnasts. His youngest victim was 15 years old, as well as horrifically assaulting some of these gymnasts in his own house.
Sporting uniform has a massive contribution to sexualising female athletes. Insultingly, sportswomen have to wear a limited amount of clothing to attract sexual attention rather than the attention of how good they are in that sport — contradicting the fact society has taught us that a muscular women are not ‘feminine’.
In 2013 the world was convinced WNBA star Brittney Griner was a man due to her talent and ability in basketball. She had to be a man because she is not what a ‘women’ should look like in society. Despite the abuse she received on social media and consistent bullying she had in school, she is the first openly homosexual athlete to sign with Nike.
2. The domestic perception that individuals still have for women
From the beginning of time, women have been portrayed domestically. Cooking and cleaning are seen as gender roles and not a life skill. The man should be the ‘breadwinner’ and the woman should stay at home with their children. This type of thinking is one of the reasons why women are not taken seriously in sport - they are seen as the weaker sex and this is evident in sport.
Women’s boxing became a ‘official Olympic sport’ in 2012 at the London Games, whereas men’s boxing has been an Olympic sport since 1904.
40 years ago the first professional football league for women was formed and the WNBA in 1991. In 2009, women’s Premier League Rugby started. Comparing to when men starting playing sport professionally at the first Olympic Games in 776 BC, the difference in these dates are shocking.
3. Gender pay-gap
Gender pay gap is the most obvious evidence of gender inequality. The main reason why female athletes get paid less then male athletes is due to the lower amount of spectator interest, less endorsements and sponsorship deals; which links to the lack of media coverage and recognition.
In May 2002 the United States women’s football team’s bid for equal pay was dismissed by the court, despite the fact the team won the Women’s World Cup in summer 2019, making it their fourth time. Whereas, the US men’s team made the World Cup quarter finals in 2002.
WNBA star, Skylar Diggins-Smiths’ annual salary is $224,870. Lebron James earns double that per regular season game.
4. Media coverage and recognition
Male dominated sports make it hard for women to break the ideology that a specific sport is more ‘male’. For example, football. Even though football is male dominated, the problem isn’t just with men dominating the sport, but how people can’t see change or development within football for the women due to the norm of football being more successful for the men; in a democratic society, journalism can change this. Journalists have the power to share news and educate the world, therefore media companies and newspapers should improve how much exposure they are giving women in sport.
Women receive only 4% of sports media coverage, without media recognition this affects potential sponsorships as well as encouraging and inspiring the younger generation.
Reporter: “There will be talk of you going down as one of the greatest female athletes of all time.” Serena Williams: “I prefer… one of the greatest athletes of all time.”
