The disparity between men’s and women’s sports is a familiar issue. If you were a girl raised as an athlete, I am sure you know first-hand how this difference in treatment presents itself. While there are physical differences between men and women, these do not account for the wide scope of gender-based inequalities experienced by female athletes. In this article, you will learn about some of the major issues plaguing women’s sports at the moment and some of the on-campus women’s teams you can show up and support.
Pay and the wage gap:
The primary inequality experienced by female athletes ties back to their pay and the wage gap across different sports. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the wage gap hasn’t closed much since 2004, with women making “around 80–83 cents on the average man’s dollar.”
Of course, these numbers heavily vary based on which industry. For more information on specific breakdowns, read more here. This issue is also more complicated than salary; according to Goal Five, “women’s sports get an estimated 0.4% of total corporate sponsorships.”
Media coverage:
There is a frequent debate over the lack of coverage and attention given to women’s sports when compared to the widely popular and all-consuming environment surrounding men’s sports. Defenders will say that in comparison to men’s matches, women’s games are slower, more boring, or less athletic. However, these criticisms depend on long-standing stereotypes against female athletes in general, reducing them to their physical differences from male athletes and refusing to acknowledge their accomplishments as professionals in the field.
Many media organizations also defend their lack of coverage by noting the lack of audience or public care, stating that they assign work based on viewership. While this is true in some instances, we are beginning to see an undeniable turnaround in attention to women’s sports.
A great example of this change happened in April 2023 for college basketball. For the Women’s March Madness championship, close to 10 million people tuned in, making it the “most watched women’s college basketball game to date.” On the opposite side, according to Forbes, the Men’s March Madness championship had a 15% drop-off in audience delivery from last season’s game. Therefore, fans are hoping to see more content produced at women’s games to even the playing field between the two.
Outside of the general lack of coverage, an article for the Sports Journal by Travis Scheadler and Audrey Wagstaff explored the different ways women are covered in media. While male athletes are described as strong and powerful, female athletes are frequently degraded as “girls”. In the aforementioned article, Scheadler and Wagstaff cite how female athletes “receive poorer quality of technical production and less overall coverage” while simultaneously having to deal with content that focuses on their bodies and sexuality (highly observed in sports like volleyball and track and field).
Impact on young athletes
According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, this disparity is also affecting the next generation of female athletes. Girls are “dropping out of sports at two times the rate of boys” by the age of 14. Researchers are pointing to a variety of factors that impact this statistic, including a lack of opportunity in the professional field, social stigmatization, and again, the intense focus on adolescent bodies. To help fix the growing issue for young aspiring female athletes, we must address the inequalities of the industry head-on and move toward real, effective change.
Local teams to support near ASU
On and off campus, ASU students can support a wide range of women’s sports teams. Below are lists of both ASU teams and state teams whose games you can attend or view online to show your support for women’s athletics.
ASU teams:
- Women’s Basketball
- Women’s Beach Volleyball
- Women’s Cross Country
- Women’s Golf
- Women’s Gymnastics
- Women’s Lacrosse
- Women’s Soccer
- Sun Devil Softball
- Women’s Swim & Dive
- Women’s Tennis
- Women’s Track and Field
- Women’s Triathlon
- Women’s Water Polo
Find more women’s sports in AZ here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Women%27s_sports_in_Arizona