This past summer, the USWNT competed at the highest level in France, taking home the trophy for the fourth time. During this competition, stars such as Megan Rapinoe and the rest of the team brought to the attention of the world the difference in pay between men and women in the soccer world. With this attention, the team has even sued US Soccer for equal pay rights. Unfortunately, the women of soccer are not the only professional athletes facing this sort of equal pay discrimination. Many female athletes have been very outspoken in the discrimination they face daily and the fight they undertake to get something as simple as equal pay in 2019. Here are some examples of female athletes that you probably didn’t know who are currently fighting or have fought for equal pay.
The US Women’s National Ice Hockey Team
In 2017, the US Women’s National Ice Hockey Team fought for equal pay to their male counterparts ahead of the 2017 IIHF World Championships. At that time, the women were hardly making living wages and had been left out of pre-Olympic marketing plans despite being incredibly successful in their game. The team banded together and threatened to boycott the 2017 championships, and eventually after a year-long battle, US Hockey agreed to their demands. The women went on to win gold at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, their first time doing so in 20 years.
WNBA Players
A’ja Wilson, Brittney Griner, Liz Cambage, and Skylar Diggins Smith are among the fearless women leading the fight for equality in the basketball world. While the men are given multi-million dollar contracts, the women often are forced to play overseas in the off-season in order to make a living wage. The women have been outspoken about how they don’t need millions of dollars from the league, just equity. The NBA pays its players 49-51 percent of the leagues revenue, while the WNBA players take home 22.8 percent.
Surfing
In 2016, six women of the surfing world created the Commision for Equity in Women’s Surfing, or the CEWS. CEWS is an organization that seeks to increase the number of events and awards open to women, while also offering equal prize money that is offered to the men. These six women are Andrea Moller, Bianca Valenti, Keala Kennelly, Paige Alms, Karen Tynan and Sabrina Brennan. Their efforts in CEWS paid off, and in 2018 the World Surf League announced equal prize money for all of their controlled events. This is a huge step in the surfing world, as surfing in the past has been a male dominated industry. The prize money change went into effect in 2019.
Tennis, Venus and Serena Williams
The two queens and sisters, Venus and Serena Williams, have always been incredibly outspoken about equal pay for men and women in the tennis world. The fight famously began with Venus, who fought Wimbledon on the difference of prize money for men and women. After that fight, Wimbledon announced they would eliminate the wage gap and give equal prize money. As for Serena, she is currently the highest paid female athlete in the world and was very outspoken about the dedication of women when she returned to the sport soon after giving birth. Not only does she raise awareness for women in general, she also often fights for black women, citing the fact that black women earn 17 percent less than their white female counterparts and 63 percent of every dollar men make. Overall, these sisters are and always will be important advocates for equal pay in the tennis world.
While it is upsetting that this topic still needs to be discussed in 2019, it is important that support is given to these female athletes as they fight for their right to equal pay. Support can be given by watching and attending events, or even spreading social media awareness. These female athletes can be looked up to as strong role models and given the utmost respect. Shoutout to the awesome women out there, keep fighting! Know you have so much girl power support on your side.