This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at LIM chapter.
Research conducted by Cambridge University Press has concluded that the word “man” is used approximately three times more than the word “woman” in sports-related reporting. Sports events such as the FIFA Women’s World Cup are less covered in sports news and media despite high numbers of views, and female athletes are all but ignored in co-ed events such as the Olympics. This has been the societal norm for what seems like forever, even in instances when the women’s teams out-perform their male counterparts.
In a society that is progressively becoming more tolerant and inclusive, why is it that the sports world refuses to give the same acknowledgment to the accomplishments of female athletes? To celebrate Women’s History month as well as female athletes, here are 5 facts about female competitors in sports and the media coverage of female athletics.
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40% of all athletes are women, but they receive only 4% of media coverage in sports.
2) Despite claims that male sports get more coverage because there is a larger audience base, the 2015 Women’s World Cup final game was the most-viewed U.S. soccer match in history, for both male and female games.
3) There was a 28% increase in WNBA regular season viewers from 2012 to 2013. Also, in 2014 over 4.2 million viewers tuned in for the NCAA championship game.
4) Compared to 1981 studies, the average NCAA school has approximately 88 more female student-athletes and 18 more male student-athletes today.
5) Sports have a huge beneficial impact on female athletes! Regular exercise may increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer, increases a woman’s bone mass, and decreases her chance of osteoporosis. Also, female athletes tend to have higher grades, lower dropout rates, lower pregnancy rates, and are more likely to graduate college than their non-athletic female counterparts.
