It is a sad, but known fact that women’s sports are not as heavily worshiped and prized as men’s. It is present every few years when the World Cup rolls around. The men’s tournament gathers huge hype for months on end, while most people are unaware that the Women’s World Cup is even occurring. (It happened this summer!) It is especially present in our own Carrier Dome. Every inch of seating is occupied for Men’s Basketball, yet in a women’s game anyone who walks in (even during the second half), regardless of whether or not they even have a ticket, has their pick at a first row seat.
While this issue is rooted with many different obstacles, the issue of equality is almost always at its forefront. If women are treated as if they cannot perform as well athletically as men without certain aid, then how can we expect the public as spectators to treat them equally? Unfortunately, this example is clearly shown in women’s tennis.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the sport of tennis, here are a few guidelines that are extremely crucial to understanding this argument.
· There are 4 large tournaments every year called Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open).
· In every other tournament (other than the Grand Slams) both men and women must win 2 sets to win the match, which means that no more than 3 sets can be played in one match.
· In Grand Slam tournaments, the men must win 3 sets. This means that they could play up to 5 sets in one match (this could last several hours).
· Women’s rules do not change. In a Grand Slam they still must only win 2 sets.
To recap, the male tennis players are put through an extra test in a Grand Slam tournament, while the women are always faced with the exact same obstacle: to win 2 sets. These rules suggest that women are clearly not strong enough to withstand what the men are expected to as grand slam champions. Unfortunately, this is only adding to the “weak woman” stereotype that controls and permanently stains our culture.
As if this were not enough, at this year’s Wimbledon a new heat rule was enacted. If the temperature rises above 30.1C (about 86 degrees F), players have a choice of taking a 10-minute break between second and third sets. But get this: this rule only applies to women. The men are not permitted to have a break, even as the temperatures get dangerously high.
So here’s the bottom line: If we as a society continue to put women athletes in a separate category when it comes to strength, ability, and stamina, the only thing we are doing is damaging our already twisted stereotype of gender.
Sports lovers don’t appreciate women’s sports as much because many of them believe they are not watching the best of the best. But this is only because they are told this is the truth. They are told by the sports organizations themselves that women can’t last 5 sets. They are told that women need to take breaks.
Weakness has become a trait of being a woman, not of being a human. Men who fall short of a goal are often referred to with feminine titles, because who would dare want to “throw like a girl”. When a female athlete achieves something amazing, the common reaction is to say “Hey, that’s great…for a woman”.
The more we construct rules that demand less from women athletes, the worse this situation gets. The world of sports is already male dominated. Let’s not give it more reason to be.
independent.co.uk
Cover photo: willowbrookst.org