According to a Gallup poll taken in 2015, 51% of women identify themselves as a sports fan. However, being a female sports fan is hardly easy. In this article we will take you through some of the real struggles of being a woman who loves the awesome world of sports.
1.) You’re “one of the boys.”
It’s frustrating to identify as both a sports fan and a girl because so often female sport lovers are viewed as “one of the boys.” You can still be feminine and like sports. Similarly, being feminine does not mean that you don’t understand or care about sports. Also, being a sports fan does not take away a woman’s femininity. We can hardcore obsess over our team and still be #flawless at the same time.
2.) People expect that you don’t know as much as you actually do.
For some insane reason, whenever girls say they like a certain sport or team, many people (usually guys) try and make them prove it by stating facts or records. However, when guys say they like sports people tend to just take their word for it. This can be extremely frustrating for women as they’re constantly having to prove themselves instead of just being able to enjoy being a fan with other people’s opinions.
3.) People think you’re just trying to impress guys.
It is a common misconception that girls who like sports must just be pretending so that they can get a guy’s attention. Honestly, this is just extremely frustrating. Sports are seen as masculine, so people assume that only a masculine person would like them. Wrong. Girls can totally like sports just because. Newsflash: we don’t need a guy’s approval to do or like certain things.
4.) “Girls can’t possibly understand sports.”
It’s so sad but true that some people still believe that women cannot understand sports. And then, this goes back to having to prove ourselves. It can be an endless and vicious cycle. So we’ll just stay here cheering for our team while you try and tell us that we don’t get it.
But no matter what people say, we will always love sports.
Sports are part of our everyday lives and we couldn’t imagine life without them. They give us hope, inspire us, and give us idols to look up to. We want to prove to the world that just because we’re women doesn’t mean we can’t be sports fans. We will love the games with all of our hearts and never let anyone tell us otherwise.