It seems like a bit of an understatement to say that we are striving (albeit more slowly than some would like) towards equality between the sexes in all things, but I am still failing to see the work applied successfully in the realm of athletics. There are still, and will always be, those who claim that women will never be as fast, as strong, as capable or as athletic as their male counterparts. And sure, in purely physical terms I certainly wouldn’t stand a chance against a linebacker in the NFL — even if he plays for the Browns. The point I’m getting at is this: we can’t compare men’s and women’s athletics and come to the conclusion that men are biologically superior as athletes without evening the playing field (pun intended).
In all honesty, I am tired of seeing articles about a girl playing football, hockey or some other “super-masculine” sport. I feel as though these “special attention” articles are serving only to heighten the divide between the sexes in athletics. After all these years, why are we still surprised that women are just as capable of kicking a football as men are? And I get it; I understand the ideas these articles are trying to get across — I just think there are better ways to go about showing support for female athletes than praising them for being able to play with the men.
While women’s athletics have slowly gained some popularity, both owners and fans fail to give them the attention they deserve. Market forces contribute to the issues of unequal pay — fewer spectators for women’s sports means less revenue, and the WNBA is somewhat dependent upon NBA subsidies. The lack of viewer interest generates the question: why do male sports draw more viewers? At this point, I honestly don’t have a good answer. Perhaps it has to do with longstanding gender stereotypes that remain in our society today? Do women really make for less exciting athletes? Is it because of the fact that in the world of athletics some competitors — be they male or female — are just intrinsically better than others?
I think that this question hits a key rationale. We don’t have men’s and women’s debate teams. We’ve determined (although equal pay hasn’t necessarily caught up to this well-known fact) that women are just as smart as men and vice versa. But in the world of sports, you always have a winner and a loser. We define excellence by wins — therefore, this inequality is generated not only between males and females, but between teams of the same sexes as well. It’s just that there is a distinct lack of male versus female matchups.
While I don’t believe that gender inequality will be eliminated any time in the near or far future from the world of athletics, I do think certain steps can be taken to eliminate the gaps. First of all, support your women’s teams! The sure track to pay equality for women in athletics is to generate the same amount of interest given to men’s athletics. Second, we need to prove that women are just as capable of playing with the same size basketball used in the NBA, and capable of making shots from the same three-point line. We no longer deserve to be defined as the “weaker sex.” Finally, we need to encourage co-ed sports teams — the intramural and club teams on this campus are doing a good job at that (shout-out to the Quidditch team).