Gender Inequality in Sports
By: K Smith
Edited By: J Williams
What is Title IX?
On June 23, 1972, Title IX was signed into law. Title IX created equitable opportunities for women to participate in sports, investing in scholarships for men and women proportional to their participation, and treating male and female student athletes equally. Since the passing of this law, female participation in sports has increased by 1057%. Since legislation granted Title IX, it hit its 50th anniversary on June 23, 2022.
Gender Inequality in Sports
Women make up more than half of the U.S. population, but they are still fighting for equality in the world of sports, where gender-based discrimination is all too common. It has been said that unfortunately sexism in sports is ingrained from the time our children are in youth sports. This inequality is also institutionalized — from how we define what qualities as a sport to the imagery used to represent female athletes, disparities in the facilities, and support for female athletes. A well known professional female soccer athlete, Megan Rapinoe, tried to advocate and testified to Congress saying, “One cannot simply outperform inequality or be excellent enough to escape discrimination of any kind.” Fighting for recognition and equal treatment for these female athletes should never be a consistent occurrence. Women and girls in sports should not be an afterthought.
According to Arizona State University Hugh Downs School of Human Communication Assistant Professor, Alaina Zanin, found that there are few girls playing sports due to the lack of access, safety, funding, and transportation. There is a gender bias whereas girls are more likely to be expected to help around the house or take care of younger siblings. “It’s more acceptable for the boys to participate in sport.” A big influence on the reason for young women’s dropout rates being high is purely because of comments made by people surrounding them.
This is just a snippet of the inequality faced among women in sports. It is a consistent problem that not even a law such as Title IX can improve. Young girls should have every right and opportunity to play a sport, get equal pay, and get recognition for playing a sport just as much as boys.
Equal Pay
In case you think gender inequality gets better the older athletes get, I am here to prove you wrong. The United States Women’s National Team is fighting for equal pay as you are reading this blog. They used to argue about whether they deserved the same charter flights as their male counterparts and about the definition of what constituted equal pay, but now the gears have shifted to focus on just equalizing pay between the men’s and national teams. The U.S. Soccer’s president stated, “The most important thing here is that we are moving forward, and we are moving forward together.”
It is imperative us women advocate for other women especially when it comes in terms of inequality in sports. There is not one excuse for men to receive better treatment when it comes to being active. It starts at a young age with these girls. If we fight for them when they are young, they will soon learn to stand up and fight for themselves and will less likely face adversity later on in sports. These girls have a bright future in sports and as studies show participation in sports sets them up for success, which is what the desired end goal is.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/22/sports/soccer/us-womens-soccer-equal-pay.html
https://news.asu.edu/20200305-perceived-gender-inequity-sport