sexism in sports – The Western Howl

Written by: Jaylin Hardin | Sports Editor, Libby Thoma | Staff Writer

Gender disparities are common in the world of sports. Female athletes are generally broadcasted less, paid less and pitted against others disparaged in the weight and size category. This problem is international and does seep its way into Western — although Western is better about these disparities than other schools and professional sports.

One issue within the sports world is how limited professional sports teams have been for women. The first professional men’s sports league was Major League Baseball, founded in 1869, after the Civil War, with its first team being the Cincinnati Red Stockings — now the Boston Red Socks. The National Football League — NFL — followed suit in 1920. The United States eventually joined the Federation Internationale de Futbol and founded the National Basketball Association, known as FIFA and the NBA respectively, in 1930 and 1946.

Women’s sports, on the other hand, did not have the same starts or even advantages as their male counterparts did. For a period of time during the forties and fifties, there was the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which was created over concerns about Major League Baseball’s viewership during World War II. After this period, women’s golf became popular, and is currently the longest-running women’s professional sport — the first Women’s Professional Golf Association Tour started in the 1950s.

In June of 1972, Title IX was passed, which prohibited discrimination based on sex or gender. From this point on, women began to get a leg up in, not only education, but also athletics and other federally funded programs. Professional Tennis also became very popular among female athletes at this time.

It was not without its faults, however. Following the passing of Title IX, women still faced misogyny in athletics, as well as the struggle to establish their leagues. The Women’s NBA, Women’s FIFA, Pro-Softball and Volleyball leagues were not founded until the nineties, with many struggling to stay afloat throughout their history.

Another issue in the professional sports world is that the women’s leagues are paid less than their male counterparts. For example, NBA players receive 50% of shared revenue from their teams and leagues, while WNBA players receive only 20%. In numbers, the average NBA player’s salary is $7.5 million a year. The average WNBA player’s salary? $116,000 a year. That’s a $7.3 million difference.

Further, discrimination is still strong against female athletes and their level of play and abilities. For collegiate softball, one of the most common sayings against the teams is, “450, dead center.” This refers to the differences in field size and pitching style in softball and how most men believe they could easily hit a home run off the softball pitchers.

Western’s sport disparities are minimal but still exist. Although Western seemingly handles any disparities well, they do not handle it perfectly.

One thing Western excels in is its treatment of male and female athletes. Throughout interviews, female athletes report being treated well, an equal part of the athletic population and happy to be involved with the sports.

“If there was inequity or inequality in treatment, I would know about it,” said Michael Gonzalez, the Student-Athlete Success Advisor. “Any problems, they come to me.”

Western also does a phenomenal job at broadcasting and advertising female sports — equally to male sports, if not more so. This is extremely important for funding, as advertising and broadcasting boost funding.

According to Randi Lydum, the executive director of intercollegiate athletics, funding is distributed based on schedule and number of athletes and coaches on the team. Those with a more demanding schedule will receive more funding, while those who may travel less or have fewer athletes receive less funding.

Scholarships are divided based on the NCA framework that gives the maximum of scholarships that Western can offer. “We try to make sure that the number of scholarships we’re giving… matches the percentage of student participation,” Lydum said.

The school tries to ensure that female-dominated and male-dominated sports receive the same amount of scholarships, percentage-wise. Lydum states that they take equity in funding and scholarships seriously. Lydum also states that there haven’t been any actual complaints about the amount of funding from athletes or coaches to her directly.

“…if there is a problem I want to get it figured out. Although Western does equality well, it is not done perfectly. An anonymous athlete states that “There should be changes in the budget according to which sports are more successful,” said Lydum.

Western’s 2023 Budget Reports state that football received 14,282 in general admin overhead, with baseball and softball getting 6,290. Football gets 165,000 in travel with baseball and softball receiving 85,000, which is the most out of all the other sports. Football exceeds all other sports in recruiting, receiving 12,240 with the other sports getting 1,700–5,100 at most.

It is easily seen how much of a discrepancy football funds receive in comparison to other sports. Why is that the case when football is easily not the top-performing program?

Football game outcomes are highly disappointing — losing eight of eleven games, with a winning percentage of .273. This is comparatively lower when compared to women’s soccer’s record of 8-5-6, with a winning percentage of .579, or even men’s soccer’s 11-3-3, .735.

This may be a gender issue, or this may be an issue of putting money towards ‘needed’ costs rather than wins.

Gender disparities have been found in athletics throughout history, dating back to the very beginning of these sports. It is extremely important to ensure gender equity in our athletics department to set an example for others, and although Western is more careful about equity than other colleges and professional sports, Western can continue to discuss equity.

Contact the authors at ethoma23@mail.wou.edu or howlsports@wou.edu

Written by: Liberty Miller | Lifestyle Editor

In the past year alone, an exponential increase has been observed in media attention for women’s collegiate basketball, prompted by athletes such as Caitlyn Clark and Angel Reese. The nature of Division One college sports ensures that major sports will always have a sizable fanbase, funding and resources at the program’s disposal.

The situation for the majority of National Collegiate Athletic Association student-athletes has traditionally been to play for four to five years, either retire from the sport or attempt to pursue professional play, either in the U.S. or overseas. While many athletes have accomplished this feat, major discrepancies have been noticed in funding and fanbase potential for women’s professional sports, particularly basketball.

One factor that many people may overlook is the dedication being contributed, not towards basketball but towards volleyball. In the past two to three years, the U.S. has launched three new professional volleyball leagues — the Pro Volleyball Federation, Athletes Unlimited Volleyball and League One Volleyball, which will begin its inaugural season in January 2025.

In terms of promotion and social media, the Pro Volleyball Federation has made the most progress in establishing professional volleyball leagues in the U.S. Similar to this year’s WNBA draft, all three volleyball leagues have brought in Olympic veterans, freshly minted star collegiate drafts and a lot of fresh talent to their rosters.

While I believe the WNBA has had similar strategic attempts to garner support for the league, they have notably had to rely on the NBA to garner funding and have become somewhat encompassed in negative and lackluster media attention throughout the years.

A disproportionate amount of the negative public opinion surrounding women’s basketball, unsurprisingly, stems from sexist ideology and a lack of support for women’s sports in general. Hateful discourse includes the facts that the WNBA is consistently underfunded, relying on the men’s league funds to survive, and claims of unexciting gameplay and WNBA vets that “overstay their welcome.” The reasons behind the WNBA struggling to stay afloat are numerous, which makes it a complex and potentially difficult subject to discuss.

A multifaceted approach must be taken in order to make sustained progress for the WNBA. The recent boom in popularity due to high-profile newcomers may not be enough to simply “fix” the issues the WNBA has been facing for the last 28 or so years.

Female athletes are well used to the misogynistic rhetoric that discredits accomplishments and athletic ability — but that doesn’t mean we can place all of the blame on that rhetoric. There are things that must be done and changed by the association, public relations, event managers and even the players themselves to secure the future of the WNBA.

The first thing that I believe must be done is lowering the rim of the women’s net to nine feet. The rim is currently set at 10 feet, the same height as the men’s rim for the NBA. This is a highly controversial idea and was met with a lot of pushback when pitched by Shaquille O’Neal.

When asked about it, WNBA player, Diana Tuarasi, even stated that they “…might as well put us in skirts and back in the kitchen.” The idea, admittedly, would make any elite athlete feel somewhat inferior, especially when constantly compared to their male counterparts.

In my opinion, that feeling of inferiority is rooted in ego. As a volleyball player of 11 years, women’s nets have always been lower, and yes, it is irritating — but we need to recognize that we aren’t “making the game easier” by lowering the rim. We are actually creating a game situation that is proportionately fair for physical capabilities. Think of it this way: women have to put in twice the amount of effort and training in order to match their capabilities with male counterparts. So, setting the same standard, perhaps a 10-foot rim, and expecting the same type of athleticism from men and women would put women at an extreme disadvantage. That’s not to say women aren’t capable or that they cannot put in the work. It means that establishing the playing field as equitable, rather than equal, will allow women to showcase their athleticism more. Lowering the rim would allow for WNBA athletes to make explosive, more dynamic plays and to dunk as well.

There are many arguments against lowering the rim, with an author from ESPN calling it a “quick fix” and attributing the hateful rhetoric solely to “years of social conditioning.” Many would argue that the WNBA would get the same amount of hate if they did lower the rims. That may be true — but currently, we are limiting the amount of plays that female basketball players can make.

An example of how countless shows of athleticism are lost can be seen in the 37 dunks made in the entirety of WNBA history, 26 of which were made by Britney Griner. Additionally, it’s not just the athleticism that the public is missing out on. The lack of exciting gameplay creates a lack of media attention, even more negative public opinion and a lack of support, which, guess what? It means that 50% of the WNBA is owned by the NBA, which has to bail them out of bankruptcy every season. The fact that the NBA financially supports the WNBA is then just another piece of bait for misogynistic haters to grab onto.

Speaking of what teams can do in the WNBA to gain public support — once again, they could invest in more strategic movies for exciting gameplay. The NBA has famously publicized many feuds throughout the years, making the games not just another scoreboard but a story to be told.

When I talked to Jen Spicher, the CEO for the Pro Volleyball Federation, she told me that the people wanted a story to be told for the game. What I’ve learned throughout the years is that viewers want inspiration, drama and pure passion turned into athleticism when they watch a game. This is the reason Caitlyn Clark and Angel Reese have gained so much attention last year during the NCAA championships.

As a female athlete, I have always been an intense and competitive player and have had coaches who prefer for female athletes to be controlled, calm and somewhat docile. Angel Reese is an example of what the media and public can do to a woman who isn’t complicit in toning herself down to seem more womanly on the court, and in my opinion, we need about 20 more of her.

I’m not advocating for fights or conflict for media bait, but coaches need to recruit and promote players who tell their stories and who hone in on that passion and make it evident throughout the game. The game doesn’t exist without the players, and the players control the narrative, pace of the game and how they want to tell their story.

It is the coach’s job to recruit and coach the game in the best way possible, but it is the team manager, public relations specialists and social media creators for the WNBA who are responsible for telling the stories of these athletes and making marketing decisions that showcase the most fierce, competitive and show-stopping parts of the WNBA that the majority of the public has yet to witness.

I, like many others, believe that the WNBA has limitless potential to become great, as well as financially independent. By allowing female athletes to make more plays by lowering the rim, raising the quality of the PR and social media outreach and realizing that the means to profit is demanding positive public attention from great plays and storytelling, the WNBA could eventually become an independent entity.

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu

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