Women's Equality In Sports

Superior Essays
Women have struggled for years to gain equality with their male counterparts. In the 1960’s, women were expected to marry in their early 20’s and devote all of their time to domestic chores in the home. She was expected to watch after her children and have dinner ready for her husband he arrived home from work. Because of this, women had fewer opportunities in sports and were seen as inferior to men. It wasn’t until a famous tennis match in 1973 between a woman, Billie Jean King, and a man, Bobby Riggs, titled the “Battle of the Sexes,” that the nation started to realize women should be viewed on an equal playing field in not just sports but, in life.
Billie Jean King is a six-time Wimbledon singles champion, four-time U.S. Open title winner, and was ranked number one in the world for five years. She used the sport of tennis to change the way women are perceived among society. Ironically, King only started playing tennis because her parents pressured her into playing a more “ladylike” sport instead of baseball and football. King squared off against Bobby Riggs in a battle for the ages. The match was televised to an audience of over 50 million people and Riggs had already faced a woman earlier in the year, which he won with little resistance. King was extremely nervous to face Riggs, but not because she didn’t believe she had the ability to beat him. King was sweating over the fact that if she lost the match, it would allow the world to continue seeing women as the second rate gender. King, won the match 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. Neil Amdur wrote in the New York Times that King “convinced skeptics that a female athlete can survive pressure-filled situations and that men are as susceptible to nerves as women.” While this was a huge step in women’s equality, somewhere along the line women were still being perceived as bush-league athletes to men on the playing fields. “You throw like a girl.” We’ve all heard it. We know what it’s implying. But have you seen Mo’ne Davis throw a fastball? Davis is a five foot four inch 8th grader that throws some mad heat. In the 2014 Little League baseball world series, she was throwing 70mph fastballs and was mowing down batter after batter. Mo'ne became the first girl to throw a shutout in the Little League World Series (LLWS) and was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Mo’ne 2014 LLWS run completely destroyed stereotypes of the famous phrase “you throw like a girl.” She showed the world that ‘throwing like a girl’ might not be such a bad thing after all. Although it is a common notion that girls are physically weaker than boys, we tend to forget that girls work just as hard as any guy does. Robin Marshall helped coach the Mexico
…show more content…
That means that there are 27,886 seats unfilled during the breakers average game, which is less than 10% of the stadium's maximum capacity. But why is it that these numbers are so low? It could be that the Breaker games overlap with the pro Boston men teams like the New England Patriots and Boston Celtics. It might also be that men sports have been around for a heck of a lot longer than women sports. But the biggest reason is because women are still viewed as lesser compared to the men teams. According to CNN, the average salary for a WNBA player is $72,000, while the average NBA player salary is $5 million dollars. These numbers are also uneven at the college level. Men get $190 million dollars more per year in athletic scholarships compared to women. An unequal treatment of women comes from the women’s professional hockey league. The Boston Blades represent some of the world's best women hockey players but are completely undermined. They players don’t get paid an annual salary. Instead, they have the benefit of a place to play, teammates to train with, provided transportation, ice time, coaches, etc. all provided by the league. Most of the players pick up regular full-time jobs just to earn a living. There is one professional team however, that is taking a stand against this inequality. That is the United States Women’s National (Soccer) Team

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Pay Gap Persuasive Essay

    • 1258 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Wage Gap: Sports Edition The U.S. women’s national soccer team has a radiant, ambitious history. Over three decades, it has traveled from non-existent to the top of the soccer world. Although, that doesn’t mean they are treated that way. There is still gender based bias against them, specifically involving a large wage gap.…

    • 1258 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    1. Sports can transform any boundaries real or imagined. A good example is the African Americans not being taught to swim and also when he mentioned that in the past they were not allowed to the swimming pools. 2.…

    • 135 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Bobby Rigg Research Paper

    • 1135 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In 1973, gender equality conflicts took to the courts, pitting self-acclaimed chauvinist tennis pro, Bobby Riggs, in a publicity campaign against the feminist movement. Riggs challenged Billie Jean King in a series of highly publicized matches known as the Battle of the Sexes. The media publicized the conflict, yet, King’s win would influence the sports world to abolish sexist beliefs and open the doors for female athletes. "Gender Discrimination" was first recognized in the 1700's. Women were expected to tend homes farms and nurture the children.…

    • 1135 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    No. Women will be given the same opportunities as men but will not get the respect they deserve. Equal pay, sports, and genetics are results of men and women not ever being able to be achieve true gender equality. The wage gap between men and women are significantly different but is really affecting women of color.…

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The controversial topic of paying student athletes has been brought up many times by both the schools and students. The corporate sponsors, broadcasters, and even the NCAA are the ones that get all of the benefits of these kids playing their hearts out. During the NCCA basketball tournament the major broadcasting stations make more than one billion of these games. They can charge…

    • 1530 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    [Logos] Many say the pay gap is due to the low attendance rates, which is completely true. To most of the women’s games an average of 1.35 million fans attend, as when to the men’s games an average of 3.43 million attend. Crazy, right?[Rhetorical Questioning] Imagine how the girls on the US National Women’s team feel, playing the same exact sport and excelling in it but still being paid less than the men because not as many fans attend you games.[Pathos] As stated by Kelsey Clark a College Soccer Player, “The women’s pay-and respect for them as athletes- should be equal and grow accordingly.”…

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Women also have different set of rules and distances and game time. Some sports pay more money to men than to women for playing the same sport. Including that they charge more money to watch men play then women. For the Women's Fifa world cup pay imbalances that have the US women's soccer team taking home only 2 million in prize money compared to the 35 million awarded to Germanys mens team last year.…

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    This chapter on invisibility gave me a bigger insight of oppression and what is means to give unjust treatment to someone. This chapter mainly described the oppression of sexism and the impact on the gender of being a female. One of the ways I personally have ever felt oppressed was playing sports in high school. Female sports are shown to not be as popular or given the same opportunities as male sports do. My high school was also the jays for our mascot and one of the common names female sports were given was the “lady jays”.…

    • 326 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Women’s soccer in the United States is at a very young age…

    • 1219 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gender Barriers In Sports

    • 915 Words
    • 4 Pages

    This sports study will define the increasingly important role of female coaches in all-male basketball leagues. The presence of female coaches in collegiate basketball defines the expanding parameters of coaching opportunities for women in the male-dominant NCAA men’s basketball league. The example of Theresa Phillips, Stephanie Ready, and Jennifer Johnston that defy the patriarchal culture of men’s coaching in all-male leagues at this level of performance. Patriarchal values in all-male basketball leagues are a major barrier for women attempting to become more integrated in this type of sporting culture. More so, the example of Becky Hammon as an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings also defines a new opportunity for women at the assistant coach level, yet…

    • 915 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Gender Diversity In Sports

    • 1727 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Billy Jean-King aside, nobody expects women to be able to compete with men in sports. Men produce higher testosterone levels than women, giving them an athletic advantage, therefore men and women must be segregated in sports to keep the playing field even. However, testosterone levels in men and women vary. For example, Caster Semenya won gold in the 2009 women’s world championship in the 800m swim. The International Association of Athletic Federation (IAAF) tested her for enhancing drugs and for being a man.…

    • 1727 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Gender Equality In Sports Essay

    • 1615 Words
    • 7 Pages
    • 9 Works Cited

    Women are often paid much less than men because they do not generate enough attention for the public. If television stations aired more women’s sports, they would generate enough to fans to raise more money and receive high paychecks. Men sports teams are considered to be more popular and more exciting than women’s sports. If women’s sports were aired on the radio and television shows as often as men’s, they would have a chance to make more money. Also, men have excessive amounts of money given from salary to free gifts from big advertisement…

    • 1615 Words
    • 7 Pages
    • 9 Works Cited
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Women’s rights in Sports According to Wikipedia, Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls of many societies throughout the world. In certain places, these rights are practised, established or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, while in others places those rights may be disregarded or suppressed. One of the necessary requirement for the effective exercise of women’s rights is that every woman should be free to develop and maintain their physical, mental, and intellectual powers, and that approach to physical knowledge and sport should accordingly be assured and guaranteed for everyone. Even though there are many female athletes have been successful in all kinds of sport, in many countries sport is still a male domain. Being a Muslims dominant country, in Malaysia, women are less encouraged in sports field compared to other fields like…

    • 1062 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    About 95% of people in America are involved in some form of sporting activity – recreationally and competitively – as of 2013 . $25.4 billion US dollars is spent on average per annum on professional sports in its various forms . Competitive sport, undeniably, has a strong vice-grip on today’s society in the United States and all across the world; and inequality is an issue that has plagued society from the past, and despite continuous efforts to reduce its presence, has yet to be eradicated. Equality in competitive sport is arguably crucial according to many; there should be no institutional barriers of participation based on race, the disabled should have an equal right to participation amongst themselves, and they should be ensured that a platform similarly prestigious to the opportunities available for able-bodied. While the…

    • 1095 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Esports Essay

    • 1712 Words
    • 7 Pages

    This is caused directly by less competitions that either allow women to compete or have a female division, usually resulting in a purse that is substantially lower. A recent BBC technology article found that “the earning for the top male player in e-sports amounts to over $2,500,000 while the top female earnings are less than $200,000. Ultimately, there is less money to be made from female teams, leading to fewer sponsors, and reduced coverage” (BBC, 2016). A simple solution may be to form separate leagues for women only competitions. However, gendered divisions is often viewed only as a temporary fix until women athletes are supported and skilled enough to compete with men.…

    • 1712 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays