1 Mettler

Maddison Mettler

English 11B

Mr.Droski

4 Jan. 2020

Women In Professional Sports

Women are starting to make it big in professional sports, but are they being recognized

enough for all their accomplishments? Women are still not portrayed in the same spotlight as

men are when it comes to professional sports. Women should have equal media coverage and

salary as men in professional sports because of the progression in women’s professional sports

over the years, women are somewhat becoming equal to men, and women’s sports are becoming

popular.

Passage of Title IX, which didn’t allow gender discrimination in public places or

organizations, had a major impact on women’s sports. Before Title IX was implemented,

women’s college sports only received 2% of the university’s athletic budget and 99% of spending

went to the men’s sports. In October of 2018 the NCAA reported that the women’s college

athletics made up 44% of all US varsity athletes and women’s sports teams made up 54% of all

the teams that competed in the NCAA-sanctioned competitions. With the sharp rise in women’s

sports, it created more opportunities for high-level professional competition. Women play in

professional leagues that are dedicated to them, such as WNBA, NWSL, and NPF. Although

women are represented for their sport in the highest league, women don’t achieve the same level

of exposure, recognition, and financial success like male players. Men tend to be faster and
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physically stronger than women which allows them to outperform their female counterparts.

Even though many females have certain advantages over men, such as flexibility and agility,

which are only attributed in figure skating and gymnastics. Even at the amateur level, women

have little financial incentive for women to devote their time and energy to play at a professional

level. Lack of investment into women’s sports discourage girls and women to pursue their sport

as a career. (“Women in”)

Women began participating in men’s sports in the 1890s starting off with baseball, which

slowly progressed into allowing women play basketball in the 1930s. As women became more

involved with men’s sports and competing with them, “In 1984 the American Women's

Basketball Association (AWBA) launched a six-team league. Though the circuit was short-lived,

it represented a key breakthrough for women's professional basketball and laid the groundwork

for the 1996 formation of the WNBA.”(“Women in”) Also the Women’s National Soccer team

has had success since the early 1990s winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup. With the

progression of women’s sports on the rise, there is still the issue of equal pay and media

coverage. Many women want to pursue a career in the sport that they love but can’t due to the

low salary that they would receive compared to their male counterparts. There are many women

sports that are recognized such as the Women’s National Soccer team and individuals are

recognized like professional women’s tennis player Serena Williams. Although there is a rise in

the media coverage for some athletes, the lack of salary is still an issue. Salaries for men are

much higher since they are given better resources that are more valuable and complete than the

resources given to women. Men gain the upper-hand when it comes to where their arenas and

stadiums are and the higher levels of taxpayer support compared to women. Women are
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becoming more successful in their sports, so why shouldn’t they be paid more for their

accomplishments? With the Women’s National Soccer team this has become a major issue when

comparing the women’s soccer team to the men’s. “Pay comparisons are complicated because the

men's and women's teams have separately negotiated contracts. Members of the women's team

are paid by the federation to play in the National Women's Soccer League, on top of which they

receive payments for playing for the national team. The men just get national team payments.”

(“Show Them”) With the debate over equal pay in the United States Soccer Federation between

men and women has caused many issues. “The women can earn more in a given year, as they are

likely to do this year. But that is only because they achieved so much. For comparable success,

the women get less. Much of the debate about the pay gap has focused on revenue. Officials have

argued that the men's team should simply be regarded as a more successful business.”(“Show

Them”) With men getting more recognition for not achieving as much as the women have, is a

downfall to the progression of women’s sports.

The equality aspect between men and women in sports is getting better, but there is still a

gap. In tennis, women are starting to make it big, but there is still the debate on pay and media

coverage. “At some tournaments, men were making eight times as much as women. The guys

who ran tennis thought this split more than fair.”(O’Hara) Still women are being put down and

not receiving equal treatment that they deserve for all the hard work and effort they put in, just as

much as men athletes put in. The momentum of women becoming equal to men in sports is slow.

Due to media not wanting women on the covers of sports magazines and men still continuing to

be paid a higher salary than women. Women want to be able to play the sports they love and still

receive the same benefits as the men do since they are able to play the sports they love and still
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continue to have a good salary and be recognized. Women want to be recognized for their efforts

and accomplishments. Women want people to see that they can be just as good as men when it

comes to playing sports. Along with unequal pay and media coverage, is the issue of women

being judged on how they present themselves. “...a world in which women were being judged on

how they looked as well as on how hard they played. She was warning me with a mother's Morse

code not to break the rules. She was onto something that generations of women athletes had long

known: if you were going to play sports, you'd better walk softly and carry a big lip-

stick.”(O’Hara) Women also want to be able to not be judged by their looks when they play their

sport when it comes to their body image and the way they portray themselves on the court or the

field. There are stepping stones to get to equality in sports, since men have been dominating

sports for so long, it will take time for women to get to where men are. For now, women are

slowly reaching what they want, even if it takes decades to achieve.

Throughout many decades, women have progressed through being on men’s teams to

becoming their own leagues. As women’s sports teams become recognized, the sports become

popular to the people watching behind the screen. Even though there is an increase in the amount

of women beginning to participate in professional sports, there is more than just the issue of pay

and media coverage. “Women's sports are booming in North America, from recreational and

university levels to the Olympic and professional ranks. But some things have not changed, as

witnessed by Coe-Jones's predicament. Her story is one to which most parents can relate-except

that women athletes have to juggle those responsibilities in a different city every week while still

performing admirably in their sports.”(Deacon) Emotional and physical responsibilities are also

put on women in professional sports to go along with the issue of pay and media coverage. The
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increase of popularity in women’s sports is good and bad for women. It’s good since they are

able to be recognized for their accomplishments and receive the media coverage they deserve,

but it is also bad since they have many responsibilities of performing well in order to receive a

good salary and being able to cope with the emotions when dealing with being away from family

and the inequality aspects in sports. “The sacrifices increase as recreation turns to career.

Removed from home and family, elite-level women athletes are cut off from the normal social

opportunities to meet friends and prospective mates. Romances tend to be of the long-distance

variety.”(Deacon) With having women’s sports become popular, women have to be able to deal

with the emotional effects of leaving their family or not having a normal lifestyle. Besides the

effects of women’s sports becoming popular, women are getting closer to the equality that they

deserve. They have more media coverage and are getting paid a little more than what they used

to. The milestones that women have gone through to get where they are has helped them gain

momentum to be recognized and have the same treatment that men do in sports.

Although women are progressing in their fight for equality in sports, there is the factor of

masculinity. “Sports have always been a place where masculinity is learned and practiced.

Sports were introduced in American schools out of fear that boys were becoming too womanly

when the shift from an agrarian to an industrial labor force, along with limits on child labor, left

them at their mothers’ apron strings rather than their fathers’ boots. For athletic boys, sports are

a path to success and popularity.”(Grossman) Masculinity has dominated sports, allowing boys to

be able to compete against one another so they can become stronger and less “womany”. Sports

allow boys and men to be successful at what sport they play and they also get the opportunity to

become popular. When boys don’t perform to the highest standards as they are expected to,
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coaches tend to tell the players they played like girls. Since masculinity is the dominating force

of sports, people believe it isn’t okay for women to have the masculinity aspect when they play

their sport. Sports have been able to help change young girls life such as “...academic

achievement; job success; positive self-esteem; reduced incidence of self-destructive behaviors

like smoking, drugs, sex at a young age, and teen pregnancy; and physical and mental health

benefits. By and large, sports have been empowering and have even changed, in fundamental

ways, what it means to be a woman.”(Grossman) Just because masculinity has been apart of

sports for so long, doesn’t mean a woman suddenly becomes “too masculine” to participate in

the sport that she plays.

Women in professional sports should have equal pay and media coverage like their male

counterparts because of the progression in women’s sports, the momentum to equality, and the

rise of popularity in women’s sports. Over the decades women have been able to progress from

participating in men’s professional leagues to having their own professional leagues. Women are

getting closer to the equality they deserve, but it still isn’t equal enough. As people continue to

recognize women’s sports their popularity increases so they can see what women can

accomplish. Women are just as involved in their sports as men are, so equal pay and media

coverage for women who put in the effort and time just the same as men, isn’t too much to ask

for.
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Works Cited

Deacon, James, and Danylo Hawaleshka. "Leagues of their own; women are finally
breaking the old boy strangledhold on sports." Maclean's, 7 Apr. 1997, p. 62+.
Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A19313472/OVIC?u=lom_accessmich&sid=OVI
C&xid=278b060c. Accessed 10 Dec. 2019.

Grossman, Joanna L., et al. “Playing ‘Too Womany’ and the Problem of Masculinity in
Sport.” Verdict Comments, 17 Sept. 2013,
verdict.justia.com/2013/09/17/playing-too-womany-and-the-problem-of-mas
culinity-in-sport.

O'Hara, Jane. "Better? Yes. Equal? Not by a long shot." Maclean's, 7 Apr. 1997, p. 70.
Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A19313474/OVIC?u=lom_accessmich&sid=OVI
C&xid=1b31d31d. Accessed 10 Dec. 2019.

"Show Them the Money." New York Times, 10 July 2019, p. A26(L). Gale In Context:
Opposing Viewpoints,
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A592758556/OVIC?u=lom_accessmich&sid=O
VIC&xid=961e3681. Accessed 10 Dec. 2019.

"Sports." Current Issues: Macmillian Social Science Library, Macmillan Reference USA,
2003. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3011400231/OVIC?u=lom_accessmich&sid=
OVIC&xid=219d930f. Accessed 10 Dec. 2019.

"Women in Professional Sports." Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale,

2019. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,
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https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/ZCMWBA044368671/OVIC?u=lom_accessmich&s
id=OVIC&xid=ada21c16. Accessed 26 Nov. 2019.