Women in sports. Serena Williams, Alex Morgan, Simone Biles, and more…all amazing athletes that are held at the highest standard. Sports may be world of feminism that may be “easier” to digest for the average human. Advocating for equal pay or more exposure of women’s sports on national TV.
The WNBA, needing WOMEN in front of it’s title. Where does National Basketball Association inquire that it is solely for men? Putting women’s games on TV on less popular days & times, allowing for the oppression of women to continue. The Nebraska Women’s Volleyball Team struck headlines with it’s record-breaking fan attendance in late August. Hosting 92,003 fans in the football stadium of the University of Nebraska. An incredible story and I am overjoyed those women finally got the recognition they derserve.
Can I be a feminist and love such a male dominant industry? Can I be a feminist and love sports that are not inclusive of trans-experiences? Can I be a feminist and watch every football game on Sunday knowing that there is a WNBA game on? For these are the questions we must continue to challenge ourselves with. I can love watching sports but I can also stand in alliance with those whom are still being neglected from participating in sporting events due to their identity.
Black women athletes are continually held to a higher standard than white women athletes. Sha’Carri Richardson faced extreme backlash from the public as she choose to wear long nails, fake eyelashes, and long braids to track events. She was labeled “ghetto”, “unprofessional”, “unhinged.” Although this was Sha’Carri’s way of identifying herself, her culture, and what makes her feel comfortable. Society consistently tells black women to become make themselves smaller to fit into the conventional-white society. Since Sha-Carri is an athlete she is held to a higher standard than the average person to “fit” into society’s box. How trapping must it feel to be told to fit in a box that you did not place on yourself?
Sports is an incredible way to shed light on feminism. To uplift women, encourage them to be strong, athletic, powerful; everything that society tells women not to be. Yet, there is so much work to be done. To break the inclusivity of gender within women sports, to break the sexism embedded in the sports industry, to break the years of unfair treatment of women within the sports industry. Allow sports to be a branch of feminism that leads to more change and less cycles of oppression of women of all genders, sexualities, cultures, ethnicities, etc.
ShoutOut! James Madison University 
The disparity in attention and coverage between men’s and women’s sports is a critical issue that needs to be addressed. The examples you provided, such as scheduling women’s games on less popular days and times, emphasize the need for equal representation and exposure. Achieving equal pay and increasing the visibility of women’s sports on national TV are essential steps towards dismantling the oppression that women face in the sports industry. Your questions about being a feminist while enjoying sports and grappling with the inclusivity of trans experiences within certain sports are crucial points for reflection. Being a feminist doesn’t mean excluding yourself from male-dominated industries like sports. It’s about acknowledging and challenging the existing inequalities, advocating for change, and supporting inclusivity within these spaces.
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I love how you said that being a feminist does not mean I cannot enjoy men’s sports, but rather challenging the ideas and culture that the patriarchy controls this topic. I enjoy this class especially and creating these blog posts because it allows me to view my “normal” world in a feminist lense. Creating a new reality for myself and being able to expand on topics such as sports, which I have grown up in/love supporting and dissecting ways that I can view familiar topics in a new light to produce consistent change.
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I love this topic because I don’t think it’s talked about enough. I like how you acknowledged you still enjoy mens sports. Because both are super interesting and fun to watch. It is just about how less respect women sports receive. Well written.
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Thanks for the comment! I still love watching men’s sports and am glued to the TV every Sunday for NFL football. There is a great disparity within the sports community regarding women’s sports and it is time we talk about it.
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I appreciate the nuanced approach you took with this topic as someone who grapples with both watching mens sports and wanting to support women and their endeavors to equality with sports in terms of pay, airtime, etc. It’s difficult because I feel like there is value as a consumer in watching women’s sports, supporting them with both viewership and capital, as well as making intentional choices to balance watching it or even watching it in favor of mens sports. However, even though I believe that, so often mens sports are at more convenient times or we understand them culturally to be epicenters of social events. We have Super Bowl parties, tailgates, pregames, and more which all hinge on the widely agreed upon assumption that this will be for sporting events for men. I’ve never heard of a party to celebrate a win for a woman’s soccer match or basketball team, and so I think an issue also lies within both how we attend and celebrate matches when it comes to the gender of a team. I really value a lot of what you offer up here and completely understand where you’re coming from!
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This is such an amazing approach to this topic! You are right, this goes deeper than airtime on TV! Culturally, we so naturally revolve our lives around male athlete’s capital. If you look around our college town, football is everywhere. We revolve our entire Saturday’s around it and devote our money towards supporting it. All while, we are lucky if there are 10 women on the sidelines, not even as players. It goes back to the fact the male success is greater than female success. I remember the Women’s USA Soccer Team getting beat by a teenage-league soccer team and suddenly it took away all credibility from these women. How many times are you heard, “But she is a girl,” or “But if she played against a man…” We continue to praise men in our society and sports is a very public display of the patriarchy in action. Thanks so much for your comment/outlook!
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