Joey
Ponce
4 December 2012
Females
Struggle in the Professional Athletic World
When you think of a professional
athlete what is the first name that comes to mind? The majority of us immediately jump to the
idea of a male athlete without any hesitation at all. Why do almost all of us not even take a
second to think of a female athlete?
These women train just as hard and dedicate the same amount of time to
their sport as men do but are overlooked by many people. Professional female athletes suffer more than
male athletes do because they do not receive the money they deserve. According to ‘The Women’s Sports Foundation’,
“Total prize money for the PGA tour, $256 million, is more than five times that
of the LPGA tour, $50 million. Similar discrepancies exist throughout
professional sports”(The Women Sports Foundation). That is a 200 million dollar difference
between men and women professional golfers.
There is an inequality amongst male and female athletes derived from
societies perception of both genders with respect to athletics. Professional female athletes do not get high
paying endorsement deals and contracts, some are seen as sex symbols rather
than as athletes, and most importantly they do not receive the notoriety and
respect when compared to professional male athletes.
Professional female athletes are severely
underpaid when compared to professional male athletes of any major sport. In 2012 the WNBA minimum contract for an
athlete was $35,000 meanwhile the maximum contract was still only $101,000.
Yes, that is the maximum amount a female WNBA player can make in one
season. On the other hand the minimum
NBA contract is currently $473,000 while the highest paid player in the NBA is making
an overwhelming $28,000,000. The lowest
paid player in the NBA makes four times more money than the highest paid
professional female basketball player. Does
that seem fair to you? I understand that
male athletes have sold more seats and drawn higher ratings on television in
the past but a gap that large in my opinion is absurd. For example, the highest paid female athlete
in 2012 was Maria Sharipova who brought in 25 million dollars, the majority
coming from endorsement deals. In
contrast the highest paid male athlete of 2012 was Floyd Mayweather Jr who made
85 million dollars none of which from an endorsement deal. Countless professional male athletes bring in
more money off endorsement deals in one year than a large majority of female
athletes will make in an entire career.
Unfortunately for women many
professional athletes are seen as sex symbols, simply overlooking their
marvelous talent. Therefore we
immediately think of male athletes when asked who comes to mind of professional
athletes. Some of these women are on
ESPN and they have been on magazine covers and we know who they are but we
overlook them as professionals in their craft.
Alex Morgan one of the best players on the US female women’s national
soccer team is often recognized for her fashion spreads as opposed to her
extraordinary talent. This has happened
to more than a few female athletes. They
gain their notoriety for looks and posing in revealing magazines to bring more
attention to themselves and to their sport.
A quote from a book review on The Stronger Women Get, The More Men Love
Football: Sexism and the American Culture of Sports states, “There is something
about male sports privilege that contributes to the sexual objectification and
abuse of women” (Nathan 11). This book is written to raise the awareness of how
women are seen as objects when it comes down to sports. At times they are not even being seen as
athletes. The truth of the matter is
that we are all to blame for the way these female athletes are treated and
depicted. We let the media put these
images out that depict these professional athletes as sex symbols without
recognizing them for their talents and accomplishments.
Consequently females have been
disadvantaged in sports from an early age.
They do not receive the same recognition in competitive sports as
boys. For the most part large majorities
of the time people do not take female athletes serious. Although some of these disadvantages for
female athletes have gone away in past years there is still discrimination
amongst athletes. Even at the tender
ages of 10 to 12 years old we can see discrimination between these two
genders. At 10 to 12 years old Little
League Baseball is nationally televised on ESPN to recognize the talented young
boys who have achieved the feat of making it to that stage. In contrast there is not a Little League Softball
World Series for girls in that same age group.
Female athletes go their whole athletic career not receiving the same
recognition as male athletes.
The media is the main reason to blame for the unfair representation
of female athletes. An article on
Women’s Olympic Beach Volleyball covered the way the media represented these
athletes and did not promote them as athletes but rather as sex symbols. As a result it marginalizes female athletes ability
because it is not what they are being recognized for. During the 2012 Olympics one of the most
popular sports was in fact Beach Volleyball.
Beach Volleyball is composed of women who wear bikinis during their
matches. Would Beach Volleyball be as
important if they were not wearing such revealing clothes? I think a large portion of their fan base is
attracted to the fact they are only in bikinis.
Whenever these women are portrayed in the media they make sure they can
have the athletes wearing the smallest bikinis possible so they can attract
more attention to their sport. Sure, now
people are watching Beach Volleyball but it is for the wrong reason? The media sometimes loses track and does not
depict these women as athletes or in some cases they do not mention these
females at all. ESPN and its show ‘SportsCenter’
the main source for sports media, “Devoted only 1.4% of its airtime to coverage
of women's sports, a decline in their coverage of women's sports compared with
1999 (2.2%) and 2004 (2.1%)” (Sports
Page Coverage 2010). With the main
sports news outlet only devoting 1.4% of airtime to female athletes it is
impossible for them to gain the same recognition as the men do.
Women have made significant strides to
try and remove the sex symbol label that has been placed upon them but are seen
having to promote their bodies so they can receive the recognition and money
they deserve. Female athletes do not
make their money off of their actual salary.
It is made from sponsorships and being in TV ad and in magazines. In the end female athletes have almost no
choice but to promote themselves to try and bring fans and supporters to their
sport. Women sports have failed in the
past in the United States because they did not have a steady and reliable fan
base. So by posing in these revealing
magazines and showing off their body they are becoming known as a sex symbol
and people are not respecting their God given talents as a professional
athlete. Even though it will be tough
financially women need to begin to steer away from that approach so they are
not given the sex symbol label and so they can actually be respected for their
talents.
Hopefully
in the future we will begin to see equality amongst male and female
athletes. To start we need to change
societies perception of female athletes.
The media needs to promote these women as athletes and not as
models. Sports media stations like ESPN
will have to dedicate more than a pitiful 1.4% of airtime to female athletes if
there will be any improvement at all. As
fans and supporters of athletes people must begin to appreciate and give credit
and respect to these females for all their dedication and hard work. Female athletes deserve equality amongst male
athletes. Showing support for female
athletes is the first step you can do to make a difference in trying to bring
equality amongst male and female athletes.
Works Cited
French, Sean. "I Love The Olympics,
Especially The Beach Volleyball, Played By Women In Tiny Two-Piece Suits."
New Statesman 129.4506 (2000): 28. Academic Search Elite. Web. 25 Oct. 2012.
Nathan, Jennifer. "The Stronger
Women Get, the More Men Love Football: Sexism and the American Culture of
Sports -- Book Review." The OptiMSt Sep 30 1995: 11-. GenderWatch.
Web. 25 Oct. 2012.
Pratt, Judith, et al. "Gender
Differences in Print Media Coverage of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens,
Greece." Women in Sport & Physical Activity Journal 17.2
(2008): 34-41. GenderWatch. Web. 25 Oct. 2012.
"Sports Page Coverage: Have We Made
Some Progress?." NAGWS Gazette, (2010): 2. Web. 25 Oct. 2012
"Women's Sports Foundation." Women's
Sports Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2012.
FYI---The book "The Stronger Women Get, the more Men Love Football..." was written by Mariah Burton Nelson. Your citation is very misleading.
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