With the FIFA Women’s World Cup just on the horizon the discussion around gender inequality in sports has become more and more popular, and for good reason. Women’s sports teams and players have faced discrimination for decades. They have been given less funding them men’s teams, less advertising and less opportunities.
The effort to bringing girls and women into sports has only started recently. In some places sports are still seen as something only men can do, more needs to be done to fix this way of thinking.
Another huge problem is the difference in wage gap for female athletes. Many people use the argument that men’s sports are watched more so from this they get more money but what they don’t consider is that women’s sports aren’t advertised as much as men’s sports so they receive less coverage and this results in a smaller paycheck. A study from USC/Purdue University found that the major sports broadcasting network, ESPN, has only 5.7% of their program consisting of women’s sports. This was in 2021! Sports new is almost always showing men’s sports. Discrimination like this is common and something needs to be done about it.
Luckily advocacy for change has been happening and with Women’s March Madness bringing in more fans then ever and the Women’s World Cup starting soon we’ll get to see talented female athletes thrive in a equal, welcoming environment.