Gender discrimination is prominent in every industry, but it is as though the sport industry is one of the worst. Women in the work force currently receive only 80 cents to every man’s dollar (Holmes, 2016). However, female athletes both in America and internationally receive a far lesser compensation for their attributes. The only difference of the sports being played is who plays them. There should be no reason why a male athlete receives better pay simply because he had a 50% chance of being born a man. At birth, no one controls the gender, but as they grow and mature, they control their personality and development. Payment should be on personal skills and not gender. As a female STHM student focusing on sport management and a former athlete, …show more content…
One would think that a professional player on an elite team would be making enough money to support herself and continue doing what she loves, but this assumption is sadly false. Rejzovic plays volleyball professionally and has a full-time job as though she is an amateur. According to the chairman of her club team, she is playing the wrong sport and is not of the opposite gender. Rejzovic stated, “Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of becoming a pro. I thought it would be glamourous, but life as a pro isn’t what I imagined” (Tornkvist, 2016). The discrimination is preventing women from progressing forward in professional sports. Payment has nothing to do with performance because Rejzovic and her team has been number one in the league many times in the past ten years (Tornkvist, …show more content…
Women have progressed from house wives to business women over the past hundred years. In 1948, 28.6% of the people in the work force were women. In 2015, this percentage has increased to 46.8% (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015). Progression is visible and very possible, but it seems that our chances for equal pay are very improbable. From a person perspective, I had the opportunity to focus on basketball, let my efforts and love for the sport pay for college, and continue on playing in the WNBA. With in-depth research, I quickly reconsidered. Phoenix Mercury’s Diana Taurasi made a maximum salary of $107,800 one season after winning the championship. The NBA team, Phoenix Suns, picked up Dionte Christmas who only played for 198 minutes during the whole season and he obtained the minimum payment of $490,800 just for being a bench warmer (Berri, 2015). It is bad enough that he made $300,000 more than Taurasi, but it is more inconceivable that an NBA starter will receive $14.7 million a
Robinson, J., Peg Bradley-Doppes, Charles M. Neinas, John R. Thelin, Christine A. Plonsky, and Michael Messner. “Gender Equity in College Sports: 6 Views.” Chronicle of Higher Education 6 Dec 2002: B7+.
Women experience more discrimination in sports than that of men. Nussbaum states that women “are treated as mere instrument of the ends of others- reproducers, caregivers, sexual outlets, agents
Kian, Michael Mondello, and John Vincent. This was a study done to examine print-media portrayals of men and women’s basketball teams as well as their players and coaches in the 2006 NCAA Division I tournaments. I used this in my research to look for the deeper meanings for the media involved in the lawsuit. My results found six dominant themes that emerged from this study. First, the men’s tournament was frequently referenced during the women’s coverage. Female players were being compared to male players as if the perception was that male players were physically superior. This theme is something that I noticed when reading some of the soccer articles. Most of the women’s skills were compared to those of a male. They were compared to show their strength. Next was the idea that female players gain their toughness and work ethic from playing with boys and getting coached by older men. This looks at the ways that players develop from youth level to college. When doing background research on the five players involved in the lawsuit, I found that at least in one point of their lives they were in fact, coached by men. The third theme based on the classic notion of “First football, then men’s basketball, and then everything else,” (Kian, Mondello, & Vincent, 2008). These ideas have been conditioning American society to associate masculinity to these two sports. I found this contradicting to most of the media I found. Most of the articles, I read saw soccer as masculine rather than feminine. It’s not just football and basketball. Another theme is athletic or supportive fathers who become newsworthy in their guidance. I didn’t find articles about any of the five women’s fathers. Fifth is the lack of attention received by African American women compared to men. The last theme was the lack of explicit reference to the gay and lesbian community.
Women’s participation in sport is at an all-time high and has almost become equal to men’s, however. Sports media does not fail to show this equality and skews the way we look at these athletes. Through the disciplines of sociology and gender studies, it can be seen that despite the many gains of women in sports since the enactment of Title IX, “traditional” notions of masculinity and femininity still dominate media coverage of males and females in sports, which is observed in Olympic programming and sports news broadcasts. Sociology is a growing discipline and is an important factor in the understanding of different parts of society. Sociology is “a social science that studies human societies, their interactions, and the processes that preserve and change them” (Faris and Form P1).
Women in sports demand quality assurance for their hard work. Sad to say this is not implemented in the sports “world” of women. “One of the theories behind this is that society doesn’t like to see women in roles that go against the norm of what a woman “should be” (Rodriguez).” Fortunately this stems from ignorance and prejudice beliefs. Especially through the media, both of which can be learned. The media can alter sports viewer’s opinions by relaying positive messages toward women’s sports. As well as sports authoritators distributing equal pay for equal work. The abundant amount of support that the media and viewers allocate will allow a higher amount of equality for women in the sports industry. This kind of support will lead women in sports salaries rise and eventually match the hardship of achievements as a minority in today’s sports
Female athletes are essentially performing the same tasks male athletes are and aren’t receiving anywhere near the same reward guy athletes are. Regardless of gender professional athletes all come from a similar background. A background in which hard work and dedication all accumulate into an athlete eventually being allowed to pursue their dreams of playing a sport they love for a living. Where the difference is once an athlete reaches the highest level of sports which is the professional level athletes then one group of athletes the male athletes make in many cases millions of dollars in their sports careers while another group of athletes female athletes only make a number within the thousands throughout their career.
“The maximum salary for a WNBA player is $111,500 while the minimum salary for a NBA player is $525,093” (Hampton). This reveals that men in the NBA can make greater than $414,000 more than any female in the WNBA. A gender pay gap such as this one is not only present in professional basketball, it exists in almost all professional sports in the United States. When one takes a look at the statistics regarding how much males and females within the same sport are paid, it is obvious that the men are given more money, even if they are not as successful as the women. Job payment is a substantial issue when it comes to gender inequality, and men are often the ones being paid more than the women. Women in professional sports should receive equal
Recently a major issue for women in sports is female coaches and their salaries. The salaries of the male coaches in athletics have continuously been on the rise. And on top of that, the male coaches make 159% of the money that female coaches make. Female participation in College athletics are also on the rise. However, the majority of funding in colleges goes into the men's athletic programs.
The US Women’s National Soccer Team has been fighting to achieve “equal pay for equal play” for years. Throughout the history of the USWNT they have won three Women’s World Cups (including the first Women’s World Cup), four Olympic Women’s gold medals, seven CONCACAF Gold Cups, and ten Algarve Cups. Even though the women’s team holds a better record than the men’s, they still find themselves getting paid less than their male counterparts. This is one of the numerous forms of prejudice. It can be anything from judging a person because of the color of their skin, to treating someone unfairly just because she is a woman, to denying someone their rights because they are gay. Throughout history, it has been a
“A woman is human. She is not better, wiser, stronger, more intelligent, more creative, or more responsible than a man. Likewise, she is never less. Equality is a given. A woman is human,” Vera Nazarian. Unfortunately now in the United States, women are being treated less than their male counterparts, especially when it comes to professional athletics. In an article entitled, Taking a Closer Look at the Gender Pay Gap in Sports, written by John Walters on newsweek.com, he exclaims, “Each player on the USWNT earns $99,000 per year provided the team wins 20 “friendlies” (exhibition matches), the minimum number of matches they would play. By contrast, each men’s player would earn $263,320 for the same feat and would still earn $100,000 if the team lost all 20 games.” Not only does this topic relate to the difference in pay for women and men in soccer but it also relates to all of the other sports like, basketball, tennis and the many other were males participate too in separate organizations. The topic on whether female athletes should be paid the same as their male counterparts, is a massive debate with two opposing sides. On one side of the debate, people believe male driven associations produce more revenue than female driven associations, the competition in male sports is more intense, and more fans want to see thunderous dunks and the athletic ability of males over the lesser abilities of what females can do. On the contrary, female athletics aren 't given the same recognition or praise, females go through the same types of workouts males go through and they participate in the same types of events, and females don 't have the same abilities as males due to the way they ar...
Earning One Point for Shooting a Three-Pointer: The Unfair Pay Gap Between Male and Female Pro Athletes “Pay gap” is a term used to refer to the unfair difference in salaries between men and women in the workforce--including the world of pro sports. Sports are a highly visible, very popular form of entertainment, and many young fans look up to athletes. If male and female athletes are not paid equally, it sends a message that no matter how hard you work, you will never be worth as much as someone society deems “better”. Thus, it is important to pay attention to this issue for the sake of both athletes and fans.
The majority of society, excluding a few, have come to a belief that women cannot play competitive sports with men. Although, not allowing females to play with men could soon be coming to an end. Many coaches and school athletic programs still do not support girls with boys in athletic sports. The main issue with women playing competitive sports with men is the physicality aspect.
Broken Opportunities This generation stereotypes females to be not as skilled as males in playing sports. Almost half people think that girls should not be capable of playing or joining boys’ sports teams. Based on a CNN Report, “A significant percentage of both women and men said men are better at sports, with 32% of women feeling that way and 47% of men, the poll found” (Wallace). Then why is it hard to accept the fact that females are able to play sports or even join male’s sports teams?
This research topic is important for the diversification of gender roles in society. Since the beginning of the feminist crusade, most parts of the world are moving towards diversity of gender roles to enable a gender-balanced growth of the community (Eitzen, 2016). This topic highlights to the reader the possibility of achieving gender balance in sports and its benefits to the individuals and the society at large. This topic is important to achieving gender equity in the society as the evolution of gender roles is moving towards gifting the females in the society with bigger roles other than the traditional gender roles.
Sports stars earn substantial incomes compared to an average Australian worker. The official benchmark of average Australian earnings is just above AUS$50,000. However, compared to Layton Hewitt, who receives millions in endorsements and prize money each year, this figure is diminutive. Another example is Venus Williams, 20, is the highest-paid woman athlete in the world. She has a contract with sportswear manufacturer Reebok International Inc. that pays her $40 million over five years. This may seem as a step forward for womankind but others view it as a business deal for more money than one will ever need. The disparity between hard working citizens and sporting legends leads us to question their contribution to society.