A League of Their Own

Double standards definitely exist when it comes to the differences between men’s and women’s athletics.  While this is not necessarily a good thing, the fact remains that these standards are somewhat self-perpetuated and will require large scale societal change if they are to be eliminated.  Since the inception of Title IX, society has tried to say that “yes, women and men should, and do have equal opportunities in sports.” But I don’t think that this is truly the case.  All it takes to see this is a look at the disparities in men’s and women’s pro sports.  For example, the WNBA and the NBA couldn’t be any more different.  The NBA gets millions and millions of dollars in revenue from ticket sales, merchandising, and television and radio deals.  News of trades and other goings on circulate the media year round, even during the off-season.  Now think for a minute.  When was the last time you heard ANYTHING about the WNBA? The same goes for the WTA, LPGA, and the now defunct WUSA.  All of these leagues lacked, and still lack the money and attention bestowed on their male counterparts. But why does this occur? You can’t place the blame solely on men because women make up half of the population and therefore make up half of the audience.  I think a large part of the problem is from our conflicting attitudes about women in sports.  While our society professes to be okay with women excelling in traditionally male arenas, we still struggle with stepping outside of societal norms.  Women in sports are simultaneously required to perform at high levels and maintain their femininity.  The problem comes in when you look at some complaints about women’s basketball.  Detractors of the league declare that women’s basketball is “too slow, too boring, and too girly.” But if women basketball players suddenly started looking, dressing, talking, and playing like men, there would be a public outcry.  The reality of the situation is that social norms call for women to excel on the same level as men, as long as they don’t act “too” much like men. This is shown clearly in Molly George’s article on the women’s soccer team.  Most of the women on the team struggled with body image because of how the rest of society expected them to look.  Looking manly was the ultimate crime and heterosexuality was almost enforced. And unfortunately, this isn’t going to change any time soon.  In the past, men set the standards of dress and conduct and women still feel the need to uphold those standards, even if it is not on a conscious level.  While I don’t necessarily believe this is right, it is just the way things are in this society.