blog post 1
Ciera Rowland
Professor Jenkins
PS 101
9 March 2021
Blog post 1
Women and men sports have a major divide between each other when it comes to equality at the college and professional level. One of the main inequalities faced by women competing in sports compared to men is money. There are considerable statistics, which I will further mention, about the pay difference between women and men in sports. Not only is this issue faced in America, but it is occurring Nationally amongst women sports. One of the biggest issues this can cause is not allowing women who compete in sports to further achieve their goals of competing at higher levels because they are forced to find higher paying jobs. The wage gap makes it difficult for women to financially support themselves and their families. Ultimately, the wage difference reflects a disadvantage to women in sports and renders them incapable of achieving their lifelong goals of further competing and higher levels.
The community that is made up of women in sports at the college and professional level is underpaid significantly compared to men who compete in sports. One of many statistices reveals that men earn 81 times more on average than women in the USA basketball league (Travers, 2008, p. 84-85). Another statistics states that men receive more than 50% of the leagues total earnings while the women receive around 33% (Berri, 2015). Looking at this issue from a national perspective, the highest earning paid men playing football in the UK receive 220 times more than the highest paid female (Wigmore, 2016). These statistics reveal just how much more men are paid than women and how it can further affect women’s careers in sports. Women who compete in the same sport as men such as basketball, soccer, tennis, etc. are earning significantly less money than the men who are playing the same sport. Because of this wage gap, men have more financially secure and stable futures because of their earnings from competing in sports, while women are more likely to quit their sport in seek of a higher paying job.
Furthermore, there are several reasons thought to be the cause of the wage gap between women and men sports. One of them being the spectators that show up during the games. There are considerably more spectators at men sports than women sports which ultimately results in more revenue streaming into the male sports. Male sports tend to also have more sponsorships than female sports which is another result of higher revenue. It is thought that these factors stem from a deeper-rooted problem historically. Women were thought to be morally weak and fragile compared to men back in the 18th century. Women stayed home and were unable to participate in sports. This caused women to not be allowed to compete in sports unlike the men. Women were discriminated against in the sporting world which led to a decrease in funding that allowed for women to form associates for their sports. The lack of funding and resources affected the equal opportunities for women competing in sports. Eventually, women were more widely accepted into the sporting world, but because of the previous lack of funding it was almost impossible for them to have as much money/revenue for their sports. While the wage gap is still dramatically different, it has improved since the 18th century.
Essentially, the wage gap between women and men sports started back in the 18th century. Over the years, women have gained higher roles competing in sports and have been allowed to compete in a more diverse selection of sports. There can be several factors that play a role in the wage gap such a higher number of spectators and sponsorships in male sports. The wage gap creates many disadvantages towards women who aspire to achieve goals competing at higher levels by forcing them to find jobs that pay more to be able to support themselves and their families.