As both a basketball fan and a girl, I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve been ignored or put down when trying to talk about sports. The first time was in fifth grade. A group of boys had been talking about the upcoming Duke vs. UNC game. I went over and tried to join in. One turned, a mocking smile on his face. “Are you even a real fan?” he laughed. I named the starting lineup. That wiped the condescending look off their faces. If only that had been a one-time occurrence.
In early October, Jourdan Rodrigue of the Charlotte Observer, asked Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton about wide receiver Devin Funchess’ routes. “It’s funny to hear a female talk about routes,” Newton said.
Funny? No. Her job? Yes.
There has been major backlash towards Newton since he made that comment. “I used to be a big fan of Cam’s, but his actions definitely make me think less of him,” junior Allison Laufenberg said.
However, what Newton said was not the only incident of the demeaning of female reporters in the male-dominated field. Just two years ago, female sports reporters were stopped as they tried to enter the Indiana Colts locker room for post game interviews because security was unsure if they were allowed in.
The 2014 Associated Press Sports Editors Racial and Gender Report Card found that men accounted for 90.1 percent of sports editors, 87.6 percent of sports columnists, 87.4 percent of sports reporters, and 80.8 percent of sports copy editors and designers. Of the top 100 iTunes sports podcasts, only six regularly feature a woman. Not to mention, very few of these women are women of color.
It does not take close examination to see that sexism permeates all aspects of the sports industry. In the 2015 World Cup, the women’s national team earned four times less than the men’s, despite the fact that they performed much better. Pierre de Coubertin, who founded the Olympics in 1896, described women’s sport as “the most unaesthetic sight human eyes could contemplate.” It took until 1984 for women to make up one-fifth of the competitors in the Olympic Games.
Women working in male-dominated fields face frequent harassment. When the news came out that Hollywood film mogul Harvey Weinstein had been sexually harassing and assaulting women for decades, I was disgusted, but not surprised.
Only last year, Ronan Farrow published a letter detailing how his father, Woody Allen, had sexually assaulted Ronan’s sister Dylan. Allen, a famed director in Hollywood, has a movie out on the awards circuit this fall. He has paid no professional price for his actions.
And while the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has since expelled Weinstein, Roman Polanksi, Bill Cosby and Mel Gibson, all still remain on the board. All three of them have been accused of violence against women.
But Newton is not the main villain here. Throughout his career, he has faced harsh criticism, particularly for being a young black man in the national athletic spotlight. His comment, which he has since apologized for, is a part of a much bigger system. It is a system where women are not given the same respect, the same authority, or the same agency as their male counterparts.
As children, we are told we throw like girls by voices that curve in mockery. As we grow older, our knowledge and capabilities to perform the same as our male counterparts are doubted.
