So often we think of sexism in sports as just being against female athletes, however it is also against female referees, female concession workers, female grounds-keepers, etc. According to a survey conducted by the Women In Football Organization, in 2015 more than 66% of women had witnessed sexism in the football workplace. According to
The Guardian, one referee writes that she has lost count of the number of times male players have commented on her gender and appearance: "It's always along the lines of 'nice legs, ref', 'you're the sexiest referee I've seen all season', 'nice butt', etc."
Women In Football is a networking organization which represents more than 1,200 women employed across the football industry. In 2015, around the time of international woman's day (March 9th), they launched a month-long social media campaign to bring awareness to sexism in football. The year after this campaign, organizations saw a 269% increase in incidents of discrimination being reported. Although this is an on-going problem in society, there is hope for the future of women in football.
This is interesting to see, especially from the perspective of a referee. In the NBA, women referees are highly respected, evidenced by video clips of elite players interacting with their female referee counterparts. Additionally, recently, Becky Hamon became the first female coach; she currently resides on the San Antonio Spurs coaching staff. What explains the difference between respect for women in the NBA and in Football? Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteWow that's interesting! I am not sure what the difference is. Maybe it is a cultural thing as I think sexism in sports may be greater in Europe than in the States. I just think they might be a little behind on the times here and are making progress slower; however, they are making progress nonetheless.
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ReplyDeleteThats a very interesting article. I personally think the difference goes well beyond the field, but also to the people and networks covering sports, such as ESPN or FoxSports. The UConn women's basketball team has been the most dominant sports franchise over the past few years and have set numerous records and undefeated seasons. However, they have not gotten nearly as much attention as other great teams such as the Golden State Warriors or New England Patriots. Do you think that in the future, there will be a time that women's sports will be covered close to or as equally as men's teams? What do you think has to be done to achieve that?
ReplyDeleteJake Ozer
Hi Jake,
DeleteYou make a great point in mentioning that the UConn women's basketball team has been extremely successful but does not get the same attention from the media as other mens sports teams. In the near future, I do not think that women's sports will be covered the same as men's because it has not developed a strong enough fan base yet. However, I believe that eventually, when gender discrimination is less of a problem in society, it is a possibility.
Very interesting read, as there have been an increasing amount of female referees and coaches in American sports as well. Recently, there have been appointed female refs and assistant coaches in the NBA. Relating to that, many NBA players such as Chris Paul have given criticism to the female ref because he thought she wasn't qualified to be a ref. Do you think that there is an underlying issue here that male professional players view female refs as incapable of reffing a gave accurately and fairly?
ReplyDeleteHi Alec,
DeleteIt is saddening to hear that male athletes do not think that female refs are capable of doing their job. This is definitely a huge issue in society and a shame that women are viewed so poorly.