Women in sports: Not an Olympic-size victory

With the Olympics upon us and the message above going viral on Facebook, I figured it was high time I addressed the topic of women in sports. The Guardian posted an ” title=”Sex vs. Character” target=”_blank”>article, asked this question at the end: “What do you tell your children about the worth and importance of gender?” She told how she was trying to reconcile the two “contradictory goals” of teaching girls that being female should be celebrated and teaching them that their identities include so much more than just their gender.

I bring up this article because it serves as a reminder to women. We’re always going to have to reconcile these two contradictions. Of course I want to believe that if I were a man I would have the same character. It’s not true. Being a woman has played a huge role in shaping who I am. Yes, I know I might not be a great example because I work for a women’s empowerment non-profit and write a blog about women’s issues. But I also know that a lot of women who end up in stereotypically “male” career paths also have had infinite experiences that are different from their male counterparts because they are women. So we can’t just tell our young girls that they are special because of their character. We need to make sure they understand that the intersectionality of multiple identities is what makes them special and being girls is one of them. 

I didn’t need any help…so neither will you.

How many powerful, successful women are out there who refuse to self-identify as feminists?

In an article referenced in one of the comments on my last post, Marissa Mayer, the new CEO of Yahoo, is quoted in an ” title=”Women Play Sports But Not on TV” target=”_blank”>20-year study conducted by USC and Purdue Sociologists and released in 2009 found that while there are more women in sports than ever before (from 294,000 girls in high school sports in 1971 to 3.1 million in 2009), only 1.6% of media coverage on sports in 2009was on women’s sports.

Mike Messner, one of the sociologists who published the report, wrote that this “reinforces the historical stereotype that sports proves men are superior to women, that the women’s product isn’t the same quality or would not have mass appeal.” Along with their inferiority, women are not being paid nearly as much as men in pro sports. I’m shocked! The Women’s Sports Foundation gives a bunch of