SKIRTS IN SPORTS
INTRODUCTION
“It’s time to slam the door shut on that era. And open another door, through which we can welcome equality: between genders, amongst marital practices, for everyone in every circumstance.” —Rebecca Solnit
***
I don’t know why I was under the impression that day would be any different. Each morning I wake up, pour myself a cup of coffee, and explore my favorite sports news source, The Player’s Tribune. This source is where I learned of Kobe Bryant’s retirement, where I read about Tom Brady’s infamous “deflate-gate” scandal, and where I read about the legendary Michael Phelps’ final competitive swim.
A source that is uncensored and written by the athletes themselves truly providing the public with The Voice of the Game. Created by Derek Jeter with the intention to change the way athletes and newsmakers share information, The Player’s Tribune will bring fans closer to the game than ever before. A source that not only gives the men who play a voice, but also allows the women who play to share their stories.
So, when I wake up on March 8, 2017, what has been deemed “International Women’s Day,” and find the article titled, “Why I Stand with the Women’s Strike” by Michael Bennett, a Defensive End for the Seattle Seahawks, consuming the website’s masthead, I become overwhelmed with an uneasy feeling.
A pit forms in my stomach, my heart rate picks up in speed, and I start to feel warm, flushed. I realize that this physical response is not a result of feeling uneasy, but feeling angry. Yes, anger. I am angry not because a man is speaking about the women’s strike--for that I commend him--but for the fact that on this day, a day to celebrate women, the media chooses to tell a woman's story from a man’s perspective.
The article plastered on the homepage on this day was not written by the members of the U.S women’s National Soccer Team after their public protest for unequal pay, or by the likes of Billie Jean King and her struggle of being the first gay female to shatter the glass ceiling of a man’s sport—instead the article was written by a professional football player who “agrees with the unity statement.” Fantastic.
I am moved that Mr. Bennett sees women as the future, and he encourages his fellow football players to join him in solidarity. However, the part of this situation I find rather uninspiring is that the fact that this article, on this day, is from the voice of a man. Further emphasizing the lack of representations and opportunity afforded to women. So yes I applaud Mr. Bennet for publicly encouraging his teammates to join the fight, but his call to action also completely undermines the battles that women have fought, the opportunities they have earned, and the hope of achieving universal gender solidarity.
For centuries women have fought to be heard and on a day to commemorate the movement for women’s rights, an athlete-driven site denies a woman the opportunity to voice her opinion, her struggles, and her successes.
***
Equality in the workplace, in the courts, in the home, and on the field of sport in which we choose to play, is what we strive for. I have lived in the world of sport for twelve years. I put on my first cap, zipped up my first suit, and jumped into a life of water polo that I have loved and loathed. I wouldn’t be who I am today without the opportunity athletics has provided me. Over four years of playing collegiate water polo, I have adapted communication skills and the ability to work well with others. I am fulfilling an education that most women in my family could have only dreamed of. I understand the parameters of my body and have challenged myself physically and mentally. But in this competitive world of sport that I have come to love so much, I have also come to resent.
I am a woman who plays a sport; therefore, I am not as talented as my male counterpart. I cannot swim as fast, lunge as high, or push as hard. Women in the sport industry are at a disadvantage. Physically, a female’s genetic makeup is not conducive to overpowering that of a male’s. Strength, power, agility, focus--all characteristics habitually applied to men more than women in athletics. Which is why male sports dominate the media and the affections of sports fans across the world. Or at least this is what my male coaches have told me.
I am a woman, so I will be not be paid the same amount a man will doing the same job. I want to work in the sport industry for a professional team to engage in Community Relations and use sport as a catalyst to make the community a better place. But my knowledge in the sport industry is not as extensive as a man’s is due to my lack of experience in a man’s game. Or at least that is what my male coaches tell me.
I am a woman, so I am not as tough as my male counterpart playing the game of water polo. The chances of playing professionally for a living are slim. I shed more tears, I bruise more easily, and I crack under pressure. Women are more difficult to coach than men, because they let their emotions control them. Or at least that is what my male coaches have told me.
The same industry that has made me into the strong woman I am today has also accentuated the harsh realities that accompany my future, and the future of all young women with a passion for sport. These harsh realities cover a grand scope of inequalities that women in sport face. The lack of benefits through unequal pay, the pressure to achieve an ideal body image, the underrepresentation and misinterpretation from the media, and the racial discrimination amongst women in are merely a few salient characteristics that accompany women in the sport industry.
The only way to combat the despairing reality that women in sport live is not only to highlight the injustices, but to redevelop what it means to be a woman in this industry.
Women are relevant in sports, and have been for some time. Literally and metaphorically, we are here to stay.
To me, a woman, or so the definition states, a "skirt" in the sport industry is a force to be reckoned with. After all, that is how the groundbreaking women who first participated sports started: in skirts. By transforming (and mocking) the dated definition of "Skirts," the modern women of the sport industry are ready to stake their claim, and highlight the good, the bad, and the not so lady-like aspects of the male dominated industry.
“Skirts” have a new place in this industry and it is time to “shut the door on that era.” The era of discrimination and rejection from opportunities in the sport industry. While the harsh realities of women--and particularly women in sport--must stay in the conversation, we must also accentuate what women are doing today to combat the injustices in the sport industry.
This website is the home to a series of essays that not only comment on the harsh realities that women in the sport industry are facing, but how they are combating these issues to pave the way for young women who love sport. I plan to start a conversation, so please feel free to comment on the blog!