Gender in Sports

DeboraM
Our Oakland Magazine
2 min readMay 16, 2024

Should women’s sports pay as much as men’s? Women’s sports deserve equality with male athletes because gender shouldn’t be a disadvantage when it comes to sports. Paying women in sports equally could help with gender equality. Female athletes deserve equal rights because it could help send an important message that they are valued and honored. Women athletes should have the same treatment as men do.

Women athletes should have equality with men. Equality means that one group “receives” the same things as another. Women and men both should receive the same rights. According to Natalie Proulx, the “women’s soccer team and their bosses argued about equitable treatment of female players. They argued about whether they deserved the same charter flights as their male counterparts and about the definition of what constituted equal pay.” This is a strong piece of evidence because it explains that females have fought for their equal rights due to gender discrimination and equitable treatment in women’s sports. Women’s sports should pay as much as men’s because gender equality shouldn’t be a disadvantage. Female athletes should be acknowledged for their achievements based on their ability and not their gender.

As reported in The New York Times, “The United States Soccer Federation pledged to equalize pay for its men’s and women’s national teams…To a group of players for the women’s team who had sued the organization for gender discrimination”

One of the most common challenges that female athletes unfairly have to face, is the stereotype that women are weaker and less athletic than men. Discrimination is not only incorrect but also damaging, as it prevents women from being accepted as female athletes. These female athletes are fighting for the same equal treatment as men receive and we’ll keep fighting until they get the same treatment. Female athletes have proven that they do not give up, they deserve equal rights and respect.

Many would disagree that the gender wage gap should not be eliminated because women’s sports are less popular than men’s, which is why it generates less income. Even though that may be right, women have accomplished big achievements which deserve the same treatment. Female athletes don’t deserve to be treated differently due to their gender.

“2nd Gentleman Doug Emhoff @ Gender Equality in Women’s sport panel discussion, 20 July 2023” by US Embassy New Zealand. Public Domain Mark 1.0. Source openverse.org

In conclusion, women in sports should be paid more money than they currently are. Women athletes have been playing sports professionally, but there is still a remarkable wage gap between male and female athletes over the years. This is a massive difference that can highlight the amount of unfairness that happens in sports. Both male and female athletes put in the same amount of effort in their sports. There is no reason why women should not be paid the same as men for doing the same job. I would like my readers to understand that women’s sports should pay as much as men’s.

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