Download - Women's Rights In Sports
Women’s Rights in Sports
Tracie Geile
The Beginnings of Women’s Sports Games of Hera
1700s: boxing, golfing, horse racing, hot air balloon racing
1800s: ice skating races, lacrosse, tightrope walking, hockey, basketball, croquet, roller skating, swimming races, baseball, cycling races, mountain climbing, tennis, field hockey, softball, bowling, archery, rowing
Early Women’s Professional Sports
1811: First women’s professional golf tournament held in Musselburgh, Scotland
1884: Wimbledon introduced first women’s singles event
1924: Women allowed to compete in figure skating in first Winter Olympics
1928: Women allowed to compete in track and field events in Olympics
All American Girls’ Professional Baseball League
1943-1954 Replaced MLB,
when players sent to fight in WWII
Attracted between 2000-3000 fans per game
A League of Their Own
Female Participation in Male Sports
Danika Patrick: NASCAR Auto Racing Katie Hnida: NCAA Division I-A Football Jackie Mitchell: Major League Baseball
Women’s Professional Sports Leagues
Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Lady’s Professional Golf Association (LPGA) National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)
Title IX
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
Gave women the right to receive federal financial aid to go to college and participate in college sports
Same amount of athletic scholarship money available for women as for men
Unequal Salaries
Average salary for MLS player in 2013: $148,693.26
Average salary for NWSL player in 2013: $15,000 Average salary for NBA player in 2011:
$4,900,000 Average salary for WNBA player in 2011: $55,000 Title IX does not cover professional sports
Unequal Media Coverage Australia in 1999: women’s sports had 5.8% of free-to-
air sports coverage United States in 2010: women’s sports had 1.4% of
sports coverage on ESPN Sportscenter Female athletes receive 1/3 of newspaper photography
that male athletes receive Same inequality for magazines, internet, radio, etc.
Why So Much Inequality? Lack of media coverage decreased awareness/interest in
women’s sports Men more interested in sports more coverage of men’s sports Men are bigger, faster, stronger men’s sports more exciting
than women’s sports Male coaches for female teams males viewed as authority
figures Sports photography emphasis on women as wives, mothers,
and sexual icons
Thank You Women’s Sports Advocates! Without You I Could Not Have Played College Soccer!
Bibliography
Bird, Liviu. 2013. “MLS player salaries: analysis, charts, and tables.” NBC Sports. Retrieved February 20, 2014 (http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2013/08/13/mls-player- salaries-analysis-charts-and-tables/).
Esteban. 2011. “9 Female Athletes Who Competed Against Men.” Total Pro Sports.com. Retrieved February 20, 2014 (http://www.totalprosports.com/2011/10/28/9-female- athletes- who-competed-against-men/).
Foudy, Julie. 2013. “Will NWSL Be A Success? Well…” ESPNW.com. Retrieved February 20, 2014 (http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/article/9161421/espnw-latest-women- professional-soccer-league-success).
Frantz, Chris. 2007. “Timeline: Women in Sports: From Mt. Olympus to Cooperstown, N.Y.” Information Please Database. Retrieved February 20, 2014 (http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womeninsportstimeline.html).
“History of Women in Sports Timeline.” N.d. St. Lawrence County Branch, New York State, AAUW. Retrieved February 20, 2014 (http://www.northnet.org/stlawrenceaauw/timeline.htm).
Bibliography (cont.)
Hollar, Julie. 2010. “Women’s Sports Gets 1.6% of Local TV News Sports Coverage.” Fair Blog. Retrieved February 20, 2014 (http://www.fair.org/blog/2010/07/13/no-room-for-female- athletes-in-sports-news/).
Kreidler, Mark. 2009. “State of uncertainty for women’s sports.” ESPN.com. Retrieved February 20, 2014 (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/columns/story?id=4352885).
Lesko, Jeneane. N.d. “League History.” Official Website of the AAGPBL. Retrieved February 20, 2014 (http://www.aagpbl.org/index.cfm/pages/league/12/league-history).
Ramseur, Kevin II. 2011. “Why are Men’s sports more popular than Women’s sports?” Literally Sports. Retrieved February 20, 2014 (
http://literallysports.blogspot.com/2011/06/why-are-mens-sports-more-popular-than.html).
Rowe, David. 2004. Sport, Culture and the Media: Second Edition. London: Open University Press.
“Title IX and Sex Discrimination.” 1998. U.S. Department of Education: Office for Civil Rights. Retrieved February 20, 2014
(http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/tix_dis.html).