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Like many sports, volleyball has many issues relating to the treatment of men and women. In particular, the issue is that many parts of the sport are not fair for women. This includes issues in volleyball advertising, endorsements, image, salary, uniforms and media treatment. The way that men and women are treated in volleyball is not equal and this is something that needs to change in the future, and there are many ways that this can be done.

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Advertisements in volleyball have an issue with the representation of women. Advertisements with men playing volleyball do not have a problem because they do not focus on their body, but focus on the sport or their life. However, in many ads showing women playing volleyball, it focuses on their bodies and their clothing. There are even advertisements that have slow-motion scenes that sexualize the way the woman’s body is moving. This is an example of gender issues in volleyball as women are not represented equally to men.

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For example, GoPro made two advertisements which feature a male and female volleyball player. The ad with the female player focuses only on the volleyball match, where the women are wearing their bikinis. This video also includes a slow-motion scene of teammates high fiving where it slows down just as the woman’s chest is on the screen.

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In contrast, the male version of the GoPro advertisement shows very little of the volleyball game, and instead focuses on the athlete’s life outside of the sport. It rarely shows off the player’s physique and features no slow-motion scenes.

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GoPro: "Two Roads" - Beach Volleyball with Casey Patterson (Ep. 5)

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On Episode 5 of Two Roads, AVP star Casey Patterson tells us about his love for volleyball and how his family motivates him to be the best father and husband at home as well as a top tier athlete on the sand.

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This video shows an advertisement for sunscreen, featuring women playing beach volleyball. Towards the end of the ad, it shows a woman hitting the ball in slow-motion, which is sexualizing the movement of her body.

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funny beach Sunplay New TV Commercial Ad ~ 'Beach Volleyball' comedy

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funny beach Sunplay New TV Commercial Ad ~ 'Beach Volleyball' comedy "pepsi max commercial" "michael jordan" "jordan commercial" "dove commercial" "coca cola commercial" "coke commercial" "raywilliamjohnson" "iphone commercial" "apple commercial" "superbowl commercial" "honda commercial" "lil wayne" "direct tv commercial" "superbowl commercials" "one direction" "old spice" "skittles banned commercial" "gatorade commercial"

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This advertisement for “iPure” features a beach volleyball player. In this ad, she is not wearing a usual volleyball uniform but instead has her wearing a very small bikini. The ad focuses on her body many times during the advertisement, rather than the actual sport or her ability.

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Beach volleyball has a major issue with sponsorships that relates to gender: many international level female teams can not find sponsors. Though this is an issue with both genders in general, due to the sport’s high cost to manage and organise, it is the female teams that are having more problems, even though they are more popular to watch. Players from Britain’s female beach volleyball team believe that this difficulty comes from their uniforms, which make people not take them seriously as sports professionals. This is not an issue that men have with sponsorships as their uniforms are much longer and do not show a lot of skin.

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This article shows how Britain's national female beach volleyball team could not find sponsorships. The players believe that they are not taken seriously as athletes because their uniforms show a lot of skin.

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Half a million tickets have been sold for beach volleyball events at the London Olympics next summer, yet the women's GB squad has so far failed to secure major sponsorship.

But while the players, who cut striking figures and performing energetically in the sand in barely-there bikinis, believe they may have been hampered by a 'Baywatch with balls' image.

The lack of sponsorship means the team must in effect pay to play for their country, despite the skimpy outfits helping to make it the second most popular event after the men's 100m final.

Essex-born Lucy Boulton, 25, who is ranked second in Britain with her partner Denise Johns, 32, said: 'The outfits will put some companies off.

'There is a stigma and it is not taken as seriously as other sports.

'But it is a double-edged sword. We have to be realistic and accept that the bikinis also help to get people to the event.'

South African-born Shauna Mullin, 27, who forms GB's number one duo with Zara Dampney, 25, said many people were still 'stuck' in the mindset that 'beach volleyball is about sex, not a sport'.

She added: 'Companies aren't going to part with their money if they don't think of it as a serious sport.

'If they see it at a high level, they will hopefully see it is a dynamic and skilful game'.

Top players earn about £16,000 a year through National Lottery funding, administered by UK Sport and the British Volleyball Federation, which covers budget hotels and flights for international competitions.

They have to raise extra cash through sponsorship, prize money and even the bank of mum and dad.

Boulton said: 'I am not complaining, because I am grateful for the funding we do get.

'But it would be nice to have a bit more cash so we don't have to worry so much.'

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Life's a beach... GB volleyball team struggles to catch advertisers' eyes

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Half a million tickets have been sold for beach volleyball events at the London Olympics next summer, yet the women's GB squad has so far failed to secure major sponsorship. But while the players, who cut striking figures and performing energetically in the sand in barely-there bikinis, believe they may have been hampered by a 'Baywatch with balls' image.

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At first glance, salaries in volleyball seem to have little difference between the genders. For example, average prize money is now the same as per the FIVB (International Volleyball Federation) guidelines and the more popular players in the sport are paid more (in this case, women, which is rare for sport). In 2010, the FIVB awarded 10% more prize money to the men’s beach volleyball team than the women’s team, but now this has been fixed and prize money is the same across all genders. However, regular volleyball still has a massive difference between male and female prize money. In the men’s world championships, first prize is worth USD $1,000,000. However, first place in the women’s world championships is only USD $210,000. Even third place in the men’s championship is worth more than first place in the women’s. Also, the male players can win prize money for individual performance awards, but these awards are not given to female players.

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The first prize money for the Men’s Volleyball World League is USD $1,000,000.

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Prize Money - FIVB Volleyball World League 2015

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The first prize money for the Women’s Volleyball World Championships is USD $210,000.

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Prize Money - FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship 2015

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There are significant differences between men’s and women’s uniforms in volleyball, especially beach volleyball. The women’s uniforms are generally tighter, showing off either more skin or more of the body’s shape. This is in contrast to the men’s uniforms, which are usually loose-fitting and long. Another issue is present in choice. Apparently, women in beach volleyball have a choice to wear an alternative uniform, similar to the men’s, but they do not. Could this be because of men in power positions in the volleyball organizations forcing them to do so? If so, this is a massive issue as it is taking athlete’s power away from their own bodies and their team’s presentation.

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The Australian men's and women's beach volleyball uniform is very different. The men's uniform covers the whole torso and is loose fitting. They wear shorts which almost go to the knees. However, the women's uniform barely covers their skin, both top and bottom, and looks more like a bikini or underwear.

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The Brazil male and female volleyball uniforms are also very different. Though the upper body is very similar, the women's shorts are much shorter and tighter than the man's highlighting their body shape more.

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Finally, the uniforms used by the Japanese male and female volleyball teams are also different. The male team wears lose, short-sleeved shirts and almost knee-length shorts, but the female team wears very short, tight pants and a tight top, again highlighting their body shape.

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There are issues with the way that female volleyball players are treated in the media and in interviews compared to male players. In the media, there are many articles that focus on women’s bodies with titles or comments sexualizing them. Even the Mayor of London focused on this when writing about the Olympic Games. Moreover, during interviews, players are asked questions that are not related to the sport, but their looks or body, which is sexist. Male players are not asked these kinds of questions and are also not in any articles that focus on their bodies in professional media.

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In this interview with some professional female volleyball players, the host highlights player Alyssa Valdez’s smile and looks, something which takes away from her professionalism as a volleyball player and would not happen to a male player.

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Interview with the UAAP 77 Women's Volleyball champions!

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Watch this exclusive interview with the volleyball players of the UAAP 77 Women's Volleyball champions, the Ateneo Lady Eagles. Meet Amy Ahomiro and Alyssa Valdez. The ones who led their team to a back-to-back UAAP Women's Volleyball championship. Subscribe to ABS-CBN News channel!

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In this interview with a university volleyball team, the interviewer asks the question “(with a) bunch of girls on a bus, is there any tension?”. This question is using a common sexist assumption about the way groups of women behave and interact together.

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Inside Access with Brian Gendreau: Women's Volleyball. UND Sports TV "Tipping Off For Real" episode

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This segment originally broadcast on MidCo Sports Net, Friday, Nov 9th, 2012, as part of the UND Sports TV show, "Tipping Off For Real" episode. This week we're giving away Sweet "ND" Sweatpants! (compliments of GWGear) and 2 tickets to UND MBB v. Crown College! Watch MidCo Sports primetime Friday @ 6pm.

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NBC New York has slideshow on “Olympic Beach Volleyball: Great Bodies, Bikinis and More”. This mainly features women in photos of their bikinis and the title of this article sexualizes them.

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Beach Volleyball: Great Bodies, Bikinis and More

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During the 1996 Centennial Olympics beach volleyball was officially recognized as a medal-worthy sport. Since then, the United States has won a gold medal every year, but it's the best in beach bodies...

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As mentioned previously, Britain's international beach volleyball team had issues finding sponsors for their team as they, in their own words, were not taken seriously due to their uniforms. Furthermore, the media's treatment of volleyball affects the way the public perceive the sport, therefore affecting its image. Due to this, volleyball is often seen as a sport played by women, and one that isn't taken seriously because of this focus on women's bodies. To compare, men's volleyball has a less sexualized image in the public's eye due to the uniforms that are much more casual and loose-fitting.

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Despite the media's portrayal of volleyball, the FIVB takes the sport very seriously and keeps a very professional image of the sport on its homepage.

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What Can Be Done on an International Level?

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What Can Be Done on an International Level?

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Despite all of these issues, there are things that can be changed to fix and solve them so that volleyball can be a more equal sport for both men and women. Regarding salary, women’s prize money in international volleyball tournaments needs to match the money men receive. Interviewers and the media should also stop being sexist to women and focus on their skills. For example, they should stop writing articles focusing on their bodies or looks, and instead write about their skills or volleyball, just as they do for male athletes. Uniforms should also be adjusted so that male and female ones are more similar, and female players have more power and choice over which uniforms they can choose, especially in beach volleyball. This could also lead to more sponsorships for female beach volleyball teams, solving another gender issue in the sport.

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What Can be Done at Chadwick International?

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What Can be Done at Chadwick International?

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Fortunately, Chadwick International does not seem to have the same issues with gender in volleyball as the sport has at an international level. Here, volleyball teams have the same uniform between males and females. If Chadwick wanted to make a beach volleyball team, they should keep both genders wearing the same uniform, too. One thing that Chadwick could do even better with is celebrating both male and female volleyball players and teams more in Chadwick, like online, in a newsletter or newspaper, or the yearbook. Finally, if Chadwick holds interviews with players, they need to make sure that the types of questions asked to players are the same across genders.

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Volleyball is a sport that has a long way to go with regards to the equal treatment and opportunity of men and women. Issues exist in volleyball regarding the portrayal of women, equality in uniforms, the media's treatment of female players, the prize money given to women players, endorsements for female teams, and the public perception of the sport. Many changes need to be made to volleyball at a professional level to manage and solve these gender issues. Fortunately, at Chadwick International, these issues are not present, and there are a simple set of steps Chadwick can take to ensure that both female and male volleyball players have equal treatment in the sport going forward.