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Next year marks 10 years since women were given equal pay. It's about time they were given equal respect.

As far as women in sport go, tennis players seem to have won themselves a comparatively good deal - all Grand Slams since 2007 have awarded equal pay for men and women. And yet, these top athletes are still forced again and again to swat away sexist missives.

Maria Sharapova, for example, is routinely lambasted as too shrieky. Amelie Mauresmo and Serena Williams are criticised for being too masculine, too strong. If you're a leggy blonde, you'll be asked to do a little twirl for the camera. If you're not, you'll be largely ignored, unless you beat a pretty player to win Wimbeldon - then you'll be summarily abused on Twitter and called "too ugly to rape".

The most recent instalment of sexism in tennis came from Indian Wells CEO Raymond Moore, as he gently explained to female tennis players they were riding "on the coattails of the men". "If I were a lady player I'd go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born because they have carried this sport."

Just days after this very public misstep, Moore resigned. But his "erroneous" remarks unfortunately resurrected the spectre of debate about equal pay. In Moore's wake, men's World Number 1 Novak Djokovic came out and said that men should be paid more because they have more spectators. He was then quickly schooled by tennis great Billie Jean King, while Serena Williams rightly rebuffed his comments, asking him to explain how he would tell his hypothetical daughter that she was entitled to earn less money than his son.

But all this skirts around the ultimate inequality: the game's structure. Until women are given permission to play five sets in Grand Slams like their male counterparts, these tiresome debates - that the women's game is inherently inferior, that the athletes are there to be ogled or mocked, that women should be paid less because they play fewer sets - will continue to haunt the sport.

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Baseline Tennis: The Rules As They Stand

In the vast majority of tennis tournaments, both men and women play to the best of three sets. If a player wins the first two, they are the victor. If each player wins a set (six games), the third serves as the decider. But these probably aren't the matches you stay up all night to watch.

During the Grand Slams - the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbeldon and the US Open - men are bumped up to play the best of five sets instead. That means they have to win a total of three and, if they lose the first two, they can still make an almighty comeback - a feat that is absolutely titillating to tennis fanatics. But in these most-watched competitions, if a woman loses her first two sets, it's game over.

It's easy to suppose latent sexism and Victorian-era ideals of 'the fairer sex' are to blame here - a question of female players' stamina and strength. But it hasn't always been this way. Women hit their way through five sets in the US Open more than a century ago (between 1894 and 1901). This then came back in the finals of the WTA championships between 1984 and 1998.

So, women can physically play out five sets. That's not in contention. There's instead a problem with them being given the green light. In 2013, the then head of the WTA Stacey Allaster said women were ready, willing and able to play the five-set format. But the Grand Slam Committee wouldn't allow it, citing scheduling issues.

Since then Maria Erakovic, New Zealand's top-ranked player, has also spoken out saying "the women I've spoken to on the tour [are] all very open to playing five sets". And, though she pointed out she couldn't speak for all players, it's a fairly common view. Serena Williams, while adamant she "totally could" play five sets, has been fairly casual on the topic. "[It] doesn't matter to me. Best of five, best of seven, whatever."

On the flipside, there's also been talk of cutting the men's matches down to size. Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has been a particularly vocal advocate, saying the structure puts the body under stress and causes reoccurring injuries in top players. Sharapova too has touted three sets for men, saying it would make the crucial first set more thrilling.

But this has gained little traction. Five set finals are a spectacle and have played host to some of the game's most memorable triumphs. It's unlikely the men's game will pedal back.

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What's The Harm In Difference?

Having women play a truncated version of the Grand Slam game gives a thin veneer of credibility to the idea that women are riding on the coattails of the men, and further, that women should be paid less than men.

It's true male players do attract more and/or higher-paying spectators. Tickets to the men's Australian Open final this year cost double that of the same event for the women's game (around $400 and $200 respectively). This was despite a gripping upset by Angela Kerber over Serena Williams, in contrast to an uninspiring fizzer between lanky rivals Djokovic and Andy Murray.

But Djokovic's is also a false logic, and falls within a self-fulfilling prophecy. It seems ridiculous that spectators would pay the same price to watch men and women competing under these drastically different conditions. We don't expect fans to fork out the same amount to watch women swim 30 metres of an Olympic pool, or run 60 metres of the male sprint.

Last year, statistician Stephanie Kovalchik crunched the numbers in a graph-laden piece in Signficance highlighting how the Grand Slam match format is "short-changing women's tennis". Though sports reporters revel in a good upset, they tend to characterise women's matches as "inconsistent" and "unpredictable". Kovalchik found women's tennis did, in fact, have greater levels of inconsistency - but only at the Grand Slams, where the set-structure shifts along gendered lines. "Inconsistency in tennis is a problem of match format, not gender," she concluded.

To some extent, these constant complaints about the women's game - that it's inconsistent, weak, or slow - are predetermined: we view women's tennis as less worthy of our time because the three-set format has already deemed it so.

To give female players all the drama, prowess, and space that men are afforded, they should be scheduled in for five-setters. And it should happen at the Australian Open. The event kicks off the calendar year for the tennis world, and as next year marks a decade since women got equal pay across all four slams, organisers would do well to set the tone.

The fight for equal pay in tennis was a long one, and one sportswomen can't afford to lose. Tennis is one of the only sports where men and women enjoy some semblance of pay parity; our national soccer team the Matildas went on strike last year because they weren't even scraping minimum wage. But equal pay has failed to translate to equal respect. As Djokovic has shown after backpedalling from his prior comments, it's possible to catch on to the concept of real gender equality if you're open to hearing a new viewpoint.

Let's hope the Grand Slam Committee hear the rallying cry.

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Erin Handley is a journalist at the Phnom Penh Post and a freelance writer. She has worked at Fairfax country papers written for The Age, The Guardian, Right Now, The Australian and Cordite Poetry Review. She tweets at @erinhandley.

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We'll Never Get Rid Of Sexism In Tennis Until Women Are Given Five Sets

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Next year marks 10 years since women were given equal pay. It's about time they were given equal respect. As far as women in sport go, tennis players seem to have won themselves a comparatively good deal - all Grand Slams since 2007 have awarded equal pay for men and women.

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Sexism in the Olympics this year has been a huge issue since the very start of the event. From the "tree-trunk legs" of the womens sevens player to the "Oiled up heart throb" Tongan flag bearer

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sexism is defined as  "prejudice or discrimination based on sex, or behaviour, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex"

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sexism is defined as  "prejudice or discrimination based on sex, or behaviour, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex"

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Doping in sports, especially at the Olympics is a negative thing as it affects the outcome of the results if the athletes are not caught.  Chinese swimmer, Sun Yang is an Olympian who has recently won a gold medal in the 200 freestyle at the Olympic games and has been called out by other Olympians on his doping ban from the sport for 3 months in 2014. Gold medalist Mack Horton and French swimmer Camille Lacourt have each made statements about Sun Yang's Olympic medals and his doping. There are swimmers such as Michael Phelps and Lily King who have each made statements about doping in sport.

Doping in Sport affects sports people in New Zealand. An example of this is again, Sun Yang. Sun Yang, and his doping scandal made his performance relatively increased, this affects New Zealand swimmers like Matthew Stanley, who is also a 200 freestyle swimmer and is getting pushed out of semis and finals by swimmers like Sun Yang who use performance enhancing drugs

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Sexism is defined as prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex.

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Doping in sport is a prevalent debate which commonly occurs in this day and age - a lot because of the media focus around Russia and the Olympics, and also because of the frequent discoveries of athletes caught doping. http://www.runnersworld.com/newswire/sports-medicine-experts-debate-should-doping-be-allowed Is an article named "Sports medicine experts debate doping should be allowed". In this article, Sport ethicist Julian Savulescu takes the view that doping should be allowed. He talks about how the current system is ineffective considering the rising number of athletes being found doping - so its obviously not working as a deterrent. he also points out that opposing doping due to unfair advantage is not a relevent argument because tehre are already altitude chambers, better coaches, asthema and painkilling medication which are all things that not every athlete has access to equally, which enhances performance. The effect on myself would be little, as I am not an olympic athlete. Though if doping was to be legalised in New Zealand, it would have a huge affect on our athletes, it may cause some to boycott competing, others to gain bad health or reputation for involving themselves in state run doping. Also New zealands doping programme may be on a lesser scale to a much wealthier country like america, potentially disadvantaging New Zealand athletes and taking away the thing which has won us so many olympic medals over the years - determination and practice. Though in saying this the potential benefits of legalising doping are significant and I believe will be continued to be discussed in the very near future.

Annabelle

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Sexism in sport or in general is said to be  "prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex," in tennis this is very evident today as it is said that "“ride on the coattails of the men” and that they should “go down every night” on their “knees and thank god that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born, because they have carried this sport.”" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/angelina-chapin/the-sexism-in-tennis-needs-to-stop_b_9557106.html . Not only this but in a normal grand slam tennis tournament men play five sets where as woman only compete three sets." https://www.womeninsport.org/how-were-doing-it/sexism-in-sport/. Relating this back to NZ society, New Zealand woman tennis plays and well any woman which plays tennis around the world and here competitively or not will play by this rules of three sets for woman and five for men.As this are the rules set by the world international body for tennis which means they will be nationally and internationally reckoned, so its will just be easier to play by the "rule" but to Some extent it could be quite degrading for a player who is just is good as any other male athletic to be told they should play by the rules and only play three sets.

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Sexism in sports is present in daily life and every day competitions even in primary schools I remember sexism being something that is normal, this is because for example in school sporting events such as the Howick College athletics day the minimum jumping height that the girls have to jump is lower than that of the male minimum height. But on the other hand this isn't really sexist because if you look at the statistics of high jump girls generally have a lower mean jump height.

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Drugs are bad in sports because they give users an unfair advantage over the competitors who don't use drugs in the sport when they participate. Doping and/or drug use in cycling is and has been a big issue in competitions even in small events such as the New Zealand Triathlons and biathlons etc because the users of the drugs such as EPO which increases the haemoglobin percentage in your blood which means more oxygen can get to your muscles quicker. In the investigation a reporter from Australia conducts talking to a person who has come forwards  and admitted to doping in his races this is important because it will expose the truth about the effects of doping in sports especially use of EPO and raise awareness of this habit some sportsmen get involved in. If people in New Zealand found this video: https://youtu.be/5BAoRCQTUYU it would be beneficial in the sporting events that locals can take part in and make them more fair and on more of an even playing field and make it safer for the participators because the officials will know what to look for if someone is suspected in using drugs to improve their performance in the sport they participate in.

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Violence in sport is bad especially at professional level as it is so widely viewed and people love to see it, however this has a bad influence as when people watch it, it gives them the idea that it is alright to try be like these sports stars and use violence when they play.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10591051

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Racism in sport is negative because people are judging others for the color of their skin or the country they are from. Racism is part of almost every aspect of our lives.  Whether it is on the news or through personal experience, we see racism all around us. A common example of racism in sports that is found in the media is racism in South African athletes. A huge reason why we hear about this a lot is because 'South Africa’s sports minister has announced that he will no longer “beg for racial transformation”, but will start forcing the country’s sporting federations to fulfill racial quotas.
Fikile Mbalula said in a speech on Sunday that the cricket, rugby, netball and athletics federations would be banned from bidding for any international tournaments until their numbers of black players improved'.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/29/south-africa-racial-quotas-sport-rugby-springboks-cricket

Another reason why racism in sports is negative is because people are judged for the sport they play. Many people expect certain countries to play certain sports and be good at it. People stereotype athletes into categories based on their color, country or sport. An example of this stereotyping is from an article that states that 'Asians and Asian-Americans are pigeon-holed too often by sport. They’re supposed to be good at golf, baseball, tennis and figure skating, but not at basketball or football. At times, they are overlooked by college recruiters and professional scouts simply because of their names.
Jeremy Lin is the best example of this. Despite being selected as California’s high school player of the year and leading Palo Alto High School to a state championship, neither UCLA nor Stanford offered him a scholarship. Poor kid had to go to Harvard'.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/bondy-10-places-racism-major-issue-sport-article-1.1778178

There are ways in which we can reduce the amount of racism that is found in the media over time. 'The only way the racism and discrimination in sports is going to end is if there are severe punishments for these actions.  A message needs to be sent in every sport that racism is not acceptable and discrimination will not be tolerated.  If a player racially abuses another player, he needs to be suspended for the year and fined heavily.  If an organization discriminates against another race during its interview process, they need to be severely reprimanded with punishments such as hefty fines, post season bans, and even firings. Once the message is sent that discriminatory actions are not acceptable in our society, the long-lived aspect of racism in sports will be eliminated. In turn, these acts will begin to fade in America as a whole. We will be able to live in a society that can honestly say it is winning the fight against racism and discrimination'. People can't get over the fact that people should be seen as equals and not judged by the colour of their skin or the sport they play and until they can, racism will be found almost anywhere.
http://www.mhlearningsolutions.com/commonplace/index.php?q=node/5970

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Sexism is defined as “attitudes or behavior based on traditional stereotypes of sexual roles” or “discrimination or devaluation based on a person's sex, as in restricted job opportunities;  such discrimination directed against women”. Sexism in sport applies more to woman than men. This is negative and some examples of sexism in sport are that female athletes have a lower salary compared to male athletes. The medias portrayal of women athletes tends to be poor as they are judged on their outfits, body shapes, looks etc. However sexism in sport can apply to males as well such as male gymnasts who will be looked upon differently as gymnastics is seen as a female sport. In a way sports has separated males and females as females are looked upon differently when they play a male sport so they tend to just not get into those sports. But males and females are equally skilled so they should be encouraged to play the same sports. Sexism in sport is a negative because males believe women are not as athletic as men and cannot play up to their skill levels due to weaknesses in strength, size, and overall athletic ability.
http://sexisminsports.blogspot.co.nz/

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Experts say that even Even one session of an activity that raises children’s heart rate is good for both their brain and their education, according to a panel of 24 specialists in exercise from eight countries, including Britain. According to my article it says that a single session  of moderate physical activity has an acute benefit to brain function, cognition and scholastic performance in children and youth

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In the fitness industry we constantly see an influx of posts, videos and photos of so called 'fitness' people. Whether it be a weightlifter, a bikini competitor, an Olympian or an every day 'sporty' person, we see so many hashtags and comments with things like 'train insane' 'eat clean' 'nothing tastes good as skinny feels' and other comments that are actually causing a negative impact on some of the people viewing these images. There are so many people online who seem to have it all; the abs, the great butt, the long legs, the muscles, everyone is trying to achieve this achievable look that cannot be kept all year round and is in most cases definitely not healthy. In most cases the person posting the photo may be not eating enough/restricting themselves, over-training and risking mental and physical health problems; such as proper sleep, adequate rest or taking drugs to achieve that figure. What we have to think about when looking at photos like this is that a) It's either photo shopped or enhanced b) they may be taking risks within their lives to look that way which could effect them in the long run and
c) they may actually train full time for their job; so for an example an olympic rower may look incredibly lean and muscly, but firstly they will be pushing their bodies and mind past its limit every day, but the reason they can afford to do so is because they do not have other commitments, such as school and work. Training is their full time job. They will also have an abundance of team members, staff and coaches who will provide them with everything they need to maintain a physique like that, e.g. nutritious catered foods, housing, sports massages, sports supplements and much more.
The only thing we have to think about when seeing 'fitspo' images online is that they either look that way because they are professionals in the industry, which can be looked at in a positive way. They don't look like that because it's deemed as 'hot' or 'sexy' but they look like that because they train incredibly hard and for specific events and goals. The 'fitspo' photos of girls with abs and tight nike shorts or muscly dudes holding protein shakes are ones we need to be looking at as 'unrealistic' and 'unattainable' because most of the time they won't be achieving this physique in a healthy way. Not only are people, famous or not, on social media being pressured to look a certain way and risking their health for it, but in doing so are actually influencing their audience members to try and achieve a similar body and/or lifestyle. On social media people want to feel validated, that's why 'fitspo' has become such a big thing. Fitspo is also such a negative thing because so many young kids see these images and wonder why they don't look like that, not knowing that their bodies haven't fully developed yet and instead of eating well and exercising, all they will hear is to 'not stop unless you are puking, fainting or dying' and that 'nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.' Not only is the pressure to maintain a 'perfect fit' figure affecting the people who post these images and want to maintain likes, comments and followers, as well as validation, but is affecting the viewers (especially young kids and teens), as well as how the fitness industry is viewed. Because NZ is known to be a 'sporty' country we already have a pressure to maintain healthy lifestyles, but now with the added 'fitspo' epidemic young nz teens are susceptible to over exercising, poor nutrition and unrealistic body goals, which will in turn make them feel guilty and will give them a negative image of themselves and how they look compare to these people. http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/well-good/inspire-me/82024376/im-a-fitness-coach-but-i-hate-fitspo

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Sexism in sport is a negative aspect that has an affect on the majority of individuals involved with the business. One of the obvious sexist issues involved with sport, is the large gap between what male athletes are paid, and what female athletes are paid. This gap in pay, is spoken out about by many athletes, including Serena Williams. She has the belief that male tennis players, and female tennis players, should be paid the same amount when they achieve similar things. Serena Williams has stated that "I think we deserve equal prize money. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, if you happen to write a short article, you think you don't deserve equal pay as your beautiful colleague behind you?". Despite many female athletes sharing the same belief, that the gap between male and female tennis players is sexist, there has still been no change. This example highlights the perception that even if a female achieves the same thing as a male, her achievement is worthless because of her gender.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/07/08/serena-williams-greatest-athlete_n_10887104.html

Another aspect of sexism in sport that can be highlighted, is the large difference between what is covered in the media. This means that male sporting achievements and events, take up the majority of the media covers. This can be supported by " various bodies of research done in New Zealand over the past decade put the coverage of women sports at around 10-12 per cent in mainstream media"

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11630217

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Number 6: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/bondy-10-places-racism-major-issue-sport-article-1.1778178

Racism in sport is bad because people are judged on the colour of their skin or based on what sports that they are meant to be good. Most sports that are played worldwide all have there own stereotypes. An example that I have heard often is "All black coloured people are good at running and jumping"This is said at Rugby games, Olympic Games etc. Another example is from an article from America;  Asians and Asian-Americans athletes are supposed to be good at golf, baseball, tennis and figure skating, but not at basketball or football. Often they are overlooked by college recruiters and professional scouts simply because of their names. Jeremy Lin said in a interview on 60 Minutes  “Well the obvious thing in my mind is that I was Asian-American which, you know, is a whole different issue. I think that was a barrier. I mean, it’s just a stereotype.”

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Sexism in sport is negative because it gives viewers of the sport (e.g) tennis that woman are not equal. This is due to the outfits as well as the pay and some of the comments that are made about them are highly sexist such as their body shapes being idolized and criticised if they do or do not fit the mold of the perfect athletic woman body.  People like Serena Williams and Amelie Mauresmo are " criticised for being too masculine, too strong. If you’re a leggy blonde, you’ll be asked to do a little twirl for the camera. If you’re not, you’ll be largely ignored, unless you beat a pretty player to win Wimbeldon — then you’ll be summarily abused on Twitter and called “too ugly to rape”.
http://junkee.com/well-never-get-rid-of-sexism-in-tennis-until-women-are-given-five-setss/75479

Female tennis players are often accused of "riding on the coat tails of men" and some men are even saying that  “If I were a lady player I’d go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born because they have carried this sport.” some woman say that tennis will never be equal unless woman and men can both play 5 sets without being criticised"
http://junkee.com/well-never-get-rid-of-sexism-in-tennis-until-women-are-given-five-setss/75479

Sexism in sport causes a negative impact on woman who's body shape doesn't conform to the 'normal body shape,' there are athletes like Serena Williams and Caster Semenya  who are criticised for being to masculine and muscular.  Caster Semenya, a South African track athlete, was highly criticised  and then gender tested as people believed that she was cheating and was actually a man. This has not only happened to Semenya, it has also happened to Indian runner Dutee Chand, people had decided when she had competed only months earlier at a track and field event that, 'her physique seemed suspiciously masculine: Her muscles were too pronounced, her stride was too impressive for someone who was only five feet tall.' She had to undergo humiliating testing just to show that she was in fact a woman, though as her results came back swayed in a direction that the results could not be positively concluded that she was a man or a woman, she was banned from competing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/magazine/the-humiliating-practice-of-sex-testing-female-athletes.html?_r=1

Sexism in sport affects New Zealanders  as it has significant impacts on how woman are perceived in sport, woman are assumed to be 'lesser athletes' in many sports and are not paid or recognized as much as their male counterparts.  New Zelaland claimes that there is no longer any sexism in the country but if you look closely enough, the tell-tale signs are still there. Earlier this year champion surfer Mischa Davis won the Billabong Pro open women's surfing competition at Whangamata, and with it a first prize of $1000. Organisers then awarded the same amount to the winner of their bikini parade.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/opinion/637729/i-Sport-the-last-bastion-of-sexism-i

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You are to choose your topics from last week (3 would be a good number.) You must put the article link in your post then justify your position on its impact on NZ. Could be a positive or negative impact!!