https://padlet.com/am1006735/6rqftnjyaft5hb70 An op-ed about how social media and the internet causes women's sports to lack the recognition they deserve, by getting less views, a lower salary, and less respect. en-us 2021-04-05 14:05:08 UTC 2023-04-05 23:44:20 UTC hello@padlet.com am1006735 https://padlet.com/am1006735/6rqftnjyaft5hb70/wish/1383236680 In the NCAA basketball program, the male athletes are given fresh meals made by a full staff and are given access to a fully equipped gym 24/7. On the other hand, the female athletes are being fueled by frozen, prepackaged dinners, and are given one small rack of dumbbells to share (Sullivan). This difference, sadly, is very common in the sports industry, where men are put first before women. If women got the media coverage and recognition they deserve, then they would be more popular and would be treated equally. 

The 2018 men’s world cup was watched by 3 billion people, over half of the world population. In 2015, the women’s world cup was watched by 764 million people (Prahl). The considerable difference between these two numbers shows how many people liked soccer enough to watch the men’s world cup but didn’t watch the women’s world cup. 

One reason for this difference in viewership is many people are unaware of when the women’s world cup was, and therefore they never watched it. According to researchers, the proportion of coverage dedicated to women’s sports by both print and broadcast media is about 4% on average (Daley). The lack of media coverage on women’s sports leaves many people unaware and uneducated on women’s sport athletes, games, and organizations. The effect of this is less people watching and being interested in women championship games such as the women’s world cup. 

Another reason for the difference in viewership is because many people believe that men are better athletes than women. Therefore thinking men games are more interesting to watch. This thinking is there because a big thing that attracts people, kids especially, to watch sports games is to see their idols and celebrities play. Athletes become celebrities when people recognize them for their success or talent. The main way for people to recognise a person as an athlete is when the athlete is advertised. Male athletes get advertised more than female athletes making male athletes more popular and more male athletes known. 

When an 8th grade girl was asked what athletes she knew, she named 5 people, 4 of them male. She said, “ Tom Brady, Lionel Messi, Peyton Manning, Chritanio Ronaldi, and Sernea Williams” (Mittal). The fact that people know more male athletes than females, leads them to believe that males are better at sports than females, as they know more talented males playing sports. This was proven when 66.7% of 8th graders chose men instead of women in a survey for which gender was better at sports (Mittal). 

Media influence has not only affected a players recognition for their skill but has also turned into a salary issue. According to the Washington Post, the women soccer team won the 2015 world cup and shared a $1.73 million bonus. The men lost in round 16 of the 2014 cup and shared a $5.38 million dollar performance bonus. In many sports women athletes and teams are actually better than men. While the men’s team can't even make it to the championship, the women’s team is not only making it to the championship but is also winning it. Despite this, the women’s team is getting paid less.

 This is because sexist media coverage forces women sports to the back page and mens to the front. This causes more people to watch the men’s game allowing more money to be earned to the team and then split between players. As a result, male athletes get higher salaries and bonuses while female athletes are getting little to none.  

Gender discrimination in the sports industry is everywhere and is put there by the media and internet. Currently, there isn’t a free market as the internet and social media databases are controlling who we watch and see. Let’s change that by giving female athletes more recognition and respect for playing their heart out on the court and field without expecting something back in return. ]]> 2021-04-05 14:14:57 UTC https://padlet.com/am1006735/6rqftnjyaft5hb70/wish/1383236680 am1006735 https://padlet.com/am1006735/6rqftnjyaft5hb70/wish/1383254387 I chose to write about the difference between women's sports and men's sports because there's a lot of controversy around it and many different opinions about women athletes so I wanted to share mine.The part of my Op-Ed that I am most proud is the way I incorporated my evidence into my piece. I like how I didn't just state it by saying my first piece of evidence is and instead found other more creative ways to include it. I also am proud of the way I connected all of the pieces of evidence together as later in my Op-Ed I sometimes referred back to a piece of evidence I used in the beginning of my piece. ]]> 2021-04-05 14:19:17 UTC https://padlet.com/am1006735/6rqftnjyaft5hb70/wish/1383254387 am1006735 https://padlet.com/am1006735/6rqftnjyaft5hb70/wish/1383300134 2021-04-05 14:30:09 UTC https://padlet.com/am1006735/6rqftnjyaft5hb70/wish/1383300134