Since the dawn of time women and men have not been seen as equal in many aspects, but especially with sex and sexuality. I’ve written about this before, hence why this post is called part two. It’s a topic of discussion I talk about often with friends and strangers. I’m basically constantly looking for an answer for why the sexual lives of men is praised, and the sexual lives of women is degraded.
As an adult young woman I’ve have finally become comfortable with my body and the things that I choose do with it. Of course I am not the only one many of my beautiful young female friends, the amazing women in my family, and incredibly celebrity or business woman that I look up too all do what we want with our bodies.
Nonetheless derogatory terms like “slut” and “whore” are thrown around…
Before you read this post, I want you to close your eyes and imagine yourself flicking through channels on TV (or even better, sit down and actually flick through channels on your TV). You will notice that on at least one channel, maybe even two or three, a match is
Gender in Televised Sports, June 2010, Figure 4
being played. According to this article by journalist Stephanie Chalkley-Rhoden, this game has an 81% chance of being a men’s game, a 10.3% chance of being a mixed game (men and women), and a measly 8.7% chance of being a women’s game (these are Australian statistics from 2015). Media coverage of women’s sports is pitiful. Here are some theories as to why:
Women’s sport is not as exciting as men’s – FICTION
How is women’s sport not as exciting as men’s? Is it because female athletes are forced to comply with a certain standard and level of play which restricts them from doing anything remotely “unladylike”? Or maybe it’s because female athletes are not as well-known and therefore watching them is far less interesting than watching Messi, Beckham or Ronaldo. They are not as well-known because they receive less media coverage, and the vicious cycle continues.
Women’s sport has a very low budget – FACT
Unfortunately, the budget provided to women’s sports teams by universities and clubs is very small, far smaller than the men’s budget. This means the ladies have limited access to facilities and coaches, meaning their potential to improve is repressed, meaning they are – to put it simply – not as good as men. Men in high places at sporting associations make sure that female athletes receive a measly budget in order to retain the superiority of men in the association.
TV only shows what the audience wants to see – FICTION
I’m not a particularly sporty person – I play basketball and I dance, and these are the only two sports I’m really interested in watching. I personally find men’s basketball quite
UC Canberra Capitals
annoying to watch as it’s extremely fast and the refs let things slide that women would never get away with. Women’s basketball, along with both genders’ dance, are the only sports I wish to watch on television. These are both barely broadcast. I go to watch the Canberra Capitals (my favourite basketball team) whenever they play in my city. The stadium is usually full, and that is because nobody was able to say “never mind, I’ll watch it at home.” I am an audience member, and you, television, are not showing me what I want to see.
TV saves women the sexualisation of which they will become victims by limiting the television coverage they get – FACT
Unfortunately, yes, this is a fact. I don’t know how much women’s sport you’ve watched in your life (very little, I imagine), but if you have, you’ll notice the differences in what they wear, the questions they are asked by reporters, and the comments that are made by the media. While men wear whatever clothing is most suitable for the sport, women wear a version that shows just a little more skin. Most of the time, it’s not a choice – they have to wear skimpy things sometimes so that their male sponsors will sponsor them, or often the club they play for has provided them with inappropriate gear. While the media comments on men’s sports with regard to their level of play and their current results, snarky comments are made about female athletes in terms of their clothing, how revealing it is, how sexy it makes them look. However, this doesn’t mean women’s sport shouldn’t be televised. In fact, it needs to be, for the sake of the girls’ careers.
Overall, I think the lack of media coverage for women’s sports is incredibly embarrassing. If you want to know more about gender inequality in the sporting world, I recommend this study conducted by the University of Southern California called Gender In Televised Sports. It presents a range of statistics, facts and analyses (and very little opinion. Gender inequality in sport is not an opinion. It’s a fact.)
Most of my knowledge of video games come from my male friends and 13-year-old sister. Though I’m not a gamer, I personally find it odd (and somewhat contradicting), that these extreme amazing worlds that often are more advanced then our own reality, represent women with the same sexist and male gaze-driven representation as every other type of media does.
When I realized this I asked myself that question:”If video games and the gaming world is a fun safe space to escape to, then why are women treated the same or sometimes worse?”.
Even as a non-gamer I have alway been aware of a few things about girls and games. The first being girls are not meant to or supposedly cannot play video games, according to my brothers as well as a majority of society. However, times have changed in the last few years. In 2006 women made up 38% of…
My blog doesn’t have a reputation for covering controversial topics. I usually go out of my way to avoid them here, this does not mean I don’t have opinions on these subjects just that I usually do not feel the need to voice them in a public forum. Today browsing the WordPress Discover page I came across this . post written by Dr. Jen Gunter an OB/GYN who has provided women with abortions after 20 weeks. The post is absolutely heart wrenching. I remember when I was a freshman in college living on campus there was a pro-life group who had a demonstration permit for three days outside of our student union. We had to walk past a very graphic set of photographs of late-term abortions blown up huge and put on poster board, it was awful. I was angry but I wasn’t angry at the women going through with…
photo credit: thefashionspot.com 
My blog doesn’t have a reputation for covering controversial topics. I usually go out of my way to avoid them here, this does not mean I don’t have opinions on these subjects just that I usually do not feel the need to voice them in a public forum. Today browsing the WordPress Discover page I came across 
The Human Writes 