The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

Women’s sport must step out of the shadows

Jarrah new author
Roar Rookie
15th March, 2015
Advertisement
Media coverage of women's sport often neglects coverage of the sport itself. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Jarrah new author
Roar Rookie
15th March, 2015
29

Women’s sport in Australia is an issue that many don’t concern themselves with but one that deserves more attention.

The gender divide in modern society has long been known, but rarely spoken about. Such a divide dates back to the first modern Olympics in 1896 when women weren’t able to compete.

All journalists have their reasons for taking up such a career. Mine comes from the respect I have for women in sport and the recognition I think female athletes deserve but rarely receive.

People will have their jokes about women’s sport existing only for the benefit of men. The Lingerie Football League (now known as the Legends Football League) has almost certainly fuelled that image, as has the women who fight for the World Wrestling Entertainment.

What people fail to realise though is that female athletes have just as much ability as their male counterparts

Open up the latest edition of The Age, Herald Sun or any other Australian newspaper though and at least 80 per cent of the sports section will be about male-dominated sports.

On TV, women’s sport fails to gain much attention at all, despite Fox Sports now having five channels. The Women’s National Basketball League and the Women’s National Soccer League both lost their spots on the ABC’s Saturday afternoon programming due to funding cuts.

This move ends a 35-year relationship between the WNBL and the ABC, while the W-League soccer has been shown on the ABC since its inception in 2008.

Advertisement

The Australian women’s cricket team has had their moments on both Channel Nine and the ABC, but now they too are feeling the pinch.

Only the ANZ Championship Netball competition can be regularly seen on television, having recently secured a strong deal between ONE and Fox Sports.

The lack of coverage for all of these sports is staggering given the success that Australia has had in the past few years. The WNBL has just finished its best season to date, with Australian legends Lauren Jackson and Penny Taylor returning to the local competition, while Olympians from Australia, New Zealand and the United States were dotted throughout the league.

A few weeks ago seven teams were vying for a place in the top four, with the season coming down to the final game.

The W-League also enjoyed a highly entertaining season that concluded with the final between Perth and Canberra on December 17, while the Australian women’s cricket team has won the past three Twenty20 World Championships and are also the current holders of the Women’s World Cup after triumphing in India in 2013.

Those are just three sports that are enjoying a period of great success without many people being aware due to the lack of public access. Many of Australia’s top female athletes make little to no money through sport and as such are forced to balance their life with another job to make ends meet.

Australia worships their sporting heroes, so why can’t some of those great sporting heroes be women like Lauren Jackson, Meg Lanning, Laura Geitz and Lisa De Vanna.

Advertisement

Elite athletes all deserve equal recognition for their achievements, be they male or female. However in our gender-divided society this rarely happens.

The obvious difference in the coverage of female sport is simply one example of how poorly women are treated in modern society. Women in Australia make 82 cents to every dollar made by a man, and although there are more women with a tertiary degree, men typically dominate the market for higher-paid jobs.

There is no reason why women who are often outperforming their male counterparts can’t have the same recognition in this great country of ours. In a world where we are all about equality across race and sexual orientation, it is about time that the issue of discrimination against women gains the attention it deserves.

Such is the case in sport. Australians need to realise that while many of our male-dominated sports may be thriving, particularly the A-League with the help of the Western Sydney Wanderers winning the Asian Champions League or the Socceroos winning the Asian Cup, women’s sport in Australia is as strong as it has ever been.

With both a women’s Twenty20 Big Bash League and a women’s AFL competition in the making, people should start taking women’s sport more seriously. No longer should female athletes hide in the shadows of their male counterparts. It is time for them to step into the spotlight and for people support women’s sport in Australia.

The world is in a state of flux where technology is rapidly developing and people from all different walks of life are being accepted into the community; we as a society must change our historic views on sport and accept that a strong female presence is here to stay.

close