In discussions about women and sports, one has to concede that the face of most sports tend not to be women but are instead men.
But what drives that? To answer this question, Urban Woman Magazine asked some female sports enthusiasts to share their thoughts.
Read their responses below.
Joy Moyela
So for me I think one of the major things that drives lack of attention given to women’s sports is gender inequality….people think sports should be for men alone and women’s sports is boring.
Once people find out I watch football and i am a lover of women’s football at that they start asking questions and they are very shocked when I school them about it 🤣🤣🤣.
I think one of the solutions to underfunding and lack of attention is to increase the media presence…put this women on people’s faces and everyone will have no choice but to watch them.
Esther Olamoyegun
(Founder, She Kicks Goals)
The main reason for the lack of attention given to women’s sports is the presence of norms and myths that state that women aren’t supposed to be involved in anything physical, especially sports. Many people still view women in sports, even the excellent ones like Simone Biles and Aitana Bonmati as “abnormal” or things they should not be doing.
And despite the work of old and new sportswomen in correcting this notion, the larger percentage of people still unfortunately believe this.
As a female sports enthusiast building a sports media brand for women, it has been hard getting support and yes, all my life, men have questioned and doubted my knowledge of sports.
For solutions, we need major stakeholders and governments in the international system to work towards correcting the notion of women in sports, and consequently, put more funding in women’s sports. The last few years have shown us that investment in women’s sports yields big returns so enough of the old talk of women’s sports not making money. Look at the WNBA, the NWSL and some National Teams in Europe drawing millions to standstill to watch their matches. Women’s sports is profitable!
Laura
I think every 9 in 10 women would say they’ve been in situations with guys where they expressed their interest in sports and next thing: “mention 5 players in this club” because it’s not “normal” for women to be knowledgeable on things like sports when Barbie is in production.
I know people who are active fans of female sports- football, basketball, tennis, volleyball etc. It just isn’t mainstream.
Fareedah
I just did a research on the gender pay gap in football. The highest-earning male footballers rake in over £173,000,000 a year, while their female counterparts earn approximately £417,000 per annum, revealing how earnings of the best female players is only 1% of their male counterparts.
Similarly, in non-playing roles, England Women’s Coach Serena Wiegman earns around £400,000 a year compared to Gareth Southgate’s £5,000,000 the England Men’s coaching position. Overall, the median gender pay gap across Premier League clubs is 8.3 per cent — below the UK average of 9.7 per cent.
Female football is grossly underfunded. For many years, their matches were not even televised so we couldn’t even watch and support. Now, it’s probably only one channel they show their matches on.
We need female football in mainstream and that includes us. We should talk about them. The way we casually mention the Messis and Ronaldos. Talk about Lauren James. Check out their social media. Support them even if you don’t fully understand them.
Loretta
I think a lot of people are geared towards thinking football is a men’s thing. The only times I watched football growing up was during the men world cup and it never occurred to me that there was a female version. Particularly as a Nigerian, the lack of female football idols like Kanu, Yekini Rasheed etc also play a part.
Each time I wear my jersey I know I am going to be asked the most ridiculous questions. I recently got a shirt that says ask me about women’s football and I got asked the most ridiculous questions.
I think we need more creators in the space, I got into women’s sport because of a creator I admire. We need to cover the sport even at the grassroots level. The more we talk about it the more it becomes common place. Right now, a lot of female athletes are coming out with sport programs for the younger generation and it is definitely a step in the right direction.
Angel Nduka-Nwosu is a writer, journalist and editor. She moonlights occasionally as a podcaster on As Angel Was Sayin’. Catch her on all socials @asangelwassayin.