Men are better at sports. It is simply a fact. They clearly dominate the field of athletics as the superior gender in terms of physical strength, ability, and talent. While many may reluctantly admit that there are some impressive female athletes, they do not really matter in the realm of sports. When the beyond empowering word “women’s” is slapped on the title of NBA, all issues regarding the mere possibility of gender inequality or stereotyping are consequently erased. To some, these couple of sentences may have provoked a feeling of disdain or confusion, and those who did not recognize that it was satire have proved that the problem does exist. Even though not every individual may place a higher importance on male athletes, the media clearly does. In turn, so do many people whether or not they choose to consciously admit it. Sexism in sports still exists and on a large scale, yet it is rarely discussed. Apathy to sexism in sports can be attributed to the fact that many men may believe they do not have much to gain from speaking on it, and many women are hesitant to speak out for fear of being labeled as whiny or obnoxious. In the past, female participation in athletics was rare, yet nowadays, the stereotypes of women being inferior in comparison to men have not disappeared through the way girls are treated in male-dominated sports, how they are treated in sports media, and the overall attitude towards femininity in sports.

Try to think of at least three players in the WNBA or at least three women who have won Olympic medals in the history of the Olympics. While it may have been relatively easy to name NBA players such as Stephen Curry, Lebron James, Anthony Davis, and Olympic medalists such as Michael Phelps, or Usain Bolt, women like Larisa Latnynina, Bridgit Fischer, or Jenny Thompson were most likely not considered. Latynina from the Soviet Union has won 18 Olympic medals in gymnastics, Fischer from Germany has 12 Olympic medals, and Thompson from the U.S. has won 12 Olympic medals in swimming. These are extremely successful and talented women, yet even when female athletes excel and exceed all preconceived expectations assigned to their gender and their ability, the recognition they receive pales in comparison to the immense amount of media coverage and public recognition to which male athletes are accustomed. However, even when female athletes garner media coverage, the focus is not always on their actual athletic talents. When Ronda Rousey began to gain much attention from the media, many of the comments surrounding her focused not on her talents but on complimenting or criticizing her physical appearance.

Even if a woman is not an athlete and simply speaks about sports, she will usually not be received well. Dan McNeil and Matt Spiegel on a Chicago sports radio spoke about women in sports and female reporters and conducted a female sports media draft where Spiegel commented that the list would be about how “hot” the women were. They defined the criterion for inclusion as “which broad can you handle talking authoritatively about sports” and continued to rate the attractiveness and unattractiveness of female sports journalists. These small jabs at women for comedic purposes speaks to a larger issue of the simplistic view of women that exists in sports media.

It may appear as if there are no concrete consequences of sexism towards women in sports, yet the effect that the negative attitude towards any sign of femininity is extremely detrimental, especially to young girls. Last year, Procter & Gamble Co.’s Always brand of feminine hygiene products released their “Like a Girl” campaign, where girls and boys were encouraged to challenge the meaning of what it is to run or throw like a girl from a negative connotation to a positive and uplifting one. As inspiring as the campaign was, no advertisement alone has changed the way society views women in sports. Femininity continues to be discouraged and associated with weakness, inferiority, and fragility as girls and boys remain as segregated as ever in athletics. In order for a woman to excel in a sport, it is not athleticism that is valued, but it is the traits that many associate with masculinity, such as strength and aggressiveness, that are promoted. Many studies can be cited that prove men to be physically stronger, yet that does not necessarily correlate into superiority in terms of talent and success. Many sports do not rely solely on brute force and strength but on technical ability, coordination, speed, endurance, and quick thinking, things that are not unique to male athletes.

There are both exceptional male and female athletes, and there is nothing wrong with the much-deserved fame that many male athletes receive for their accomplishments. However, there exists a problem with how female athletes do not receive nearly as much recognition, and when they do, it is often not focused on their success, but on their personal lives or physical appearances. Many media outlets who criticize male athletes who are rumored to have committed domestic violence towards women, in the same breath, will closely examine and often critique the way a female athlete looks or dresses. There are distinct differences when it comes to the portrayal of men and women in sports. Unfortunately, in sports, sexism is still fair game. Even when female athletes are successful, the wages and treatment they receive is nowhere equal to that of male athletes. Members of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, including Hope Solo, Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan have filed on behalf of their team a wage-discrimination action against the U.S. Soccer Federation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. According to the USSF’s 2015 financial report, The U.S. women’s national soccer team is paid almost four times less than the U.S. men’s team even though the women’s team generated almost $20 million more in revenue last year. If equality is to truly be sought after in all aspects of society, then the stereotypes that surround both genders and the detrimental effects they produce must be combated by a shift in the attitude towards women and femininity as a whole.