Carlos A. Diaz Marin
Student No. 8437947
Tutor: Michelle Cornford
ABILITY AND OPPORTUNITY OF WOMEN IN SPORT
THE ARTEFACT
This is a photo of the winners of the 2012 Nike U.S. Open of Surfing at Hunting
Beach, California, taken by the Association of Professional Surfers (ASP).
Australian Julian Wilson and American Lakey Peterson were the winners in their
respective categories. This event was held from 28 July to 5 August 2012. This
event is considered as one of the most important events in the surfing circuit
because of the quality of participants, drawing the top surfers from around the
world, the prize purse which is over $300,000 (including $100,000 for the men’s
winner and $15,000 for the women’s winner) and the festival-like atmosphere of
the nine day event.
THE PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE
In recent years, government and health organisations have been promoting the
benefits and positive affect of women in sport and women that have a physically
active lifestyle. Greydanus and Patel (2002) state that encouraging girls in sports at
early ages can help them to develop an interest in sport as well as help them to
interact with a wide range of peers with the same interests and experiences. Being
physically active during a female’s life will result in a range of benefits including a
healthy lifestyle, less obesity, mentally healthy and reduce the risk for breast
cancer. Research has shown that girls that are involved in sport during high school
are more likely to finish their studies on time, have less pregnancies concerns in
their adolescence and have a better level of confidence when there are interacting
with their peers. From an early age, girls need to be taught about the importance of
females in sport, that they have the same ability as boys and to encourage them to
participate in order to raise the profile of women in sport.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Participation of females in sport at amateur and professional levels has increased
considerably in Western culture over the last 40 years and it is now more common
for women to participate in sport or spend their leisure time doing their favorite
physical activity. In the London 2012 Olympic Games, every country that
participated had at least one female athlete representing their nation and for the
first time three Muslim nations sent female athletes to the Olympics. However, the
reality of sport sustaining one’s livelihood is a major concern facing many female
athletes. The substantial difference in salary and prize money for male and female
professional athletes is a well known fact. Although the ability of females as
professional athletes is recognised across the world, women do not have the same
opportunity to earn the same money as male athletes.
In the 2012 U.S. Open of Surfing, male winner Julian Wilson took home $100,000
in prize money, while female winner, Lakey Peterson won a mere $15,000. Both of
these athletes do the same profession, compete under the same conditions and
ride the same waves but there is a major difference in prize money. There are
numerous factors that can influence the purse (the money that is shared with all
the competitors) in sporting events, which can explain why men get paid more than
women. Firstly, the media coverage of men’s sporting events is much higher than
that of women’s sporting events. The more television exposure or media coverage
a sporting event receives, the more money that is likely to be invested into the
event, therefore resulting in the increase of the purse money. Numerous research
has found that the reporting and coverage of male athletes and male sporting
events dominates television, newspapers and sport magazines. The Conversation
website states “less than 5% of the space or articles were on women’s sport and
more than 90% were on men’s regardless of which newspaper or day of the week.
One student noted that there was more coverage of horseracing than women’s
sport in the media they analysed.” In addition, Janet (1998) states that “a study of
photographs conducted by Los Angeles Times and New York Post (Miller, 1975)
found that the sports section in each newspaper devoted a significantly smaller
percentage of photographs to women than the other sections of the papers and
that male photographs ‘dominated’ the sports section”. While Bryant (1980) reports
“Women athletes were ignored completely or under-represented in the sport
magazines Sports Illustrated, Tennis, and Runners World”.
A second reason as to why male athletes get paid more than female athletes is
attendance at sporting events. The attendance at male sporting events is much
higher than female sporting events. This means more tickets are sold and more
money can be invested into the event which results in more media coverage. The
best example to explain this situation is the National Basketball Association (NBA)
and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). This sport is recognised
around the world and has a massive impact on American society. Male’s players
are well-known for their skill and salaries, however it is vastly different for female
basketball players that have the same skill, ability and talent. As cited on the Inside
Hoops website, one of the biggest salaries for a female basketball player is around
US$87,000 plus a bonus of US$10,000 if they win the season. On the other hand
the wages of a top NBA player in one season is around US$20 million. In the same
website it can be found that the average attendance per NBA game is 17.558
people and for WNBA are 6.680 people. Three times as many people are going to
watch male basketball games therefore resulting in more tickets sold and more
money available to invest in the NBA.
Sue Bird – WNBA
Shaquille O’Neal – NBA
WNBA maximum salary: US$87,000
2005-06 salary: US$20 million
A third reason why females get paid less than males is sponsorship. The amount of
sponsorship that female athletes receive is much lower than male athletes. This is
due to the television and magazine coverage that male athletes and male sporting
teams receive. It is much easier for male athletes to get sponsored and therefore
endorse the brand that they are promoting. The more television or media coverage
the athlete receives increases his popularity and fame and the popularity of the
brand they are endorsing. However, it is not the same for women and sponsorships
are not as common for female athletes.
What is comes down to is sport as a business and how to make the most money
from this business. It’s not about women’s ability and how good they may be as
athletes and the opportunities they get to compete at internationally renowned
events and circuits, it’s about what sells and what is going to make more money.
Sport is a male-dominated industry driven by media and sponsorship.
CULTURAL AND SOCIAL ANALYSIS
For decades female athletes have been fighting for equality, acceptance and to
have the same opportunities as male athletes. Organisations like the Journal of
Physical Education, Recreation and Dance have developed new strategies with the
aim to get women more involved as carriers in sport and to raise awareness about
the importance of women in sport. In her article, Lori (1998) identifies ways in
which sports organisations can assist and promote more opportunities of girls and
women in sport. These include establishing mentor programs between older
females involved in sport and young girls, involvement with professional
associations which helps get individuals and teams noticed in the sporting
industry and for sponsorship and participating in traditionally male-dominated
networking activities. Organisations can invite women to participate in
traditionally male activities to break the myth that some physical activities are just
for a man. With women being more involved in sport will hopefully raise the profile,
importance and investment of money into female athletes and female sporting
events therefore giving females more opportunities to make sport a sustainable
career.
ANALYSIS OF THE ARTEFACT AND YOUR OWN LEARNING
REFLECTIONS
Working on this assignment has given me the opportunity to see the sporting
industry from another point of view and to see how male-dominated the industry
really is. The research I conducted revealed that women are grossly discriminated
against when it comes to salaries and prize money. Society needs to change their
attitude and view of female athletes and regard them as able, skillful and talented
professionals that are deserving of the same opportunities and earning capacity as
male athletes. I found that female athletes train the same as men, are
professionals in their sport the same as men, incur the same expenses (travel,
coaches, nutritionists, physiotherapists etc.) as men, but are not being paid
anywhere near the same as male athletes. The photograph I selected for this
assignment shows exactly this. Two surfing professionals, surfing the same waves
in the same competition but walking away with completely different figures of prize
money because one is male and one is female. This research has allowed me to
have a lot more respect for female athletes and understand their fight for equality
and opportunity in a male-dominated industry.
References
Greydanus D, Patel, D. (June 2002). The female athlete: Before and beyond
puberty, Pediatric – volume 49, issue 3 (June 2002).
Retrieved from:
http://www.mdconsult.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/das/article/body/377166
4182/jorg=journal&source=&sp=12456451&sid=0/N/298959/1.html?issn=00
31-3955
Janet, S. F. (1998). Female athletes and the media. Journal of Physical Education,
Recreation & Dance, 69(6).
Retrieved from:
http://search.proquest.com/docview/215771809?accountid=13380
Lori, K. M. (1998). Promoting career opportunities for girls and women in the sport
industry. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 69(5), 32-35.
Retrieved from:
http://search.proquest.com/docview/215767878?accountid=13380
Other sources of information
Comparison of male and female athlete’s salaries
http://au.askmen.com/sports/business_150/190c_sports_business.html
Top 30 salaries between males and females
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=6391391
The Coversation website
http://theconversation.edu.au/gender-and-news-coverage-of-the-olympics-8350
Inside Hoops website
http://www.insidehoops.com/wnba/
Nike U.S. Open of Surfing
http://www.labelnetworks.com/2012/nike-u-s-open-of-surfing-wraps-with-lakeypeterson-and-julian-wilson-champions-and-asp-womens-world-tour-seasonending-plus-more-from-surf-city/