The hardships of female athletes
Female athletes often face unequal salaries, hyper-sexualization, and abuse in pursuit of their sport.
It’s not easy to be a woman, let alone a female athlete. Although society has progressed from the insufferable discrimination of the past, where women had to fight for their independence, there continues to be a struggle for female athletes to succeed.
Unequal salaries
From successful sponsorships to higher viewership, male athletes dominate the playing field of higher pay rates. It’s undeniable that female athletes struggle to earn half as much as male athletes. Whereas male athlete paychecks can reach into the tens of millions of dollars, female athletes struggle to earn as much as $100,000.
The higher-quality camera coverages, production values, and commentary mean that people naturally feel more inclined to watch male games. Unfortunately, with lower camera coverage and production values, woman-centered games aren’t nearly as exciting, which leads to lower attendance rates that result in lower wages.
With lower salaries, many female athletes are left with the difficult choice of quitting or continuing to train despite the risks that come with doing so. Athletes, regardless of gender, pay the same expenses to train. This means female athletes expend the same quantity of money on coaches, doctors, therapists, equipment, maintenance, hotels, restaurants, supplements, training facilities, and beyond, despite making only a fraction of their male counterparts.
However, for female athletes who are paid less, this places them at a higher likelihood of risking their livelihood to guarantee an opportunity at success. More than six out of ten female athletes work outside their professional careers to pay for rent, food, and life necessities. Many are beginning to ponder the worth of the sport and highly consider retirement.
The male gaze
Financial difficulties aren’t the only concerns of female athletes. When the public does take interest in them, it is often more for their bodies than their sportsmanship or athleticism.
The male gaze continues to be an enormous hurdle that female athletes struggle to overcome despite their proficiency, expertise, and limitless accomplishments in their professions. Whether it’s the provocative clothing they are forced to wear or the alluring figures the public focuses on, female athletes can’t seem to escape the decades-old hyper-sexualization.
One study found that almost half of all female athletes quit before adulthood due to concerns of body image and self-consciousness. Female uniforms, which are created to expose more skin, make it inevitable for women to be more self-aware of their weight, scars, or societal “imperfections.” This leaves many of them with no choice but to leave the sport.
Abuse
Female athletes inherently experience more verbal and physical abuse than their male counterparts. Throughout male championships, audience members will naturally hear more commentary about the athletes’ skill sets and real-time accomplishments. However, during female games, some commentators focus more on body shaming female athletes for their weight and beauty, making derogatory statements such as “They’re big, aren’t they,” to an audience of hundreds of people.
Not only commentators, but male coaches have also verbally abused female athletes when they are unsatisfied with their performance, threatening to sexually harass them if they fail to improve.
Furthermore, women athletes frequently endure assault in various forms, from physical abuse to verbal threats. Either by coaches, trainers, executives, or their own fans, female athletes continuously face harassment for their race, bodies, skill sets, or failure to compete as well as male athletes.
Unless publicly documented, female athletes rarely expose the abuse that happens behind the scenes in fear of negative publicity, being kicked out, or forever silenced by huge corporations. Sadly, female athletes are left to endure the abuse they receive from their perpetrators in return for a stable career.
No individual has it easy in life. Male athletes face their own challenges, but the lives of female athletes seem to only get more complicated and difficult the more exposure they receive.
