Women’s Rights in Sports

Tracie Geile

The Beginnings of Women’s Sports Games of Hera

1700s: boxing, golfing, horse racing, hot air balloon racing

1800s: ice skating races, lacrosse, tightrope walking, hockey, basketball, croquet, roller skating, swimming races, baseball, cycling races, mountain climbing, tennis, field hockey, softball, bowling, archery, rowing

Early Women’s Professional Sports

1811: First women’s professional golf tournament held in Musselburgh, Scotland

1884: Wimbledon introduced first women’s singles event

1924: Women allowed to compete in figure skating in first Winter Olympics

1928: Women allowed to compete in track and field events in Olympics

All American Girls’ Professional Baseball League

1943-1954 Replaced MLB,

when players sent to fight in WWII

Attracted between 2000-3000 fans per game

A League of Their Own

Female Participation in Male Sports

Danika Patrick: NASCAR Auto Racing Katie Hnida: NCAA Division I-A Football Jackie Mitchell: Major League Baseball

Women’s Professional Sports Leagues

Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)

Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Lady’s Professional Golf Association (LPGA) National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)

Title IX

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972

Gave women the right to receive federal financial aid to go to college and participate in college sports

Same amount of athletic scholarship money available for women as for men

Unequal Salaries

Average salary for MLS player in 2013: $148,693.26

Average salary for NWSL player in 2013: $15,000 Average salary for NBA player in 2011:

$4,900,000 Average salary for WNBA player in 2011: $55,000 Title IX does not cover professional sports

Unequal Media Coverage Australia in 1999: women’s sports had 5.8% of free-to-

air sports coverage United States in 2010: women’s sports had 1.4% of

sports coverage on ESPN Sportscenter Female athletes receive 1/3 of newspaper photography

that male athletes receive Same inequality for magazines, internet, radio, etc.

Why So Much Inequality? Lack of media coverage decreased awareness/interest in

women’s sports Men more interested in sports more coverage of men’s sports Men are bigger, faster, stronger men’s sports more exciting

than women’s sports Male coaches for female teams males viewed as authority

figures Sports photography emphasis on women as wives, mothers,

and sexual icons

Thank You Women’s Sports Advocates! Without You I Could Not Have Played College Soccer!

Bibliography

Bird, Liviu. 2013. “MLS player salaries: analysis, charts, and tables.” NBC Sports. Retrieved February 20, 2014 (http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2013/08/13/mls-player- salaries-analysis-charts-and-tables/).

Esteban. 2011. “9 Female Athletes Who Competed Against Men.” Total Pro Sports.com. Retrieved February 20, 2014 (http://www.totalprosports.com/2011/10/28/9-female- athletes- who-competed-against-men/).

Foudy, Julie. 2013. “Will NWSL Be A Success? Well…” ESPNW.com. Retrieved February 20, 2014 (http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/article/9161421/espnw-latest-women- professional-soccer-league-success).

Frantz, Chris. 2007. “Timeline: Women in Sports: From Mt. Olympus to Cooperstown, N.Y.” Information Please Database. Retrieved February 20, 2014 (http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womeninsportstimeline.html).

“History of Women in Sports Timeline.” N.d. St. Lawrence County Branch, New York State, AAUW. Retrieved February 20, 2014 (http://www.northnet.org/stlawrenceaauw/timeline.htm).

Bibliography (cont.)

Hollar, Julie. 2010. “Women’s Sports Gets 1.6% of Local TV News Sports Coverage.” Fair Blog. Retrieved February 20, 2014 (http://www.fair.org/blog/2010/07/13/no-room-for-female- athletes-in-sports-news/).

Kreidler, Mark. 2009. “State of uncertainty for women’s sports.” ESPN.com. Retrieved February 20, 2014 (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/columns/story?id=4352885).

Lesko, Jeneane. N.d. “League History.” Official Website of the AAGPBL. Retrieved February 20, 2014 (http://www.aagpbl.org/index.cfm/pages/league/12/league-history).

Ramseur, Kevin II. 2011. “Why are Men’s sports more popular than Women’s sports?” Literally Sports. Retrieved February 20, 2014 (

http://literallysports.blogspot.com/2011/06/why-are-mens-sports-more-popular-than.html).

Rowe, David. 2004. Sport, Culture and the Media: Second Edition. London: Open University Press.

“Title IX and Sex Discrimination.” 1998. U.S. Department of Education: Office for Civil Rights. Retrieved February 20, 2014

(http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/tix_dis.html).