(This blog is taken from a recent presentation in Chapel by girls in Moberly company, written by Sassie and delivered by Phoebe, Ila and Isobel). Following Osmund’s presentation on the upcoming 2016 Olympics in Rio, we thought it appropriate to talk about the ongoing divide in pay in sports between females and males.
It was our grandmothers and great grandmothers who fought for women’s suffrage and gained the vote for women in 1928. We owe a lot to women such as Millicent Fawcett of the Suffragist movement and the Pankhursts of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). Also to members of the Women’s Freedom League and those women who proved others wrong by taking up traditional men’s jobs in factories and on the land during WWI and WWII. Despite the efforts of these women however, gender inequality still persists, especially in the field of sport.
In a school like ours where we are encouraged to participate and strive in all different types of sports, from lacrosse to fencing to skiing, we ought to take notice of yet another yawning gap between men and women which has not been resolved. Over the years there has been progress in lessening this divide; it will however be a long and slow journey to equality in pay and recognition for women in sports.
Although many sports have moved into the 21st century and award equal prize money at major competitions, 30% of sports including football, cricket and squash still refuse to move forward. The biggest disparity appears to be in football, where Arsenal won both the men’s and women’s FA Cup this year, but while the men were given £1.8 million, Arsenal Ladies received just £5,000 for their win. Tennis on the other hand is one sport that has made much progress in recent years in achieving equal pay for females. Many however claim that this ‘equality of pay’ is actually a façade – in 2014, Serena Williams, ranking number one in female tennis – won one Grand Slam, seven titles and the year-end WTA championships. Her total earnings were £6.5m. Novak Djokovic on the other hand, ranking number one for male tennis, won one Grand Slam, seven titles and the year-end ATP championships. He earnt £9.9m – all in all, £3.4million more than his female counterpart.
It has been argued that women’s sport isn’t as business-like as men’s, that it doesn’t generate enough interest to justify equality on the pay scale. Novak Djokovic made the controversial argument: ‘why should female tennis players be paid the same as their male counterparts when fewer spectators want to watch them?’ It is obvious that often the reason for fewer spectators is because they refuse to give women’s sport the same platform. The build up to female sporting events is much less so than the build up to men’s. Who here can say that they’ve seen television adverts or posters advertising the Women’s FA Cup? Many of you probably didn’t even know that it existed! Jessica Ennis is a great example of a woman who has managed to break out of the gender-inequality cycle. When she won the heptathlon at the Olympics in 2012, few people turned around and said they would rather watch the men’s event because they have more innate power and therefore can throw the javelin further. We watched because Jessica Ennis is brilliant and artistic and the very, very best at what she does.
Athletics, along with cycling, skating and swimming have world championships that both genders are able to participate in. These sports offer equal pay and allow both men and women to share the same platform.
Gender inequality in sports doesn’t just stop with the athletes. Disparity in wages can be found behind the scenes, with female coaches, managers and sports journalists discovering that more junior male colleagues are being paid more. Andy Murray made the headlines by becoming one of the first elite athletes in the world to take on a female coach – a decision that resulted in sexist comments from some quarters, even from fellow players. Amelie Mauresmo, Murray’s coach is a former world number 1 and faced unfair criticism and prejudice simply because she is a woman. Shortly after her appointment, Australian tennis pro Marinko Matosevic said that he didn’t think that highly of the women’s game. He then gave a backhanded compliment to Murray, saying: “It’s all equal rights these days. Got to be politically correct. So, yeah, someone’s got to give it a go. It won’t be me.” Murray declared himself as a feminist, hitting back at Marinko’s sexist claim, commenting on what he sees as sexism in the sport, where the majority of top-level coaches are men. He said that it is a “crying shame” that there aren’t more women coaches in the sport, before stressing that Mauresmo’s gender was not the reason he chose her as his coach. However, it recently came to light that Murray had separated from his coach because she had not focused on him enough since the birth of her first-born son in August. Perhaps suggesting when it comes to children women are at a disadvantage to their male counterparts, at least for the time being.
Gender inequality persists in all fields, not just in sport. The gender pay gap continues to widen across many industries. With all of its high-profile women who are role models to girls planning their future careers, shouldn’t the sports industry be an agent for change? Women are likely to earn £300,000 less than men over their working lives, according to a new analysis that has sparked fresh calls for more shared parental leave to close the UK’s stubborn gender pay gap.
Before International Women’s Day in February this year, figures showed a gap of 24%, in average full-time annual salaries between women and men – more than four decades after the Equal Pay Act of 1970 was introduced.
We should follow in Murray’s footsteps: when asked whether he was a feminist, he said: “I’m pro everyone being equal and if that’s being a feminist then you could say so, yes.” So the question we want to leave you with is, why can’t sport move into the 21st century? There is no possible justification for the disparity in prize money. David Cameron has vowed to “end the gender pay gap in a generation”, in the employment sector and although this is a step in the right direction changes will be slow to enforce.
In Islam-orientated countries women face the biggest discrimination, pay being just a minor issue. Their participation in sport and exercise in public is seen as unacceptable, jeopardising a woman’s dignity and exposing too much of a woman’s body. Many argue that women should exercise only behind closed doors – this severely limits a woman’s options and restricts her from achieving her goals. We should take note of those women from Islamic countries who have managed to overcome the odds and prejudice to make history. In 2012 Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei all entered female athletes into the Olympic Games. A 17-year old made history by becoming the first female athlete to compete for her country (Qatar), as did a 23-year old from Afghanistan and two 19-year olds from Oman. Hopefully with the upcoming 2016 Olympic Games this summer, we will see even more female participants from all over the world, and break even more records for women’s participation in sport.
“I think sports gave me the first place where this awkward girl could feel comfortable in my own skin. I think that’s true for a lot of women—sports give you a part of your life where you can work at something and you look in the mirror and you like that person.”
– Teri McKeever (Head Coach for USA women’s swim team at the Olympics, 2012 & the first woman to serve as the Head Coach of a US Olympic swimming team).
