Recent events expose sexism in sports culture
Lazarus Sauti
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Given the historical
and continued imbalance of power, where men as a class are privileged over
women as a class, an important, but often overlooked, part of the term is that
sexism is prejudice plus power.
Recent comments by BBC
radio presenter John Inverdale about Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli expose
sexism in sports culture.
As the French tennis
player Marion Bartoli climbed through the crowds to hug her father after
winning the women’s singles, Inverdale commented on her appearance.
Inverdale said
moronically, “Do you think Bartoli’s dad told her when she was little: ‘You are
never going to be a looker, you will never be a [Maria] Sharapova, so you have
to be scrappy and fight’”?
The above quote shows
that sexism is still a cancer in world sports and this cancer needs to be
diagnosed.
Women in sports should
not be judged on their looks but their achievements. Including appearance as a
criterion is absolutely unbelievable, of course, not only because there is no
correlation between production and appearance.
Jane Merrick, The
Independent journalist notes: “No matter that Inverdale later tried to
backtrack by saying, “We poked fun, in a nice way, about how she looks ... but
Marion Bartoli is an incredible role model.” (Notice there was no outright
apology).
“His comments betrayed
an attitude that is always there, in the background, usually unspoken. A woman
can rise to the top of her profession in politics, business, entertainment, or
sport.
“She can defeat the
greatest tennis players in the world, overcome injury and setback, to win
Wimbledon. But ultimately, she will be judged on her looks. If she cannot meet
the standards of ‘a Sharapova’ - slim, long-legged, blonde – she is not good
enough.”
Sexism in sports
applies more to women than to men and some of the problems include lack of
women athletes in male dominated sports; women athletes have lower salaries
compared to males; media portrayal of women athletes tends to be poor; and
females are rarely assigned to coach male sport teams.
These issues are caused
by stereotypes that have been developed over time that differ in the eyes of
males and females.
Sue Tibbals, chief
executive of the Women’s Sports and Fitness Foundation, believes that
Inverdale’s comments were inexcusable.
“This is appalling.
Tennis is one of the worst offenders in sport in terms of the focus on women
athletes’ looks and the BBC needs to take action.
“I thought Bartoli was
an absolute inspiration, so spirited and gutsy, and she does not deserve these
outrageous remarks. This is not a one-off event from this presenter,” Tibbals,
told Reuters.
Frankly, women should
not be evaluated differently. This means sexism and gender differences should
not be treated as a reason for jokes, but as simple facts of life.
Writing in a South
African publication, Tanya Gold says, “It is well established that men’s sport
is more exposed, prestigious and lucrative.”
Gold cited other
baseless sexism remarks.
“Over the course of
2012, London mayor Boris Johnson yearned for more sport in schools, mostly
because it would produce “semi-naked women … glistening like wet otters.
“Heptathlete Jessica
Ennis was called fat by an unnamed UK Athletics executive; Frankie Boyle
compared the swimmer Rebecca Adlington with a dolphin.”
Gold adds: “This is a
culture in which Holger Osieck, the manager of the Australian football team,
can say “women should shut up in public”; in which the former boxing champion
Amir Khan can warn female boxers: “When you get hit it can be very painful”;
and in which the American network NBC can air a slow-motion montage of female
athletes wobbling, like Olympians who have wandered, obliviously, into a porn
shoot.
“It is a foul pottage
of denigration, inadequacy, spite and lust; consider this, and Inverdale's
remark is barely strange.”
Inverdale presented the
ugly face of sexism. It goes much further than valid questions about whether an
athlete’s physique gives her the maximum potential to achieve; whether losing a
bit of weight would help her accomplish her goals.
Consequently, comments
at Wimbledon show there is still work to be done. Stakeholders in the sporting
world need to work hard to eradicate sexism in sports.
They should encourage
equal coverage of both men and women in the media.
Frankly, by giving
greater exposure to their achievements, we are providing the younger generation
with role models.
To eradicate sexism in
sports, more women should be incorporated in sports governing bodies’
boardrooms, so that they can help shape sport.
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