Men, women athletes not treated same but should be, even when it comes to smack-talking at games

by Ja'sia B.

Though not a female athlete, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, a famous Hollywood actor but also a noted feminist, once said, “There’s a long, long history of women suffering abuse, injustice, and not having the same opportunities as men, and I think that's been very detrimental to the human race as a whole.” His words ring true on a general scale but also when applied to certain situations, such as sports, especially when one considers recent gender-related incidents in athletics.

For example, on April 2, 2023 two D1 collegiate schools, LSU and Iowa, faced off against each other in a championship game. The game got heated in the 3rd and 4th quarter and the athletes, not surprisingly, got competitive and argumentative. The situation was between Angel Reese, a power forward for LSU, and Caitlin Clark, a guard for Iowa. Clark has a signature move--the John Cena “You cant see me” hand gesture--whenever she scores for her home team. Near the end of the game while LSU was up by a good bit of points Angel Reese reciprocated that move back to Caitlin Clark. After that moment many fans and public figures had things to say about it: Was Reese taunting Clark? Was she paying homage? Whatever her intent, a lot of sports pundits had negative things to say about Reese. According to an interview Reese did with Sports Illustrated, she said she and Clark are actually cool with each other. Reese added that she felt she was criticized for talking trash just because she's a woman. Reese herself even noted, “It’s just being able to force people to accept that women can talk trash. The women’s side gets penalized for it, or we’re considered as not being ladylike and that we’re not playing by the rules. We work just as hard as the men. Women can be who we are; women can be competitive.” The recent incident of Reese and Clark in women’s basketball brings up the more general issue of male versus female players being treated differently, from pay to media coverage to the scrutiny they are under from pundits, and as a female athlete myself this issue hits me personally. More than ever, this situation has got me thinking that women should receive the same treatment as men, especially in sports, be it in the pros, college, or here at Airport High School.

First of all, there’s a law for women to receive the same treatment as men in every sport called Title IX. which “requirement serves to ensure that all students have equal opportunity to enjoy the benefits of team sports participation. Participating in school athletics is an important component of education and provides valuable physical, social, academic, and mental health benefits to students.” If sporting associations don’t abide by this law then the federal funds would be withdrawn. The purpose of mentioning Title IX is to make the point that legally men and women have equal opportunities to play sports, which implies they should be treated equitably by fans and pundits, too.

The second reason women should receive equal treatment in sports is because hypothetically, if a women's program is making more money for their certain franchise, then their program should be funded accordingly. For example, the Lady Gamecocks. They are known all around the nation and more popular than the men’s team. So if this is the case for some colleges, and even this isn’t the case, the women's team should receive the same equipment, accessories, and treatment and funding as the men.

Women should not be held to higher standards of decorum just because they are female. Men and women athletes that play the same sports are doing the exact same thing. Whether it's putting a ball through a hoop, hitting a ball over a net or kicking a ball into a goal. What difference does it make who does it? The players are doing the same thing and abiding by the same rules. Some fans think that the women athletes should have more class and composure while playing. This is the wrong way to think and plays into gender stereotypes regarding female gentility. It's a sport, a competitive game. It's okay for players to celebrate or taunt while playing. It doesn’t matter the gender while doing it.

Although many people agree, many others don’t agree because men's sports are more challenging than women’s, and men put in more work than women. In response to this I say that women go through the same training as men and in the WNBA practices women even scrimmage against the male trainers. This just shows that women train on the same level as the men.

Despite my opinion on this matter, here's what some Airport students think: Josh H. (pseudonym) a junior at Airport stated, “Boys sports are more exciting than women's because men are genetically just more athletic.” Na’asia H, a member of AHS track team also commented, “Both genders should be treated the same because it’s fair. Women have worked hard to get to where they are today.”

It's clear that most individuals believe that men’s sports should get more recognition than women; however in response to that, it's a law that states that women must get treated the same as men, the women’s program often makes more money then the men, and also its unfair because when playing the same sport you should be treated the same anyway.

To gain more knowledge on the effects of this problem visit Clearinghouse for Sport.