Sexism: prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination especially against women, on the basis of sex. Sexism has been an ongoing issue from the beginning of time. All women have been victims of misogyny. Women being told what to do, how to behave, and what to wear needs to come to a halt. Even the most accomplished female athletes have been victims of sexism. Enough is enough.
Serena Williams, one of the most accomplished female tennis athletes with 23 Grand Slam awards under her belt, has been a victim of sexism in several cases. For instance, during her match against Naomi Osaka, she received three code violations from umpire Carlos Ramos. The first violation was called because her coach signaled to her from the stands. The second point penalty took place after she smashed her racket, and the final game penalty was due to verbal abuse for confronting Ramos and calling him a ‘thief.’ “You stole a point from me and you are a thief,” Williams told Ramos. During a news conference with Williams that followed her loss, she stated, “He’s never taken a game from a man because they said ‘thief.’ For me it blows my mind. But I’m going to continue to fight for women.” Even one of the most notorious tennis athletes, Billie Jean King, sided with Serena Williams. King stated, “When a woman is emotional, she’s ‘hysterical’ and she’s penalized for it. When a man does the same, he’s ‘outspoken’ and there are no repercussions. Thank you, Serena Williams, for calling out this double standard.” An example is Novak Djokovic, a male tennis player, who had a heated dispute with Ramos as well and ended up saying “You’re losing your mind” after Ramos called a warning. Throughout the match only a single penalty was called. Despite his heated argument he ended up winning the game, while Williams had been fined $10,000 for verbal abuse and lost the game due to the other penalties that were called. Although Serena Williams’ behavior was questionable, male tennis athletes have done similar things with minor consequences.
Alize Cornet, a French tennis player, has also faced the consequences of sexism. She received a code violation for simply fixing her shirt. While taking a ten-minute break from the scorching heat, she retired off court to change her shirt, and then came back and acknowledged that her shirt was worn the wrong way, so she fixed it. According to the rules of tennis, female athletes are not permitted to change their top on court, but male tennis athletes are allowed to do so. Cornet was penalized for fixing her shirt while a male tennis athlete, such as John Isner, changed his shirt 11 times on court in a tournament against Juan Martin del Potro and not a single penalty was called. Why is it that women get punished for minor acts while men can do the same and or worse with no punishment?
One of the main punishments women have faced throughout history and currently is unequal pay. The female soccer athletes representing the United States have won once again in this past 2019 Women’s World Cup. As statistics demonstrate, the United States Women’s Soccer Team has performed better than the United States Men’s Soccer Team. Despite being the four-time winners of the WWC, they get paid a lesser amount than male athletes in general. There is a giant wage gap between men and women athletes of the World Cup. Each female athlete of team U.S.A will earn $250,000, if they win, while the U.S Men’s National Team members will earn $1.1 million each, if they win. The prize money for the winners of the WWC are paid $30 million in total while the MWC winners get $400 million as their prize money. Some may argue that the WWC doesn’t bring much revenue, but as a matter of fact the WWC finals reeled in 14.3 million viewers which is a 22% increase over the 2018 Men’s World Cup, which brought in 11.3 million viewers. Yet, the women are paid significantly less than the men. The USWNT are ranked #1 in the world and bring in higher revenue than the USMNT and they are still paid a fraction of what men are paid. A male athlete on the USMNT could be paid $17,625 depending on who wins the game and who their opponents are and a woman’s player would get about half of his salary if she had the same outcome. They should at least have the equal amount of pay, or more based on revenue and performance. “At this moment of tremendous pride for America, the sad equation remains all too clear, and Americans won’t stand for it anymore. These athletes generate more revenue and garner higher TV ratings but get paid less simply because they are women,” said Molly Levinson, a spokeswoman for the WWC athletes. “It is time for the Federation to correct this disparity once and for all.”
Clearly, female athletes have been mistreated in sports due to their gender. This reflects back to society and how women are treated around the world. In some countries, women aren’t allowed to drive, aren’t given an education, and aren’t paid an equal amount compared to men. When will sexism stop? When will women and men both be considered equal? The world is well overdue for a change and the first step is admitting we have an issue, then addressing it.
