So the other night I watched this powerful documentary done by ESPNW. It's part of a series called Nine For IX - which is inspired by the 40th anniversary of Title IX and is: About women. Made by women. For us all.
The episode I watched was called Branded and it focused on how women in sports have to market themselves and sell themselves differently than men do.
The feminist in me was appalled - but let's be honest, you shouldn't have to be a 'feminist' to be upset by this. Anyone that supports equality in general should be upset by this, feminist, female, or not.
Basically what it comes down to is, men in athletics can make money and support themselves on their athletic abilities and talents alone...whereas women in sports, even the top professional female athletes, have a much harder time making a living off their sport and talents and instead are forced to basically sell themselves off of sponsorships. Successfully branded women in athletics fall into two categories: girl next door or sexy vixen - and both of those categories expect you to be attractive. Even more so, most female athletes make top dollar when using the 'sex sells' approach - think Danica Patrick in Go Daddy ads, Gabrielle Reece posing for Playboy, etc. As Gabrielle Reece (who posed for playboy and made a lot of money doing it) mentioned in the documentary, 'boobs will never go out of style'.
The thing is, I don't blame these women for doing what they have to do in order to be successful in a male dominated sports society and culture....what kills me is the fact that the majority of their profit and success doesn't even get to come from their athletic abilities and talents like it does for men. There are A LOT of ugly men out there, that get paid A LOT of money to just play sports and you just don't find that in women's sports. Instead, when you hear talk about women athletes it is always focused on their looks and their bodies. There are countdowns of the sexiest female athletes, etc. Here's the deal - these women are fit, and strong, and sexy, and they work hard for their bodies... but they don't do it for the sex appeal, they do it to excel at their sport - so why can't they get more credit for their accomplishments in sports alone? Why was Lolo Jones criticized and told she should give her sponsorship money back, because she didn't medal at the Olympics? Evidently, 4th in the world is not good enough .... But Mark Sanchez can get paid ridiculous amounts to butt fumble. That's not equality and we have a long way until we are there. I just don't understand why females can't just get credit for being good at their sport? Is that too much to ask?
The questions I had after watching the shows were:
::Why do we have to distinguish between male and female athletes? Why are women only ever considered one of the top female athletes in the world?! Why are they never seen as one of the top athletes in the world?
::How is that out of the top 50 highest paid athletes in world, not one of them is a female?
::Why, as a culture, do we focus on sex so much? (Miley, athletes, celebrities, you name it)?
::What kind of example are we setting for the young female athlete - you have to be attractive and sexy if you want to succeed and be a professional athlete and your skill level comes second? Not cool, people, not cool.
Anyways, the documentary was really eye opening. Yes, we have come so far when it comes to women in sports, but clearly we have a long way to go, people.
Linked up with Sarah for Fan Friday on this one.
Also linking up with Whitney for #backthatazzup Friday. This Say Anything song just seemed fitting.
End rant.
<3 BB
Image found here.
Anyways, the documentary was really eye opening. Yes, we have come so far when it comes to women in sports, but clearly we have a long way to go, people.
Linked up with Sarah for Fan Friday on this one.
Also linking up with Whitney for #backthatazzup Friday. This Say Anything song just seemed fitting.
End rant.
<3 BB
Image found here.
