As a fan of soccer I enjoy watching soccer games with my dad; it doesn’t matter if it’s Futbol Liga Mexicana or UEFA EURO, we love watching soccer. We both find it exciting when we see the women’s soccer games as much as the men’s soccer games. Several of the US women’s soccer players have sued the US Soccer Federation for equal pay. I have been seeing the difference in how the women are being rewarded for their effort and winning great titles compared to the men who hasn’t been showing much effort but yet still get more paid than the women.
Women involved in sports has changed a lot in the community of sports and made gender roles more into equality. Women should get the same treatment men such as more promotion, salary, sponsorships, and recognition to feel more equal. Many people thought the equality problem had been solved with the establishment of the Title IX and the Equality Act but not everyone seems to follow the rules and gender equality is still a problem present day. Some might think that women are the weaker sex and are not so athletic as men, but it’s not really much about the amount of muscle one has it’s the passion one has for something that makes them stronger.
This article by Cynthia G. Brown explains how women have been involved in sports in colleges, high school and or hobby since Title IX was established. The establishment of Title IX was a big step for women. According to Brown, “Today, moments like this one are history. In the 34 years since I was charged with developing the Title IX intercollegiate athletics policy, we have seen a dramatic shift in the conversation about gender equity in sports, education, and the workplace” (Brown). Women wanted this opportunity and wanted to be equal with everyone.
Another thing that Brown pointed out was that there is still a problem in how women are not getting the recognition they deserve. Young girls that grow up watching sports will see how unfair women are being looked upon showing young girls the wrong message for them and that is what females get if they get involve in sports. This situation how it affects With the US women’s soccer team the players want ‘equal pay equal play’, getting paid the fair amount of money as it’s given the men’s soccer team.
In the article “New Campaign Targets Shocking Soccer Pay Gap” explains and shows that the problem is bigger than what some people wants it to be. Many people are in this case and something should be done with respect to the hard work the women’s US Soccer team games and achievements. The significant difference between the treatment of men and woman are obvious in pay. In that same article, it said that “ The total payout for the Women’s World Cup this year is $15 million, while FIFA awarded a total of $576 million to men’s teams in the World Cup last year. (“New Campaign Targets Shocking Soccer Pay Gap”), the numbers do not add up to be the same. The US women’s soccer team has had good plays in the past few years and has no site into slowing down. Bill Chappell’s article goes to explain that the US Women’s Soccer team are not being paid equally and they are putting as much or even more effort than the Men’s Soccer team.
As Bill Chappell continues to say, “… who say that each member of the women’s national team is paid thousands of dollars less than the men at nearly every level of competition, from playing “friendly” matches to qualifying and playing in the World Cup. (Chappell). Women have played better and repeatedly more games, but they are still being paid less than the men’s soccer team. Also explains how it has happened on many other occasions in which they are not getting equal treatment such as with the friendly matches to get to play in the World Cup. For men’s sports, some things are guaranteed to them such as Chappel says, “Both the women’s and men’s teams are required to play a minimum of 20 “friendly” games per year, the players say in their complaint.
But while the women get a bonus of $1,350 only if they win a friendly, the men are guaranteed $5,000 no matter the outcome…” (Chappell), if the women’s soccer team wins they will get a bonus if they lose they don’t, for the men they are guaranteed not matter if they win or lose. Things like this not many put thought into it is what makes it unfair for the US soccer team even if they are doing well and winning games the amount of money they would get do not equal.
Here is more about the situation in numbers which in the article “USWNT Lawyer Says U. S. Soccer Distorted Pay Numbers” is explained by Travis Waldron: … if a men’s national team player were called into the roster for 20 games in a single year, the minimum he would earn from the federation is $100,000, even if the USMNT lost all of those matches. A player on the women’s team, meanwhile, would earn less than that — $99,000 — even if the USWNT won all 20 of its friendly matches in a given year. (Waldron) This is what the US women’s soccer team are having a problem with not having the same treatment as the men.
The women’s soccer team has had much more victories than the men in the past few years and with these results, they want to prove the difference behind the true amount they get and what they should be receiving. When the US women’s victory game from the FIFA Women’s World Cup was the most viewed game in 2015 that is when this whole situation started. When you turn on any sports channel whether it’s FOX Sports or in a small sports segment on the news, there is the more likely chance they could be talking about men sports team then with women’s sports.
In this journal entry by Michael A. Messner explaining the problem in how women and men are viewed and treated in any sport. It also talks about the involvement of women in sports and how much it has changed throughout the years. On the mainstream media women’s sports news and games are not promoting of any women’s sport, “Although equality is still a distant goal in terms of funding, programs, facilities, and media coverage of women’s sports, substantial gains have been made by female athletes in the past 10 to 15 Gars,” (Messner). Messner explains that this is something men have a huge advantage into getting promoted is in the media.
If both women and men would get the equal amount of promotion and sponsors as the men the women would get more attention from different audiences. The women would have more success and be noticed more for their success and would gain the equality in both sexes. It really shouldn’t matter how popular one is Messner mentioned another point,“As Willis… argues, what matters most is not simply how and why the gap between male and female athletic performance is created, enlarged, or constricted; … ‘the manner in which this gap is understood and taken into the popular consciousness of our society. ’” (Messner 128).
As Messner mentions, the gap between both men and women should matter in the how society views both sexes because it should be changed reason being that men are being mentioned more in the sports news and hardly anything there is a segment of women. This problem with the women’s soccer team is not quiet or being hidden to the public. In this article Jennifer Bendery, goes into explaining how President Obama is pushing for equal pay for both male and female.
From President Obama’s speech celebrating the victory of US women’s soccer team, “your work should be equally valued and rewarded, whether you are a man or a woman. (Bendery), telling that Obama knows that gender roles and equality are still a problem that should be fixed. It’s good to see that President Obama is acknowledging the situation and not letting it go. But what could be the most reasonable solution to this problem? The US women’s soccer need to get more notice in the mainstream media and to be talk more about on the sports new not just talk about their wins but also more such as their predictions for their future games things the sports news talk about the men’s sport should be done the same for the women’s sports.
I believe if there would be more commercials and acknowledge the women’s sports on sports channels they would get more views which could boost ratings and popularity for both women and the channel. This could also appeal to younger girls who are interested in sport, they can grow up watching amazing athletes and players making an increasing in views. Another thing that could be done is to simply follow the Title IX giving equal opportunities and pay to both male and female athletes.
For women to stand up and fight for their rights to get the equal right they deserve. Every sports company, organization, or foundation such as – for this case of the US women’s soccer team- FIFA, CONCACAF, Futbol Liga Mexicana along with others. should follow the Title IX and to avoid the problem like of the US women’s soccer team is facing right now. With the main problem, the ‘equal pay equal play’ can be solved in several ways. I think the most reasonable solution to the problem is finding a different way to even the equal pay for both men and women.
To set some arrangement in how much both female and male athlete should get paid for example if they lose a game they should both get the same reasonable amount of money and when they win a game they should get the same amount of money as if they lost but with a bonus, with the same amount of bonus to both male and female. This is to be fair male and female and not siding or having favoritism to have equal payments. In a way this could appeal the US Soccer Federation, the main stakeholder, is that the US women’s soccer team have a great future ahead of them and can make both the soccer team and the federation more successful and beneficial.
