Misogyny in sports

Misogyny in sports refers to different discourses, actions and ideologies present in various sporting environments that add, reinforce, or normalize the objectification, degrading, shaming, or absence of women. It can range from limiting women's participation to informal reinforcement of the men's status, by comparing it to that of a woman. Because sports are so popular in today's society, they can be seen as a microcosm for the way people view their culture.

Women's sports have been underreported in comparison to men in their respective sports. In 2009, SportsCenter dedicated only 1.4% of its airtime to women sports, down from 2.2% in 1999. In an article published in 2013 by Science Daily, they pointed out that over 2 years, only 3.6% of articles from five national Sunday papers discussed women sports, compared to 93.8% of articles devoted to men's sports.

Research has shown that children start to learn stereotypical attitudes towards gender-appropriate actions at a very early age, and traditional images in print photographs and advertising reinforce typical gender roles. Media plays a powerful role in shaping children's perception, more so than text as children develop a sense of visual literacy earlier than written literacy. A 1990 study concluded that two thirds of photos in reading primers were of men, often shown leading more action-packed, and significant lives than the women depicted in the photographs. Several studies have shown that women are often framed as sexual objects and lesser competitors, as well as displaying more emotion than men, in many sports photographs. Many media studies suggest that they continue to "reinforce the hegemonic image that sport is a right of passage for men." Studies suggest that in Sports Illustrated, which has been labeled the most influential sports publication, men are the preeminent figures featured in photographs and feature articles within the magazine. When women are underrepresented, there is an underlying message being conveyed that they don't belong, don't exist, or have not accomplished anything.

The pay gap in sports favors men over women considerably. Female athletes earned an average of 23.4% less than their male counterparts, in 2009. In the 2013 U.S. Open the women's winner Inbee Park received $585,000, while the men's winner, Justin Rose, received $1.4 million. Last year, the average salary for coaches of woman's teams in Division 1 was $38,191, while coaches of men's teams earned an average of $61, 534. As of 2013, women received $183 million less in NCAA athletic scholarships. Another example of this gap in pay can be seen when looking at the prize money given to the men and women's soccer teams of Arsenal. Both the men and women's teams in Arsenal won the FA Cup in 2014. The women were paid £5,000 as a team while the men received £1.8m.

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