Why is This Still Happening?
By: James Haggerty
Both pictures generally look the same right...WRONG. Apparently the men in the top picture are 4 times better than the women in the bottom picture.
I know Napoleon, it confuses me too. I mean, wasn't the U.S. Women's team just in the world cup 5 years ago. The same world cup that they actually won. Oh yeah, I thought I remember something soccer related happening back then. If there's one thing I remember for sure, it's that the men's team hasn't exactly been impressive themselves.
Admittedly, I haven't paid the closest attention to soccer throughout the years. I have watched 2 world cup games featuring the U.S. men's team and both have been a bit of a disappointment. I'm sure they have some talent, but I can honestly say I have never expected them to win the gold medal. On the other hand, the same thing cannot be said about the women's team.
Ever since I was much younger and watched them play for the first time, the U.S. women's team has always impressed me. Win or lose they have a certain vibe to them that gives you the feeling that they are just as good as whatever team they are playing, if not better. You could say anything you want about them, but nothing would constitute them making considerably less money than their male counterparts.
On top of all this, the women's team earns substantially higher profits. Even though they are treated as second best, they are better in almost every category. The men's team is apparently losing money (1M to be exact), while the women's team is raking in nearly 5.2M.
I agree Drake, it's crazy that this is still happening. With all the statistics available, apparently it doesn't matter. Sorry ladies, the powers that be just don't care. Think about it, next time your hearing the news spew on about Trump, notice how little air time real stories like this receive. With that being said, being critical with information and demanding that things like this stop happening is extremely important. I know this can be taken as just a meaningless blog, but big changes can start from something as simple as a conversation or an opinion. Once we stop at least talking about important issues, we are all doomed.
I am a huge soccer fan, I follow both men and women but i follow the men more than the women. Why? Because the men are always shown on the tv, the only time I've been able to see a live women's game was during the world cup a few years ago. A few things I've noticed is that in the US the women's soccer team is actually very popular compared to women soccer teams in other countries. For example, i didn't even know Portugal had a women's soccer team until recently when doing a research paper on this exact topic for a class. Soccer is very popular in Europe but only for men. Which also means the women soccer teams get paid less. In some cases it makes sense if the women teams aren't as successful as the male teams but for the United States thats not the case. In the United States the women's national team is better, more popular, and has won more titles than the men's team. The men's team used to get paid over double of what the women made until the women's team fought it. After then women won the last world cup they fought for equal pay, and they won. In my opinion I think they did the right thing. In any sport, if the women are getting just as many viewers, winning just as many titles then they should be paid the same.
ReplyDeleteI too am also a huge soccer fan. I unfortunately found out about this a couple years ago while watching a woman's game. I thought it was terrible and shouldn't happen. I mean this goes along with gender inequality. Trying to say oh men should be payed more then women no matter how well they do. How does this effect the hopes of women all over America. It leads them to believe no matter what they will always be second to men. The woman's USA team has done outstanding for the past i would say decade if not longer then there male counterparts but still get treated like second best.
ReplyDeleteThe issue when it comes to equal pay with sports is marketability, competition level, and broadcasting opportunities. Alot of athletes don't just make money off the sports itself but instead they make money off of their brand and their endorsements. Women aren't getting the same type of endorsements as men are. As far as competition level goes, that speaks for itself. Mens competition around the world is as stout as it gets depending on what sport we are talking. For the sake of argument here, lets stick with soccer. The USMNT is not even REMOTELY close to any of the talent levels in countries such as Spain, Portugal, Germany, Brazil, and Argentina just to name a few. Whereas, the USWNT is easily the best soccer team in the world and outside of Germany, there isn't much competition. In other countries, women aren't always afforded the opportunity to do sports like they are here. I can't justify paying women in sports the same amount as men if the men are playing their equals or superiors while the women are playing against the equivalent of a stock broker on the soccer pitch. Finally, not many people watch women's sports. Some don't watch because the entertainment is not the same. Some don't watch simply because they aren't broadcasted enough. Case in point, the UCONN women just won their 100th straight game in college basketball. That is unheard of. Probably something that won't be replicated for a long time. And all it got was a nice little spot on sportscenter. But when the Golden State Warriors won 73 games last season, that was all you heard about every 5 mins. The point is, women won't get paid the same as men in sports because of these factors. There's more money in men's sports than women's sports.
ReplyDeleteI am not someone who pays close attention to athletes, let alone sports in general, but this is ridiculous. I think that a lot of people can agree that there is a major concern with how someone’s gender influences their pay. But the wage gap in the United States is not just based on gender, but includes race. In the example of soccer players, the players get paid as a team, so race is not seen as playing a factor in wages although gender is. For people who work hourly in a nine to five job, they receive very different wages based on race and gender. In 2015, White men had higher hourly earnings than all other genders and races except to Asian men. Asian and White men have much higher earnings compared to Black and Hispanic men. Comparing this to women, all four ethnic groups of women earn around what Black and Hispanic men do. Although people have more job opportunities across race and gender compared to say the early 1900s, there is still diversity in the workplace when it comes to things such as earnings, promotions, and being treated unfairly compared to others.
ReplyDeleteThey wage gap between men and women has obviously been a problem for a LONG time, and it hasn't been changing too much. Women's Law Center writes that "American women who work full time, year round are paid only 80 cents for every dollar paid to men — and for women of color, the wage gap is even larger. It’s long past time to close the gap." It's even worse when we think about how much difference race makes in the wage gap as well not only for women but men as well. Time magazine writes "Black men earned 73% of white men's hourly earnings in 2015 — the exact percentage they earned in 1980...The only people out-earning white men are Asian men, who earned 117% as much as white men in 2015...By comparison, the pay gap between black women and white men narrowed by only 9 cents — from 56 cents to every dollar white men earned in 1980 to 65 cents in 2015. Hispanic women made just 58 cents for ever dollar white men made in 2015, a 5-cent increase." Our society has been very unfair to some people and also too good to others and hopefully the coming years will work towards pay equality for all genders and races.
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