With the return of the sun with the spring season in a few weeks —or at least it is what we hope— the mood will lift to start good habits, like sports. Also, it is the perfect time to highlight gender inequalities and how it affects us all, as well as what we can do to counter them.

 

Practicing sports seems much easier here than in other countries. Nevertheless, according to a study by the Conseil du statut de la femme of Quebec’s Government, in November 2022, in Canada, girls move less than boys, and women remain underrepresented in the sports world. Sadly, that sound familiar, but why is this happening?

 

Go Canada!

On February 10th of this year, the Canadian football feminine team players were outraged by significant cuts to the 2023 budget. This budget also saw significant inequalities in financial resources allowed by the federation, the Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer), for the male and female teams. 

For example, the national federation awarded 2021 more than C$11 million to the men’s teams, compared to about C$5 million to the women’s teams, while the previous year, the federation expenditures were virtually identical: just over C$3 million for men and C$2.8 million for women, according to statements of the Canadian football team captain Christine Sinclair.

As a result, the team stated that they no longer wanted to train or play matches, a protest movement to denounce gender inequalities and the lack of funding. An approach supported by the men’s team, who, in a statement, declared that: ‘How Canada Soccer allocates or uses funds is unclear and full of secrets.’ 

However, the next day, on February 11th, the Canadian women’s football team had to call off their strike under threat of legal action against them by the federation. The players’ strike only lasted one day, but protests along with negotiations are not finished yet,  and gender inequalities still remain. 

 

Yes, but No

It should be noted that according to experts, mentalities are slowly changing, but there are still many barriers that should be put down. 

Before looking at each barrier, it is worth mentioning that these are not exclusively for women, as men can also be subject to them. However, they are inequities that affect female athletes most of the time or are seen mostly against girls and women.

• Stereotypes: Sexual stereotypes have a direct impact on the world of sports; for example, sports involving strength are associated with masculinity, while those associated with grace and aesthetics are perceived as feminine. Furthermore, it is not uncommon to observe sexist portrayals of female athletes in the media. For example, they tend to be questioned more about their physical appearance and style compared to their male counterparts, who are interviewed purely on their performance.

 

• Safety: Intimidation, exclusion, neglect, violence, you name it! Too many girls and women still experience abuse in sports in the 21st century. 

 

• Resources: We have seen an example of this in the first part of the article. Indeed, inequitable situations have been highlighted in the media, for example, the granting of a lower budget to women’s teams in university hockey. 

 

• Salary: today’s normative —not only in Canada, but worldwide— is that female athletes and teams are paid less than their male counterparts, while the competition level remains the same, but the resources available to achieve high sportive performance are different, as we saw before, too.

 

• Representation: A minority of women reach leadership positions in sports, whether on boards of directors, in general, in management positions, as officials or as coaches, while female athletes identify more easily with a female coach. The difficulties they face recall the stereotype barrier: overcoming gender biases to be accepted there, limiting their chances of promotion. The same thing happens for women in sports journalism who faces as well several obstacles, including additional pressure regarding their physical appearance and behaviour. 

 

Don’t Go. Let’s Play!

 

Another important issue, where all of us are concerned in a direct way, is practice. We all know that sport is of great benefit for mental, social and physical health and wellness. Nevertheless, in general, women engage in less physical activity and sports than men, starting in early childhood. 

 

Also, there is strong resistance to implementing specific plans to attract and retains girls from youth. In fact, according to experts, there are more girls than boys that give up sports during adolescence, especially within the high-performance level. This leads to a vicious circle of lack of representation and references to female figures to whom girls can be inspired, which would favour the practice of sports and the retention of female talent.

 

All obstacles are interconnected, so doing something on our end can lead to a major change. For example, media coverage of women’s sports is very thin compared to that given to men’s sports. However, the less visible female athletes are, the less likely they are to obtain major sponsorships even if they do the same sport at the same professional level —even though there are cases, like tennis, in which audiences for both female and male matches are almost the same, but still exist a salary gap.

 

So, why don’t we become female sports spectators? Why don’t we get inspired and get on the game too? It’s a win-win!

 

 

 

About Laura

Laura is Mexican, educated in France and currently settled in Canada. She is a trilingual editorial
professional with several years of experience and a bookworm during her free time. She loves
to create content that captivates, educates and inspires.

 

Editor’s Note

 

A warm welcome to Laura Tejeda Meza. She loves empowering and inspiring women through her work. The content here does not represent the views of LCCMedia.