The Wage Gap: Sports Edition
The U.S. women’s national soccer team has a radiant, ambitious history. Over three decades, it has traveled from non-existent to the top of the soccer world. Although, that doesn’t mean they are treated that way. There is still gender based bias against them, specifically involving a large wage gap. Recently, the team took a step toward equality. In 2015, members of the US womens team their names being Carli Lloyd, Becky Sauerbrunn, Hope Solo, Alex Morgan, and Megan Rapinoe, spoke for the entire team when they filed a wage discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This public/progressive statement is bringing notice to an issue that was thought to already be solved-gender …show more content…
Men’s teams are said to be more popular, as for why they can afford to be paid more. The goalkeeper of the team, Hope Solo, said, “The men get paid more just to show up than we get paid to win a major championship.” Unfortunately for them, this is true. According to U.S. Soccer’s own financial reports, women got twenty million more in revenue than the men in 2015, but men were paid four times as much. Yet still, many people criticized these women for speaking up against this sexism. In 2015, 20.4 million people watched the women’s World Cup Final against Japan, making it the most watched match in history, regardless of gender. It is obviously proven that these hardworking women have the credibility and effort to earn just as much as the men, possibly even more on the years of Cups when they bring in more revenue. Although the men do work hard and deserve a fair amount of money, the difference in revenue is absurd. The women work just as hard, after all they are playing the same sport, and the women more often prove their hard work is paying off by winning more games than the men. The women are ranked number one in the world, and they only …show more content…
We are thought to have made big strides in social justice in the past few decades, but these women still feel like they are having to fight for women’s equality. “Men’s soccer got all the money and respect. That’s just the way it was,” said 1999 team co-captain Michelle Akers. Except that’s the way it still is. The men 's team continues to get all the money and respect. The men’s team is given more respect proven in the fact that they are given superior playing fields without question. The men are not even asked to play on artificial turf, yet the women’s team is forced to no matter how many times they plead to play on grass. For those unfamiliar with soccer or artificial turf, this is known to be very unjust. Artificial turf causes bad rug-like burns, deter players of diving and sliding for fears of burns, and tripping on uneven surfaces; it has been known to cause a large number of serious injuries to players. Turf cannot even be played on in high temperatures for how hot it becomes. The women’s team has tried to stop this. Player Abby Wambach led a group of women to file a discrimination lawsuit against FIFA, their main argument being that the men have never had to play a Cup on artificial turf. Unfortunately, it was not successful. This is an example of how the women are once again being disrespected during their fight for equality. The women are also discriminated against when it comes to their
The U.S. women’s national soccer team has a radiant, ambitious history. Over three decades, it has traveled from non-existent to the top of the soccer world. Although, that doesn’t mean they are treated that way. There is still gender based bias against them, specifically involving a large wage gap. Recently, the team took a step toward equality. In 2015, members of the US womens team their names being Carli Lloyd, Becky Sauerbrunn, Hope Solo, Alex Morgan, and Megan Rapinoe, spoke for the entire team when they filed a wage discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This public/progressive statement is bringing notice to an issue that was thought to already be solved-gender …show more content…
Men’s teams are said to be more popular, as for why they can afford to be paid more. The goalkeeper of the team, Hope Solo, said, “The men get paid more just to show up than we get paid to win a major championship.” Unfortunately for them, this is true. According to U.S. Soccer’s own financial reports, women got twenty million more in revenue than the men in 2015, but men were paid four times as much. Yet still, many people criticized these women for speaking up against this sexism. In 2015, 20.4 million people watched the women’s World Cup Final against Japan, making it the most watched match in history, regardless of gender. It is obviously proven that these hardworking women have the credibility and effort to earn just as much as the men, possibly even more on the years of Cups when they bring in more revenue. Although the men do work hard and deserve a fair amount of money, the difference in revenue is absurd. The women work just as hard, after all they are playing the same sport, and the women more often prove their hard work is paying off by winning more games than the men. The women are ranked number one in the world, and they only …show more content…
We are thought to have made big strides in social justice in the past few decades, but these women still feel like they are having to fight for women’s equality. “Men’s soccer got all the money and respect. That’s just the way it was,” said 1999 team co-captain Michelle Akers. Except that’s the way it still is. The men 's team continues to get all the money and respect. The men’s team is given more respect proven in the fact that they are given superior playing fields without question. The men are not even asked to play on artificial turf, yet the women’s team is forced to no matter how many times they plead to play on grass. For those unfamiliar with soccer or artificial turf, this is known to be very unjust. Artificial turf causes bad rug-like burns, deter players of diving and sliding for fears of burns, and tripping on uneven surfaces; it has been known to cause a large number of serious injuries to players. Turf cannot even be played on in high temperatures for how hot it becomes. The women’s team has tried to stop this. Player Abby Wambach led a group of women to file a discrimination lawsuit against FIFA, their main argument being that the men have never had to play a Cup on artificial turf. Unfortunately, it was not successful. This is an example of how the women are once again being disrespected during their fight for equality. The women are also discriminated against when it comes to their