Gender Stereotypes In Australia

In Australia, sport traditionally contributes a great portion of our culture. Our national identity is shaped by sports events like the Melbourne Cup, the Ashes and the iconic Boxing Day Test match. However, when the Australian crowds gather at the Melbourne Cup, it is mainly to see male jockeys. At the Ashes, we watch a team of men and when Boxing Day rolls around and the Australians fill the MCG, it is also to watch males play. It is evident that sport in Australia, and across the globe, is male dominated. Although it can be argued that our sportswomen are equally as skilful and as accomplished as men, they experience negative gender stereotyping and are trivialised to appear as the inferior sex (Wilde, 2015). This discrimination of women …show more content…
Gender stereotypes are, by definition, “over-generalisations about the characteristics of an entire group based on gender… [they] can have negative connotations and also positive connotations” (Study.com, 2016). Traditional gender stereotypes expected by society say that women are the fairer sex- soft, obedient and nurturing, compared to men who are expected to be strong and athletic. Unfortunately, when this ‘gender order’ is violated, it is common for women to be negatively labelled (Wilde, 2015). This notion of gender stereotyping is common in sport, where if women participated in traditionally male-like sports that are not “feminine”, they can be ridiculed. Society tends to focus on femininity and beauty, as opposed to athleticism when it comes to female athletes. It comes as no surprise then, that gender stereotyping in the focal reason as to why women stop participating in sports such as cricket. (Banas, …show more content…
This is a massive step in closing the gender inequality gap and recognising women’s contribution to cricket, which will hopefully create a precedent for change in all sporting areas across Australia. Before the recent pay increase, the top-player retainer for the Southern Stars players was $15,000. Following the increase, it is now $52,000. With additional tour payment increases, the maximum amount Australia’s best female cricket players- ranked 1st worldwide currently and holding the Ashes- can earn is $85,000 per year. While this is a positive increase, next year the average male cricketer’s salary will be $1 million. This shows that while equality is on the way for women in sport, there still is a long way to go (Ribarich,