Claire Thomson

The 25th to the 31st of October 2021 marks the fifth annual ‘Scottish Women and Girls in Sport Week’. For many of us, myself included, women in sport is an issue that hits close to home, with every single female athlete facing adversity on a daily basis. From menstruation and body image, to media coverage and pay gaps, women are already facing a myriad of obstacles before even participating in sport. We all have a story to tell as we continue to constantly fight against misogyny in sport.

SCOTTISH WOMEN IN SPORT

Scottish Women and Girls in Sport Week 2021 aims to educate the Scottish public and media on the importance of sport and physical activity in driving gender equality while improving the health and well-being of women and girls. The goal of this week is to increase female participation in sport throughout Scotland and celebrate the achievements of all women and girls in sport by promoting successes across the country. This week may just be one very small step towards the end goal of gender equality for all in sport in Scotland, but it has the ability to change lives forever.

“All women and girls should have equal opportunity to participate, officiate, coach and lead.”

Through the power of sport, the charity Scottish Women in Sport (SW/S) is working to help relieve women and girls of some of the difficulties being faced to ensure that equality and parity are reached in every aspect of sport in Scotland. All women and girls should have equal opportunity to participate, officiate, coach and lead. Working alongside former professional female athletes, such as Katherine Grainger and Judy Murray, SW/S is working hard to develop positive role models, encourage more female sport dedicated media coverage, share good practice, and increase investment into women and girls’ sport.

#SHECANSHEWILL

If there’s one phrase that we learn growing up, it’s that “anything is possible”. Yet, when it comes to sport, we’ve all been told that we can’t do something because we’re girls. Too often we hear “you run/swim/throw/jump/whatever verb, like a girl” being slung as an insult. The #SheCanSheWill movement is there to prove the world wrong and stand  in line with Scottish Women and Girls in Sport Week. It aims to empower and celebrate Scottish females in all aspects of sport. By working together and encouraging others across the country to stand up for themselves, their sport and what they believe in, we can break down these damaging sporting stereotypes and force change in the sporting world.

Throughout this week SW/S, alongside Scottish governing bodies and organisations, such as Scottish Student Sport, are celebrating female athletes of all levels and ages. They’ll be focusing on the role of physical activity in supporting women’s health and well-being, and sharing information about issues in women’s health which are not discussed enough.

 

Criticism and Controversy

Why is this week so important to so many of us, when women aren’t the only group to face inequality in sport? Of course, men also face criticism and obstacles when participating in sport. There is a lot of pressure on men and boys to portray the image of the invincible and muscle-driven athlete, and they don’t always have the opportunity to compete in sports like netball and artistic disciplines. But women must fight twice as hard just to reach the playing field of many sports. Many of the challenges that we face as female athletes are completely out of our control. That’s not to say that we’re looking for sympathy or using these as excuses, it’s more about raising awareness and educating the public and media, to show that it’s not plain sailing for female athletes.

“The Olympic Games highlighted the lack of autonomy women have in the way that they present themselves in sport.”

Body image and clothing are the real nails in the coffin when it comes to women in sport. The Olympic Games this summer in Tokyo truly highlighted the lack of autonomy women have in the way that they present themselves in sport. On one hand, Norway’s beach handball team faced a fine of 1500 euros after the players chose to wear comfortable shorts rather than the official, and incredibly short, bikini bottoms. On the other hand, Paralympian Olivia Breen was criticised by a sporting official who claimed her spring briefs were “too short and inappropriate”. To top it all off, when the German gymnastics team tried to combat sexualisation by wearing unitards, similar to what the men wear, it made headline news and caused controversy. It appears that when it comes to outfits in sport, women simply can’t win. 

The Battle Against Body Shaming

Nowadays, so many young girls are overly concerned with their appearance and body image that it not only has a negative impact on their mental health but also their physical health. Growing up as a competitive swimmer, there were always “jokes” being thrown around about so-called “swimmer shoulders”. Being a butterfly swimmer, this was something that I faced on a regular basis. Fortunately, it never bothered me too much as I always wanted to (and to an extent had to) prove myself as I trained in a squad with boys older than me. But, it did always mean that buying clothes, in particular school shirts and blouses, was a massive issue. Although it wasn’t the case for me, and I could easily brush it off, I can definitely see the impact that even the smallest of comments can have on a girl’s self-esteem and body confidence. Unfortunately, this body shaming deters many young girls from participating in sport. Swimming is probably one of the worst sports for this as there truly is nowhere to hide whilst wearing a swimsuit, and consequently many female swimmers are constantly being confronted with unwanted attention.

Disparity and Disbelief

“A mere 1.8% of sports stories are written by women.”

Despite what many people believe, it’s not actually female participation in sport in Scotland that’s suffering the most. As an aspiring sports journalist, I always knew that I was in the minority but until recently I hadn’t realised how horrific the sports media industry is for women and women’s sport. Less than 5% of media sport coverage in the UK is dedicated to women’s sport, and across national newspapers, a mere 1.8% of sports stories are written by women. To say that I was shocked and angered by the statistics doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt when confronted with the lack of representation of female athletes and women’s sport in the media. How are girls supposed to grow up doing sport if they have no-one to inspire them and no clear role models represented through mainstream media? 

The Gender Pay Gap VS The Gender Media Gap

However, the meagre women’s sports coverage is not a stand-alone issue in itself. Equal pay is a hot topic in all sectors and industries, with sport being no different. The focus of the conversation is normally about how women earn less than men, the unfairness of the disparity regardless of the effort, and how it is nigh on impossible for female athletes to earn enough from being full-time professional athletes. Many will argue that the pay gap is a direct consequence of the amount of money generated by women’s sport in comparison to men’s sport. However, that is not the case. After the US women’s football team won the World Cup in 2015, it was revealed that they were only paid a quarter of what the men earned, despite their success. To make matters worse, the women’s team brought in $20m more than the men in that same year. So you tell me, how is that fair?

“Women’s sports need their own platform and opportunity to display female talent, away from the shadow cast by men’s sports.”

Having said all that, the argument of equal pay is sometimes misguided. The issue is not always the pay disparity, but rather the lack of marketing and promotion of women’s sport. In the UK, women’s sport is estimated to receive less than 0.5% of the total value of UK sports sponsorship. Clubs don’t have the funds to support their female athletes, let alone create a brand or publicise themselves. If women’s sports are always going to be marketed as an afterthought to men’s, then we’ll never generate the interest that is supposedly required to gain equal pay. Women’s sports need their own platform and opportunity to display female talent, away from the shadow cast by men’s sports.

We cannot give up. Women and girls deserve sport too. Now is the time to strive towards equal opportunities and give female athletes a voice.

Featured Image courtesy of Claire Thomson.

 

Aspiring Sports Journalist and Modern Languages Student (French/German) at University of Glasgow

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