YEAR 11 ERIN DAVIES HAS BEEN SELECTED FOR WALES AND PLAYS FOOTBALL AT ELITE LEVEL. ERIN CONSIDERS THE DIFFICULT QUESTION OF SEXISM IN SPORT
We are exposed daily to the world of men’s football: matches on television, £50 million transfer reports, scandals etc. However, when was the last time you saw women’s football in the news?
Slowly, girl’s sport is developing, in fact, female football is one of the fastest growing sports in the world; but still, equality is not the rule. Why is it still a problem?
The Football Association has recently revealed its innovative ideas for getting more females into football. They include using pink whistles, nice-smelling pink bibs and allowing girls breaks to stop and check their phones. Much the same as boys in football, girls like me who play don’t need ‘special’ treatment. We play because we love it; Premier League players don’t need phone breaks, so why should we?
A great example of the prejudice and obvious exclusion of women players is shown in the United States. The US Women’s National Soccer Team not only places first in the FIFA rankings (to the men’s 28th), but have become World Cup champions three times and have won two thirds of the Olympic gold medals on offer, making them the most successful women’s team in the game. Regardless of this they earn 60 per cent less than their male counterparts, despite being ‘better’. There is one reason only that this happens - discrimination.
Male footballers are paid more than three times per a week than the top earning woman is paid in a year. In WSL1, the highest ladies league in the nation and one of the top in the world, players earn £5,000-£10,000 at non-professional level and up to £35,000 at full time professional level for their club. Indeed, of the nine clubs in this league, including Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, not all players are professional and many do not earn enough to get by without a ‘normal’ job. Even national players, who were involved in the 2015 bronze in the world cup, will usually have another occupation, such as teaching, coaching or even law and accountancy, in addition to a club training regime lasting four to six hours a day. So why does Ronaldo earn more in five hours than some professional women do in a year? There is just one reason and one reason only - discrimination.
I understand, along with many others, that men’s football is more popular and more well-known than the women’s game and therefore it brings in more revenue but this pay gap and discrimination is only going to make the problem worse. Women aren’t being recognised for the talented individuals they are.
However, the pay gap is not the only problem, more than twice as many women in football claim to have been sexually harassed in 2016 than in 2014, almost 62 per cent of women in the game have experienced sexist jokes and 38 per cent have suffered from derogatory statements on ability based on gender. So as the women’s game grows, so seems to be the mistreatment of females involved.
Take note of the recent Eva Carneiro case, Chelsea team first doctor, who hit the headlines, publicly humiliated and abused by her then manager Jose Mourinho. Carneiro’s experience highlighted many of the issues affecting women in football and brought attention to the sexism and misogyny at the highest levels of the game. She was forced to endure sexually explicit remarks from male colleagues and football supporters, was denied access to female changing facilities and was demoted. Would this have happened to a male colleague? I think not.
In conclusion, the pay gap and treatment of women we see in everyday professions is almost incomparable to the inequality in elite level football. Whilst we won’t be seeing a female playing in a Premier League side anytime soon, we should be raising the awareness of the misogyny in football so that we can make a change and thus, our daughters can grow into a footballing society where they are accepted as equals.