There’s no denying it – for decades female athletes have had to face a different set of challenges to their male counterparts.
And although female athletes and women in sport have made great strides in recent years, there are still many problems today in female athletic organisations. Female athletes still face obstacles and challenges in their sporting careers.
In this article, we’ll outline the challenges female athletes face when competing professionally.
Wage gap
A significant challenge that female athletes face is the wage gap between men and women. While this isn’t just an issue for the sporting industry, there is a wage gap in almost every sport played by men and women.
For instance, if you’re a female athlete competing in the WNBA, the average salary is around $71,635. Compare that to men playing in the NBA who earn a whopping $582,180. That’s a huge difference! Female athletes in the WNBA are starting to fight for equality but have not succeeded yet.
Limited coverage of female sports
Part of the reason for such a large wage gap is because men’s sport is televised far more often than women’s sport. Money goes where the audience is, which is why we need to support female athletes by attending more events in-person and tuning in when women’s sports are televised.
With more interest in women’s sports, there will be more money available (or at least we’d like to hope so).
Not as much respect or recognition
It’s unfortunate to have to write this but the fact is, female athletes tend to not receive as much recognition or respect as male athletes. Our accomplishments aren’t viewed as impressive as male accomplishments. These issues can affect a female athlete’s career, meaning she won’t receive as many opportunities as her male counterparts. It’s not fair, and something needs to be done about it.
So what can we do about it?
Providing more opportunities and encouragement for female athletes of all ages is incredibly important. In order to make the world of sports more even in terms of gender, we need to give womens sports and female athletes the attention they deserve.
More awareness of female athletes in general, along with recognition of their strength, skill and determination will hopefully help to make women’s sports more popular over time so that some of this discrimination and challenges fade away.
This will give female athletes more confidence in themselves and their careers, while inspiring younger girls to take up more high-impact sports knowing that they will be treated equally to their male peers.
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