How can we as a society say we are perfect if we still discriminate against the females in the athlete world? This generation of female athletes are still being discriminated for being women. Society is judging them based on how much better men are at playing the sport, but how can you judge a woman by comparing her to a man. The reason many sports leagues have men and women separated is because women were not born the same as men their body are created differently, this does not mean society can judge them just because males play the sport differently. Every female athlete today should not be compared to males. Females should be judged based on their own skill level and accomplishments. There are only a few male athletes that have achieved the best and are acknowledged for their work whereas women are hardly even noticed. The women athletes in our world have so many memorable accomplishments, they deserve equal percentage pay, more recognition and should not be discriminated because they are women.
Female athletes deserve equal percentage pay because they work just as energetically as men who earn numerous amounts of dollars playing in the same sports league. While male athletes are earning millions of dollars, women are still being paid half compared to their counterparts. The best female athletes earn less than male athletes who have not even played a single minute on a court or a field and yet get paid more than some of the best female athletes in the world. For example, Jaylen Adams plays point guard for the Atlanta Hawks, he earns $270,014 and has barely stepped foot on the court in the NBA whereas Candace Parker, who plays forward for the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA. She earns $133,500 for playing 30 - 40 minutes per game and still, Candace earns $133,230 less than Jaylen Adams who rarely even touches the court. The reason Jaylen Adams get a higher salary is because there is more available money in the NBA for Jaylen brown to have a higher salary because the NBA makes billions of dollar each year which is profited to the players. The WNBA makes millions of dollar each year which means there is less money that is distributed to each player. Not only are women athletes given such low salaries compared to men playing the same sport, but the gender wage gap is also preposterous.
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The Gender wage gap in this sports community is ludicrous and inequitable for the female athlete of this generation. Gender wage gap still has a huge impact on female athletes today, when these women try to publicly talk about these issues their automatically criticized and ostracize for even bring such a topic to discussion. A’ja Wilson was one of several women who tried to bring a claim about this crucial topic. She tweeted about the new contract LeBron James signed with the L.A. Lakers, which got many people talking about wage equality. “Wilson, who was taken first overall by the Las Vegas Aces in the 2018 WNBA Draft, will earn $52,564 in her rookie season. By comparison, her NBA counterpart Deandre Ayton will start his professional career earning $6.8 million playing for the Phoenix Suns — a difference of $6.7 million.” By, (Al Neal. 2018, July 13) After A’ja Wilson tweeted this she was instantly attacked by many reporters and journalist. Someone replied by saying “WNBA Players Should Stop Complaining. If Anything, They’re Over Paid” By, (Al Neal. 2018, July 13) The gender wage gap between the WNBA and NBA is huge because only 20 percent of what is made from the WNBA revenues is given to players whereas, in the NBA, players are given 50 percent of what is made. Gender wage gap plays a huge part in the athlete society and as well as the pay in different leagues for female and male athletes.
Furthermore, the leagues that female athletes play in, make a reduced amount of dollars compared to the leagues males play in. The leagues female athletes play in, should deserve a higher or equal amount of pay because the women’s league work just as efficient and committed as the male leagues but do not have an equal or higher pay than what they have now. The WNBA league should earn more than $60 million dollars a year because if compared to the NBA which earns $7.8 billion dollars a year, it is unfair for the coaches and player in the WNBA because they earn barely anything if comparing to how much coaches and players make in the NBA per year. The WNBA makes so little by comparison to the NBA which makes billions of dollars per year, it is because the NBA has more fans who purchase tickets to watch the game and the NBA is a lot more popular than the WNBA. As a result of female athletes not getting higher pay or even remotely as close as male athletes pay, women also are not as recognized as their male counterpart who have millions of fans. Female athletes get less recognition for their professional skills, and their own line of equipment compared to how many people view both men’s skills and purchase their products.
Female athletes having less recognition is equally as important as female athletes having a harder time producing product compared to how it is simply effortless for males. It is harder for female athletes to sell a line of shoes which goes through a male athletes brand. But it is especially hard for women to come up with ideas for shoes since their not as recognized as their male counterparts, who have over millions of supporters and more than hundreds of fans who buy their shoes. Maya Moore is a forward for the Minnesota Lynx, she is an example of a female athlete who finds its difficult because of the crude real life of being a WNBA player. Maya Moore said that she works so hard to be in the position she is in currently and that all the hard work she put into getting to where she is, is barely even noticed by society. She came out with a line of shoes but to get more recognition she had the basketball shoes go through Michael Jordan’s brand called Air Jordans. Maya Moore is not as well known as Michael Jordan so that why it is extremely hard for her to come out with a line of shoes without any support. It is so unreal to think about the fact that women in the WNBA have to rely on their male counterparts to get more recognition.
In addition to less recognition of female athletes compared to how many people recognize male athletes. Female athletes do not have as many fans as male athletes who play in the same sports league. Female athletes do not get as many fans watching their games in the arenas or on television in contrast to male athletes who have over millions of people watching from home or from in the arena. Women in the WNBA have an increase of 36 percent of adults watching on television, a percentage of 50 women watching and 29 percent male. The 2017-18 WNBA season had around 250,000 people watching on ESPN, a 39 percent increase of viewer from the previous WNBA season. But these percentages compared to NBA are nothing, from just the start of the 2017-18 NBA season it had 1,920,000 viewers watching on ESPN, the start of the season a 24 percent increase from last years total season. From the beginning of the NBA 2017-18 season, and the overall 2017-18 season of the WNBA, the NBA had 1,670,000 more viewers than the WNBA. The WNBA is not as popular, so it does not have as many supporters whereas the NBA as millions of fans who support them. It is extremely difficult for female athletes in this world to get recognition because society judges them by comparing them to male athletes. Society thinks women are not good enough by differentiating them from male athletes obviously, they are not as muscular or strong, but it does not mean they are not willing to try their best.
There are thousands of reasons female athletes are discriminated by society, women are considered less than males because of inaccurate stereotypes. The factors that cause society to use such rude stereotypes against women are because they are being compared to male athletes. One of many stereotypes against female athletes is that they are not physically fit for the sport, society thinks this because they see how male athletes are stronger but it does not mean women are not just as strong. Society considers WNBA players as just girls and that is all, and how their skill level is nowhere as good as the men in the NBA. Female athletes are judged daily on how they are not good enough, strong enough or even fast as men. Even though women are not scientifically muscular as men they should not be discriminated because they are women.
Female athletes are not just judged based on how they physically play but society also thinks that women are prone to having emotional breakdowns. Society views women as sensitive and emotional human beings, people see these through stereotypes. An example is how people in this world tend to believe that women like to talk about their emotions whereas men do not even acknowledge it. One of multiple reason to why the WNBA has fewer viewers than the NBA is because people believe that women are too empathetic and emotionally nice that they do not play hardcore defence but in the NBA they play intensely with long-standing defence because society believes men are tougher and will pick a fight which makes an NBA game extremely intense. The female athletes in today’s generation are still being discriminated by hundreds of people and no one has done anything to resolve this extensive issue.
In conclusion, female athletes have always been considered less than men, never equal or higher by society. Which is a factor to why women have such low salaries, female athletes work so hard to get where they are today, some of the top females in their league still get paid less than most males in their rookie season. Less recognition, female athletes are hardly in the spotlight by comparison to males, female athletes have fewer fans which is why it is harder for them to sell their own products. Another factor is female athletes are discriminated for being women, the stereotypes towards female athletes are so harsh and unspeakable, they are judged because apparently women are too emotionally and not physically or mentally fit to be athletes. This issue has not been resolved for a long period of time. Significantly women should rightfully have an equal say as men and should not be attacked for believing what is right for them or wanting something they should have always been given. Nevertheless, these outstanding females need to be showcased on a trophy wall for all their hard work and effort they put into getting where they are standing today.
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