Gender Inequality in Sports and Politics

Introduction

There are a lot of areas where gender roles are viewed differently. I noticed the injustice in two areas: sports and politics. I believe that certain mainstream media sites promote stereotyped feminine values with little regard to the true accomplishments and strength of women athletes and politicians.

Sports

Women’s soccer in Japan, also known as the Nadeshiko Japan, won the 2011 World Cup and was in second place in 2015. Was it a big deal? Yes, it was! However, before they won the World Cup, not a lot of people knew about Nadeshiko Japan. Even I did not know that a Japanese women’s soccer team existed until 2011, which is a little embarrassing. Other examples of inequality across the sports world includes, Ronda Rousey, figure skating, tennis, basketball, but what was obvious to me was women’s soccer.

One of the injustices in women’s soccer is that they do not earn enough money from playing soccer, so they have to have other jobs to make a living. But the men’s soccer team gets sponsors on top of their salaries which is way more than the women and that is their only job; some of them are the richest celebrities. In Japan, we don’t see women’s soccer advertised on TV/media as much as the men’s team. Men’s soccer players get sponsored from all over the world, but most of the women stay in Japan, playing soccer and also having another job to earn money.

Secondly, the women’s team doesn’t get as much of attention for their accomplishments. Today, Japanese Women’s Soccer Team ranks fourth place in the world while the Men’s Soccer Team ranks 53rd. No matter what the men’s team accomplishes, they are on the news everyday. However, unless the women’s team wins, they will never be broadcasted. This shows how women’s accomplishments are not valued as much as men in the media and in the society because I believe that media wants women to be sexualized instead of being an athlete. I believe that advertisement with men get more attention because society pays more attention to men’s sports. From the ancient Olympics, men were involved in physically challenging sports. That became part of the society’s expectation of what men do and they try to prove themselves as well. Not only in the Olympics but in Japan, Sumo has a very long history and women are not allowed to stand on the wrestling field. People have been watching men’s sports for centuries and I wonder how long women’s sports have existed. Women’s soccer didn’t exist as an organization until the 1970s for both United States and Japan so they don’t have a long history compared to men’s soccer. 

Politics

Today, only 20 percent of women in the United States participate in leadership roles in government. I think women still have the stereotypical gender role which is having a responsibility for childcare and the domestic household. When women are elected to leadership roles, they are perceived as tough, stubborn or heartless. For example, Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of United Kingdom, also known as the Iron Lady. By being called the Iron Lady, it shows how she mediated as cold, emotionless, inflexible and generally masculine. Power is reserved for men, so when women try to perform masculinity they lose their femininity. In the movies,  The Proposal, The Devil Wears Prada, women are in high leadership roles and they are portrayed as scary, controlling, and difficult. Society dehumanizes women with leadership roles by criticizing them for being decisive, powerful, influential, and knowledgeable. The most striking current example of a demonized female politician is Hillary Clinton.

Hillary for President? The presidential election is approaching. Hillary could be the first woman president of the United States. That is a pretty big deal because men dominate politics. Hillary Clinton is in a political marriage with two parts; one male and one female, she has become the moon in the situation. As the moon, Hillary is associated with her husband rather than being known for her own merits. Bill Clinton has charisma that is accepted by the society because he is a man and this is known as the Gatsby Quality. In The Great Gatsby, the character Jay Gatsby shows how a man with money, charisma, and power can get away with any mistake, including murder. Bill Clinton has similar traits with Gatsby which allows Clinton to get away with his mistakes. Moreover, Hillary is defined by her disgraced husband to the point that she is blamed for his mistakes. Trump accused, “If Hillary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy America?” Although some women accomplish significant achievements, those achievements are devalued most of the time and sometimes blamed for their mistakes. Hillary had the most votes of any female presidential candidate, she helped Obamacare, she was one of only three women that achieved the status of Secretary of State, which is the highest cabinet position. Hillary Clinton has achieved many accomplishments, but what she has done wrong is more emphasized than what she has done right.

Conclusion

Politics and sports are similar within the injustice of gender role. Women’s soccer get minimum attention despite their achievements. Although the kind of attention is different, Hillary and other women leaders get negative attention from the media. I guess that these injustices have continued to exist since a long time ago when Confucian stated that women are difficult to handle and when ancient Olympics did not let women participate in the competitions. I hope one day, these gender role stereotypes for would be equal because I believe that both genders cooperating is the key to success.