Unfortunately, it is common for female athletes to be criticized on their appearance, but in multiple different forms. On one end, female athletes are often sexually objectified and are even judged on simplistic things such as if they wear makeup or not. Many people comment on whether or not these women fit the stereotypical image of someone attractive. Additionally, many female athletes are attacked because of their physique; their bodies are described as “masculine” or “manly” because they have large muscles. It is just as demeaning for a woman to be called masculine as it is to be sexually objectified.

What is disheartening is the fact that these comments towards women are not just made by envious people; these body standards are enforced by the media as well. Female athletes already deal with enough judgement and are likely to experience many moments of low self-esteem and body negativity. Your physical performance during the game will not be up to speed if you are also battling with negative thoughts of your body. While this is an issue for all female athletes, it is more likely to affect younger girls.

As an athlete myself, I never enjoyed going to the gym when I was younger because it felt awkward and honestly did not think it would impact my game. Once I got older and became more competitive, many of my coaches commented on my strength and level of aggression. I realized that going to the gym was going to become a necessity and it was important for me to find ways to feel confident about working out and gaining significant muscle mass. However, the feeling of being judged crept under my skin each time I went to exercise. In fact, nobody was actually looking at me, I only assumed because of the negative voice of society in my head saying that women who are muscular are unattractive.

Professional Female Athletes’ Experiences with Body Insecurity

There are many female athletes who have been criticized for their muscular features including UFC champion Ronda Rousey and tennis legend Serena Williams. Often, the judgements include comments about the women being masculine and not pretty. An article from the Daily Mail shows multiple accomplished, muscular, professional female athletes who despite having amazing bodies, still feel insecure. For example, track and field gold-medalist Natasha Hastings shares:

“I was body-shamed in high school. I was teased for looking like a boy because I was pretty muscular even before I started lifting weights. I’ve always had an athletic build so even now sometimes people say, ‘Oh, you look like a boy, you don’t have boobs.’”

UFC fighter Jessica Eyes also expressed her thoughts regarding female athletes with muscular bodies:

“I think the biggest misconception about female athletes is that we’re tomboys and that we’re not pretty; we’re not girls. We’re females too. We still like to get dressed up, we still like to put make-up on, we still like to go out on dates and be treated like women.”

It is comforting, yet also upsetting to see that even professional athletes experience these same feelings of body negativity. To see that they have pushed through the stereotypes of what the ideal woman should look like, and ignored the critical comments is inspiring. They are athletes and need to be fit for their sport, but they are also women and deserve to feel beautiful. Just because they are muscular does not mean they can’t be girly as Eyes says. Who are we to say they aren’t beautiful because they don’t match society’s expectations? We all need to start accepting that physical strength is beautiful and is not confined to the male gender.

The Media’s Perspective on Women Who Work Out

The media constantly influences women about their body image; especially when it comes to fitness. Society seems to have this idea that there are specific exercises for men and completely different ones for women. Usually a “feminine” exercise would be cardio or yoga, while a “masculine” workout would be something like weightlifting. There also seems to be this mindset that if you do see a woman at the gym, they are expected to look “sexy” rather than actually break a sweat.

The above ad is a perfect example of the way the media promotes their idea of how women who work out should look. While there is no denying that this model is fit, I can say for myself that I do not look exactly like her. The model is not an athlete, but the ad still insinuates that this body is the result you should aim for. For my sport, I need to have muscular legs, and I don’t know many soccer-playing girls who have the controversial “thigh-gap.” Why is it that often when a woman is featured in a fitness ad, they are depicted in a sexualized way? What would be unattractive about a woman who is working hard and sweating while lifting a heavy weight?

Even women’s fitness magazines say the main goal of exercise is to become “toned” and not “bulky”. This is totally close-minded to the fact that being toned is not the only fitness goal that exists. For an athlete your goal is to be strong, so why can’t bulky and muscular be considered attractive?

Both of these ads are from fitness magazines that promote a toned body as a result of exercise. An athlete may see these magazines and believe that this is how they should look and as a result can make them hesitant to work out, hoping that they don’t get too muscular. Even if you are unbothered by the media’s interpretation of a woman who works out, the issues are still present in the sports world. For some reason, muscles are seen as attractive on a man, but when a woman shows similar features, they are seen as manly rather than strong. It is not my goal as an athlete or as a woman to be strong like a man. My goal is to be strong like a woman, physically and mentally. Male or female, we should not be compared based on our workout preferences. Strong is strong regardless of gender and society needs to appreciate that.

How Gender Can Influence an Athlete’s Workouts

Sadly, because of media influences and general stereotypes of the ideal woman, female athletes may not be achieving as great of results in their sport as they are capable of. Think about it: how often do you see a woman completing a deadlift in the place of a man? This is not because we are not capable of doing so; rather, there is the perception that we will be judged for attempting a “masculine” exercise. Many times women have been in this position where they feel uncomfortable being in the weightlifting space surrounded by men. Half the time there is always a man at the weight rack or spending an hour at the squat rack. It takes a lot of courage to walk over and ask if you could have time to use the machine. Instead, many female athletes may force themselves to feel more comfortable working on their cardio, or relocating themselves to the yoga mats. Why is this? Why should women feel nervous or out of line when entering the supposed male-dominated section of the gym?

In an interesting study done by Stephanie E. Coen titled “’It’s gym, like g-y-m not J-i-m’: Exploring the role of place in the gendering of physical activity” she explores how gender norms and stereotypes are put in place at the gym. Coen interviewed 52 people (men and women) who frequently go to the gym and asked them to record their experiences during their workout. An article from Phys.Org summarizes her findings noting that all the participants from Coen’s study commented that there seemed to be a “real and perceived threat for not conforming to stereotyped activities.” This feeling influenced the types of exercises and the machines used by each person; they would only do what they perceived as a normal activity for their gender. Many men noted in the study that they would not use a machine they considered “feminine” while most of the women were more worried about taking up too much space in the gym. They felt like they would be in the way of other people if they used certain equipment.

Coen writes that a younger woman said she “couldn’t be authoritative in asserting her place and using the equipment because she might be perceived negatively.” In the gym, there should be no worries about being judged and each person should do what they feel is right for their bodies and what makes them feel the best. This study was very interesting as sometimes we don’t even notice that these things happen and we can’t always figure out why we think this way.

The important thing to take away from this is that we all need to be more accepting of the female athlete’s body. We need to separate ourselves from society’s image of the ideal woman as well as the ideal woman who works out. We must understand that a muscular physique does not equal unattractiveness or masculine qualities. Female athletes have a right to be fit and excel at their sport and be girly if they choose. Muscularity should never be related to masculinity; strength is something all athletes should strive to achieve. Future generations of female athletes need to know that being strong is beautiful and should never let anyone tell them otherwise.

When two-time Olympic swimmer Martha McCabe retired in 2017, she could have hung up her cap and goggles and retreated quietly into a normal, post-elite athlete life. However, McCabe, who was fifth at the 2012 London Olympics in the 200m breaststroke, was inspired by the way her journey impacted others.

“After becoming an Olympian in 2012, I quickly realized the power my voice had on youth around me,” said McCabe. “Seeing the impact I could have on another person’s life was incredibly inspiring.”

Immediately following the Rio Olympics in 2016, she embarked on a cross-nation speaking tour, sharing her story with schools and corporations. Despite the reward of reaching so many communities, she felt there was something missing from speaking to a community only once. From this experience came McCabe’s current initiative, Head to Head.

Head to Head has the mission of promoting mental resilience and overall wellness through Olympian-led mentorship programs. The program links retired Olympic athletes with schools and sports clubs in year-long mentorship relationships. The Olympian conducts regular in-person visits to lead lessons in ‘soft skills,’ such as teamwork, time management, leadership skills, dealing with nerves, and much more. Visits to sports clubs often include clinics, where the mentor is directly in the pool or on the field sharing their skills and techniques with the athletes. When the athletes can’t physically attend, Head to Head provides the teachers and coaches with workbooks and resources, as well as videos of the athlete mentors, to keep their students and athletes engaged.

A unique feature of Head to Head is its dedication to involve Olympians that are transitioning out of sports. McCabe is intimately familiar with the struggles elite athletes have transitioning into life after their sporting career has ended. Head to Head provides compensation for their athlete mentors, and the chance for them to share the skills they learned through elite sports with the next generation of athletes.

Heather MacLean, an Olympic swimmer who competed in London 2012, is now a nurse in Toronto and a mentor with Head to Head.

“I think the one thing I really like about Head to Head is the consistency with the athletes,” she said over email. “You get to know them by name and they get to know you. It’s really great working with smaller clubs who don’t have exposure to high performance athletes to give them the tools they need to reach that next level in swimming.”

Head to Head is currently committed to 60 communities across Canada, ranging from British Columbia to Quebec. Over 26 Canadian Olympic athletes from winter and summer sports are listed as possible mentors on their website.

“Getting the athletes involved is easy,” says McCabe.

Right now, Head to Head is looking for more ways to engage public schools and smaller clubs in their organization. The organization is committed to customizing the program to any school’s or club’s individual needs. McCabe is busy making connections to possible sponsors to secure the support that would see this program benefit more youth across the country.

If you would like to apply to Head to Head, become a partner organization, or learn more go to headtohead.ca or contact Martha McCabe directly at [email protected].

On December 3, 2018, Norwegian native and Olympique Lyonnais striker Ada Hegerberg was honoured with the first women’s Ballon d’Or. The award has been dominated by male players since 1956, given out by France Football; a magazine that covers worldwide soccer news. The Ballon d’Or is presented to the player who performed the best in the previous year, which is decided by votes from multiple national team coaches and captains, as well as international journalists. For over 60 years, female players were never considered for this prize, adding to the controversy of lack of recognition for the achievements of female athletes in soccer, and other sports in general.

Female athletes are not only ignored for their achievements, they are often degraded even when they do receive accolades. For example, Spanish U17 player Eva Navarro finished third in votes after Dimitri Payet and Cristiano Ronaldo for UEFA Goal of the Season for her goal against Germany in the UEFA European Women’s U17 Championship. Finishing in the top three among ten nominees in Europe is extremely impressive, but instead of congratulatory remarks, there were many hateful comments. I remember scrolling through Instagram and seeing her goal, ecstatic that a woman was being recognized, however the comments from mainly male fans changed my mood instantly. Many of the comments belittled Navarro’s goal because the opposing team’s defense was not as talented as their male counterparts. The attitude seemed to be that her goal was easy and not impressive because the female defenders were “slow” and “didn’t know how to defend.” Multiple male egos became bruised as they witnessed a professional soccer player beat two defenders and hammer a shot into the top left corner. Oh, and that player just happens to be a woman. Jealousy is in the air as women’s soccer is continuing to build a better name for itself and I’m here for it.

Even though Navarro did not win Goal of the Season, she definitely sparked interest in female soccer players leading up to the inaugural Female Ballon d’Or presentation.

This year’s Ballon d’Or award was especially exciting and controversial for both men and women for shocking reasons. For the past ten years, the men’s award has been dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who both earned five trophies. Despite another fantastic year from the pair, Croatian Luka Modric took home his first Ballon d’Or, ending their reign. While this was a pivotal moment for the men’s side, in my eyes nothing tops the first woman being recognized for the same award. The list of nominees included 15 exceptional female players across 11 nationalities. Star-studded forwards such as Lindsey Horan, Lieke Martens, Marta and Christine Sinclair all made the list, but Ada Hegerberg took the grand prize.

Hegerberg capped off an incredible 2017/2018 season in May by helping her French club team, Lyon, win their third straight and fifth overall UEFA Women’s Champions League title, the most in its history. Not only did she win her third straight Champions League trophy, she also scored a record of 15 goals for the 2017/2018 tournament. For Lyon, in their regular season as part of French league Division 1 Feminine, Hegerberg was also the top goal scorer with 31 goals, leading Lyon to yet another division champion title.

In previous years, she has been named UEFA Best Women’s Footballer in Europe for the 2015/2016 season and BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year in 2016/2017. At only 23 years old, Hegerberg has close to 300 career goals, and she is just getting started (UEFA, 2018).

Many people have commented on her exceptional abilities, including Jean-Marie Aulas, President of Lyon’s club, as well as her fellow teammate and Lyon captain, Camille Abily.

“Ada has a physical and mental strength above the norm. She is on her way to becoming the best player in the world.” -Jean-Marie Aulas, Lyon president

“A young player, but already a great player. It’s impressive to see just how mature she already is in her play. An exceptional goalscorer.” -Camille Abily, Lyon captain

The moment Hegerberg was handed the Ballon d’Or, it seemed as though this would be remembered as one of the most triumphant moments in women’s soccer history. While we took a giant leap forward for female athletes, the move was momentarily stagnant after an inconsiderate comment was made from the host, DJ Martin Solveig. He asked Hegerberg if she wanted to celebrate her win with a dance, but included a remark wondering if she knew how to “twerk.”

Hegerberg seemed nonchalant following the comment, replying with a simple “no,” and members of the audience, including 19-year old Paris St. Germain player, Kylian Mbappe, looked confused and possibly uncomfortable. Almost immediately after the event, outrage sparked across social media including Twitter and Instagram regarding the “twerking” comment. Many people voiced their disapproval towards Martin Solveig and following the mass of angry tweets and comments, Solveig posted an apology video.

In the apology, Solveig claims that the comment was just a joke and that he did not mean to offend anyone. Fans, however, were not buying it. Thousands of people who replied were not impressed with the 53-second apology; although, Hegerberg herself did not seem bothered by the comment.

“He came to me afterwards and was really sad that it went that way. I didn’t really consider it sexual harassment or anything in the moment. I was just happy to do the dance and win the Ballon d’Or.”

When I first heard about the Ballon d’Or finally being given to female players, I was beaming with excitement. Growing up, my soccer role models were all male because that was what I was exposed to. I have known about the Ballon d’Or award for years and it is almost impossible not to come across a headline about the male winners.

This award is not only important for professional female soccer players, but it is crucial in building awareness for the younger generations. I wish that female players were recognized for such a prestigious award when I was a young soccer player so that I had more female influence to look up to. I imagine that my motivation to be the best would have been even higher if I could have seen a woman receive acknowledgement for everything that men did. This is exactly how Hegerberg feels, hoping that this achievement will encourage young girls to follow their dreams.

“It’s incredible,” she said. “This is a great motivation to continue working hard and we will continue to work together to win more titles. I wanted to end with some words for young girls around the world: believe in yourselves.”

While many of the articles circling the media revolve around the controversial and considerably sexist twerking comment, this should not be the main takeaway. What is most important is that history has been made for women’s soccer, and it has been a long time coming. This moment was crucial towards increasing the level of recognition for women’s achievements in all sports and we cannot allow an ignorant comment to divert our attention. Yes, we still have work to do in terms of accepting the capabilities of female athletes and yes, we must stop the criticisms and comparisons to men. It is not about who is faster or who is stronger; it is about the hard work and dedication shown by these tremendous athletes. Instead of focusing on the hatred and jealousy that is still vocalized towards female athletes, we must revel in the fact that slowly, but surely, women are continuing to make their mark in the sports industry.  

I was recently introduced to Jen Welter as I waited (impatiently) for guest speakers to be announced for a Women’s Conference in New York and was intrigued by the image of this speaker who was holding a football helmet and wearing an Arizona Cardinals jersey.

Not only was she the first positional coach in a men’s professional football league and the first female coach in the NFL, she was also the first female linebacker to ever be signed with a professional men’s football team and she has two gold medals after competing for Team USA in 2010 and 2013 at the International Federation of American Football’s Women’s World Championships. And still most people know very little about the sports doctor plowing through glass ceilings and taking a male-dominated sport by storm.  

The 40-year-old Florida native started her professional athletic career at Boston College, where she began playing women’s rugby. In a video produced by the NLF network, Welter says that while at Boston University she fell in love – “not [with] a boy, but with a sport”. And that sport is football – a sport she’s grown up with, a sport she’s been told she won’t ever play, a sport she refuses to stop playing.

In 2001 she joined the Massachusetts Mutiny women’s football team and then spent the next ten years playing for the Dallas Diamonds until 2012. During the summer of 2010, she competed in her first IFAF Women’s World Championship, winning her first gold medal with the US national women’s football team. She would go on to win another gold medal with the US national team in 2013.

The next year, Welter would break through the doors of one of the most male-dominated sports in the world. In the 2014 postseason, Jen Welter tried out for the Texas Revolution, a men’s professional football team. On January 24^th, she was signed as the first female running back on a men’s professional football team. She was only the second female player in the league. In signing with the Texas Revolution, Welter became the first female player in football to play a “contact” position, and second in all sports, after hockey player Hayley Wickenheiser. Not only was she showing the world that women can play in men’s leagues, but she proved that women are fully capable of handling the same contact and force as men.

After a year of breaking through the glass ceilings of men’s professional football, Welter set her eyes on the highest calibre of play in football: the National Football League.

On July 27^th, 2015 the Arizona Cardinals, coming off a 11-5 season, announced Dr. Jen Welter would be the assistant coaching intern for the 2015-16 training camp and pre-season. She stayed with the team until regular season, carrying them through the pre-season with a 3-0 record. The biggest concern bringing her on as a coach was whether the players would respond to her and therein lies her greatest victory. Dr. Welter’s success not only represents a willingness for superior, skilled coaches – regardless of gender – but represents that male players can and will respond well to a female coach, especially one who has unparalleled experience and success in the sport.

I grew up around football; it was one of the first sports I learned to play, when it was football season there was always a game on TV at my house, we used to play all the time at recess in middle school, my brother played, and my dad coached for years. I remember going to all my brother’s and my dad’s games and I only saw one girl playing on their team. I remember asking if I could play, I remember my little sister asking if she could play and the answer was always the same: football’s too rough.

Jen Welter, standing at 5’2, 130 pounds, proved to the world that football isn’t too rough for women. She proved that women can be more knowledgeable in a sport. She proved that women can coach professional leagues with the same success as men.

She carries that positivity and message now to younger generations through her football camps and motivational speaking. Her goal is to empower young girls to “play BIG, dream bigger and provide the game plan to turn their dreams into a reality.” Her success as a player, as a coach and as a woman give all football-loving girls and women hope that one day, the sport will become more equal towards female players.

*Featured photo courtesy of HERWORLD Energy Forum.

Aggression has always been a key feature in sports, not only physically but emotionally as well. The ability to lose control of emotions during a game is unfortunately a skill that female athletes have yet to acquire in their move towards masculine sports – better yet, it’s a skill they’ve not been allowed to acquire. Male athletes can get fired up and verbally attack referees, men can yell at their TVs or scream expletives from the crowd after a bad call, male coaches can storm onto the field in a rage – but their female counterparts, not so much. Women are required to accept tough, sometimes even unfair calls with grace; female fans need to “calm down, don’t get so emotional it’s just a game”; female coaches need to be an example of composure for the other female players, so she says nothing, argues nothing and moves on. That’s what’s expected of women in sports: silence, complacency and calm.

Courtesy of MailOnline.

Aggression in women is constantly seen as overly emotional, hysterical and uncontrollable, while men are just “passionate about sports”; to see aggression or anger in women is seen by society as neither appropriate, nor expected (Thing, 2001). This blatant double standard was in the global spotlight a few months ago at the US Open Tennis Tournament when Serena Williams was infamously dubbed hysterical and docked points in the final match for comments towards the referee. Williams was first penalized for “coaching” as the ref stated that her coach was giving hand signals from the crowd. Losing her temper, she then smashed her racket on the ground and approached the referee, calling him a thief before he penalized her further for both the racket and her comments. In comparison, tennis has been riddled with male anti-heroes of the sport who lose their temper, smash their rackets and swear excessively at refs. Tennis greats like Roger Federer, John McEnroe and Novak Djokovic are known for outbursts on the pitch, smashing their rackets and accosting referees – so much so that there are compilation videos of their tantrums on YouTube – yet, they are praised for their passion and drive to win.

Novak Djokovic smashes and breaks his tennis racket during a match. Credit: Getty Images.

These double standards between the behaviour of men and women unfortunately exist across all sports.  At the 2016 Rio Olympics, goalkeeper for the US Women’s Soccer team, Hope Solo, was suspended and eventually cut from the USWNT after making comments about the Swedish national team, who defeated the USWNT in the semi-final game. US Soccer and the Olympic Committee deemed her comments to be unprofessional, unsportsmanlike and not in keeping with Olympic values. At the same time, Ryan Lochte falsely claimed he had been robbed at gunpoint while on a night out in Rio during the games, a claim he later admitted to being made up to hide his involvement in the vandalization of public property. This stunt, which most would say falls in the category of “not in keeping with Olympic values” resulted in a 10-month suspension, after which he could return back to the US Olympic Swimming Team. Regardless of criminal charges against him in Rio, the Olympic Committee allowed him to return to competitive swimming, while Solo’s professional soccer career was cut short because of comments made in the moments after a game.

The sports industry openly accepts abhorrent behaviour from their male athletes because they can market them as “bad boys” of the athletic world while even the slightest toe out of line could be career-ending for female stars.  These stark behavioural differences have harsh consequences on endorsement deals as well. The business of sports sponsorship and endorsements is yet another area where women are largely underrepresented, and the few female sports endorsements are constantly threatened by behaviour and public perception. Sponsorship is heavily impacted attractiveness and marketability of female athletes; men can be sold as the good guy, the bad guy or anything in between. It is women who have to be incredible athletes, attractive and squeaky-clean to attract endorsements. Research has shown that the key factors for men gaining endorsement deals is their skill and performance, whereas women are judged on skill, attractiveness and physical appearance. Further, while male athletes have gained fame and sponsorship by embracing the “rogue hero” or “loveable bad boy” trope as the fearless, brave athlete, women have no female equivalent to this persona and studies suggest that a “bad girl” appearance would be more damaging than productive to female athletes.

Courtesy of Vimeo and bobarke.com.

For young female athletes watching the sports industry, the inconvenient truth can be discouraging. Having to watch favorite female players endure sexism, harassment and objectification to succeed in their sport while male athletes seem inherently born to dominate the industry with ease directs young girls to give up on their dreams of being a professional athlete. For future generations of star athletes, we – women and men – need to change the perception of women in sports; we need to allow them to be emotional and angry in the same ways as men. We need to allow them to be strong, powerful and assertive without calling them “bitchy” or “rude”. We need to support their endorsements and ensure that big brands know we stand behind them for their skill, performance and strength, not because they can play tennis is a skirt with makeup on. We need to equalize the standards of sports so that men and women are judged the same and held to the same standards of play, of sportsmanship and of behaviour.

*Featured photo courtesy of artpictures.club.

In 2010, history was made when Angela James and Cammi Granato were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Not a single woman had been a member prior and this was only eight years ago. The current decade has been characterized by progress in finally including and recognizing the accomplishments and contributions of women in hockey.

Since James and Granato’s respective inductions, Geraldine Heaney was added in 2013, Angela Ruggiero in 2015, Danielle Goyette in 2017, and Jayna Hefford most recently in 2018. It’s still not where it should be, and far behind schedule to begin with, but there are noticeable changes occurring and it’s for the betterment of the game.

Another milestone is the addition of Cassie Campbell-Pascall to the Hockey Hall of Fame’s selection committee, which had previously consisted of men for its entire existence. There is a dire need for more diversity in hockey, especially in more powerful roles, and Campbell-Pascall’s new position is a way of beginning this diversification.

It’s likely inevitable based on her resume, but the fact she isn’t already a Hall of Fame inductee is baffling. She’s one of very few people in the sport who’s worthy of both the player and builder categories, captaining Canada to two Olympic gold medals and establishing an excellent broadcasting career following her retirement as a player.

Hayley Wickenheiser also made headlines when, this past August, she was hired as the assistant director of player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Similar to Campbell-Pascall’s role with the Hockey Hall of Fame, Wickenheiser’s hiring contributes to diversifying the game and exposing hockey to a wider range of perspectives.

At the top of next year’s list for the Hockey Hall of Fame’s induction ceremony should, undoubtedly, be Wickenheiser. As one of the greatest players in the game’s history, Wickenheiser was a member of the Canadian Olympic team in four gold medal victories and is the all-time leading scorer in Olympic women’s hockey with 51 points in 26 games.

With the presence of two professional women’s hockey leagues in North America, girls and young women have access to more representation within the sport than in the past. Whether they aspire to play, coach or manage a team, or become a broadcaster, there has been an increase in hockey role models and this is crucial for growing the game.

While it’s great to start seeing the transition to a more inclusive sport, now is not the time to become complacent. This progression is still in its infancy and there’s still a lot of changes that need to be made. Not only does the game need to honour achievements of women in hockey’s past, but the present and future also need to be taken care of.

Growing up I was always aware of my love for playing sports, but when it was time to apply for university, I understood my passion and skill for writing. As a professional writing major, I am constantly being exposed to many different styles of writing; the most interesting and fulfilling to me is journalism. I’ve taken many classes related to journalism ethics, but something they don’t teach in school is sexual harassment in the workplace. I would love to pursue a possible career in sports journalism, however as a woman there is the knowledge I will be treated differently.

After the #MeToo movement went viral on social media, a light shone on people who have been sexually harassed or abused by infamous celebrities. It got me thinking about other groups may still be underrepresented in the media, even about such a pressing issue; specifically female sports journalists and reporters. After researching incidents of sexual harassment in the media, I found a significant amount of stories. It was alarming, as I had never heard of any of these events. Even I, someone who is interested in these topics, was not exposed to the stories. This needs to change, and there is a group of Brazilian reporters who feel the same way.

In Rio de Janeiro in March of 2018, Brazilian journalist Bruna Dealtry was covering the events of a soccer tournament which took place in San Juanario Stadium. The atmosphere was buzzing as Dealtry began speaking on live television, when suddenly a shirtless, male fan kissed her on the lips. While she was visibly uncomfortable with the incident, she remained cool and collected. As most people would suspect a woman to stay quiet about such shocking actions, Dealtry instead took to Facebook to voice her opinion. Included in her post is an excerpt from the live broadcast.

There have been many other inappropriate incidents similar to this one in 2018 including harassment at the World Cup in Russia this past summer. One video in particular shows Colombian reporter Julieth Gonzalez Theran being groped and kissed on the cheek by a male fan. Again, the discomfort is apparent, but these women are forced to ignore the behavior from the fans and continue the broadcast.

A DW reporter was sexually harassed while covering the #WorldCup. @JULIETHCGT was kissed, groped by a man while reporting from Moscow.

The incident can be seen here (00:13).

Sexual harassment is not okay. It needs to stop. In football, and elsewhere.pic.twitter.com/O0S1a1F4Es

— DW Sports (@dw_sports) June 20, 2018

However, despite the terrible act, Gonzalez Theran wished to move on and educate people on the issue, as do many others who have been affected.

“I refuse to be a victim,” she told the man who grabbed her. On her Twitter account following the event she wrote:

“The violent act of a fan is sad, but what is even worse is the reaction of those who do not see it as harassment.”

 
These issues have gone unchallenged for too long and a group of 52 female Brazilian sports reporters have decided enough is enough.

#DeixaElaTrabalhar: A #MeToo Movement for Female Sports Reporters

The hashtag, #DeixaElaTrabalhar (in Portuguese) translating to “Let Her Work” has been the slogan of the campaign, which began after Dealtry’s Facebook post went viral. The group started off small with only eight women who formed a WhatsApp messaging group after coming together through Dealtry’s post. After only two weeks, the group grew to 52 members who decided to create a campaign video highlighting their own experiences with harassment on the job.

#deixaelatrabalhar pic.twitter.com/jlw0pQz9a2

— #Deixaelatrabalhar (@deixaelatrab) March 25, 2018

Another member of the group and columnist for ESPNW, Bibiana Bolson, spoke to many news outlets, including BBC and The Guardian, hoping to further spread the message on a global scale. Bolson herself has had experiences with sexual harassment in the workplace, including receiving hateful messages — specifically ones about rape. Buzzfeed News asked Bolson about harassment in sports environments and she stated that is it extremely “common” (Buzzfeed News 2018). She expresses:

“We figured out that most of us had the same story. Every single day we have to handle the jokes, the comments, even the decisions that sometimes are not taking based on meritocracy, but with a little bit of sexism. It’s important that we feel safe in stadiums, working with sports fans’ support, and we want more legal support about it”

Female Underrepresentation and Society’s Lack of Accountability

During my time studying aspects of journalism at university, I have been made aware of the significant sexism and large underrepresentation of women in news and sports workplaces. There is a small amount of women in any workplace in comparison to men, but society pressures us to believe sports are meant for men. Many people still do not view women as individuals with sport knowledge and therefore take to mansplaining or shaming. Even women who have established their career path as a sports journalist/reporter and proved they have just as much knowledge as their male colleagues are continuously doubted. A presentation done by Professor Tammy Crawford from WSU discussed shocking statistics of women in sport media.

As of 2014, 90 per cent of editorial roles, 90 per cent of assistant editorial roles, 88 percent of columnists…are men (The Daily Evergreen 2017).

 
It is perplexing that in 2018, these statistics have barely changed. As if being the minority in the sports world isn’t enough, female reporters and journalists are constantly being subjected to sexism and brash comments. Often times when I’m scrolling through Instagram and Twitter, I come across posts about female sports news. It sickens me to read comments like “Go back to the kitchen” or “That’s an interesting way to make a sandwich.” Whether it’s athletes or reporters, too many women are being abused verbally and physically.

What’s even worse than the ongoing attacks on women in sports media is the lack of accountability of our society towards education of sexual harassment. More simplistically, there are too many people who are completely unaware or just plain ignorant on the many variations of sexual harassment. It is also very common for many South Americans to kiss a friend or family member on the cheek as a greeting, but we must consider the context. Giving your mother a kiss on the cheek to say hello is not equal to kissing a stranger on the lips without their consent. Bruna Dealtry spoke to CNN about the normalization of harassment stating,

“We’ve been experiencing sexism and harassment in our society for a long time and tolerating it because it was considered normal.”

 
The campaign sets out to change the world’s understanding of women in sports media positions. The people who have become a part of this movement want people to allow women — not just in journalism, but in all workplaces — to let them do their jobs. There is no reason why women should not be treated in the same professional manner as men.

It is expected that fans will celebrate during sports and show their passion and love for their teams. However, there are many ways to show this such as through cheers or chants with other fans, rather than harassing the reporters.

Hope for a better future has been solidified as the outreach of the campaign has already been substantial. There have been hundreds of thousands of tweets and posts, and many global news outlets have shared different perspectives. But we can’t stop here. It is crucial to take major steps as a society to end the unfair treatment of women in professional work environments. We must continue educating people on sexual harassment and break sexism for good. For the sake of the young women who dream of working in the sports world, it is finally time we stand up and fight.