It seems a common theme that has been coming up in my life lately is that women do not have interests in athletics. Over Thanksgiving break, a guy friend of mine from high school admitted to me that he used to ignore whatever I had to say when it came to sports because I am a girl. Now, he continuously seeks my advice when it comes to whom to start in his fantasy line up.
The other week, a classmate gave a presentation on Title IX. The classmate was focusing on the unintended consequences of Title IX, like when athletic departments eliminate non-revenue men’s teams to become more compliant. However, he also added in his presentation that men have more of an interest in sports than women.
Having just written a blog about this topic recently, the timing couldn’t be more perfect. My eyes widened and my nostrils flared.
Even more perfect with the timing is that University of Minnesota’s Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport launched a #HeresProof campaign. This campaign is in preparation for their documentary “Media Coverage and Female Athletics.” According to the Tucker Center, 40% of all sports participants are females, however women’s sports only receive 2-4% of all media coverage. The purpose of the campaign and documentary is to show that there is in fact an interest in women’s athletics. The Tucker Center website airs dates that you can watch the documentary.
Although my problem recently has been with the fact that people ignore that women are interested in sports, the Tucker Center brings up another important issue.
The University of Minnesota’s women’s hockey team won 62 straight games that included 2 NCAA National Championships. Unfortunately, those national championships were not aired on television because the NCAA and the Big Ten Network could not reach an agreement. HELLO! The Gophers were about to make HISTORY! I think you can reach an agreement…
Enough of my rant. As you can tell, with this blog and my last blog, the struggle for women’s interest in athletics being appreciated is real.
Anyway, this was my final blog post for y’all as I will be graduating this December. I hope you enjoyed learning some information about women in athletics and continue to learn more when I leave.
Now, I am going to go have a heart attack while I watch my Dolphins play our bitter rival, the Jets.
University of Minnesota Women's Center Blog 