For years, women have been portrayed as lesser athletes than men. They are considered weaker, more vulnerable, more emotional and are often sexualized in the media. It has been proven that women continue to be overshadowed by men in terms of fame, popularity, money, television contracts, and more. According to a study by USC and Purdue University, 95 percent of all TV sports coverage within the US was on men’s sports, whereas only 5 percent was allocated to women. Despite female athletic achievements in the sports world, they still have to overcome the presence of their male counterparts.

Women’s basketball player, Caitlin Clark from the University of Iowa, is considered the best women's college basketball player. According to ESPN, she is the first player in NCAA Division One history to have 900 points and 300 assists in a single season; every National Player of the Year award also went to Clark. She has gained lots of traction for her achievements, but the amount of positive attention from sports media she receives is still extremely unusual, especially for a women's basketball player. Despite her popularity, this still doesn’t give her the same benefits that male athletes receive. This can be seen through Bronny James, a men’s basketball player at the University of Southern California. Although Bronny is not in the top 100 best men's college basketball players, he as a freshman gets better NIL deals than the senior Caitlin Clark.

Another example of this is the US Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) versus the US Men’s National Soccer Team (USMNT). Over the years, the USWNT has been more successful than the USMNT, yet they get much less money and recognition than the men do. The USWNT has won the World Cup four times, whereas the USMNT has never won a single World Cup. According to ESPN, the men earn 2.5 million dollars just for qualifying for the World Cup while the women only earn $750,000 for doing that same thing. Compared to men, women’s players don’t get nearly as much exposure when they’re not playing on the national team. Male players are able to get larger TV contracts and fame through Major League Soccer, the Premier League and other professional soccer leagues. Samo’s Varsity Girls’ Soccer Captain Josie Schwartz (’24) shares her opinions on this issue.

“As a girl who has played soccer her entire life, I have felt and noticed the lack of appreciation that women in sports receive,” Schwartz said. “The USWNT is a great example as they are constantly overlooked, even though they are more successful than the men’s team.”

The achievements of women in the sports world are continuously overshadowed by the achievements of their male counterparts. Male athletes will get much more recognition for doing the same or even less than female athletes. There is much controversy among women in sports, but it can be seen that in general, they receive way less attention.

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