How do I fit in? This is a question I am constantly asking myself about where I fit in to the stereotypes in today’s society. As a woman, I’m “supposed” to wear dresses, love the color pink and shop constantly. But I don’t. I love my jeans, my favorite color is green, and I love to watch baseball.
Women are often viewed as inferior to men when it comes to the world of sports. When someone has a question about sports, the typical first response is to ask one of the boys, not one of the girls. And even in today’s culture, which is ever-changing, women are still not seen as professionals working in sports
And the stereotype doesn’t just affect professional sports. Out of the 20 varsity sports offered at Roberson, 16 are coached only by men, and three are coached only by women. That leaves only one varsity sport that is coached by both a male and female. Girls teams like tennis, cross country and soccer are all coached by men, but there are no male teams coached by females only.
Slowly, more professional teams are starting to have some change. But it is slow and unusual. And if it is slow at the pro level, how long will it take for that mindset to reach the world of high school sports?
For nearly 100 years, the NFL has used male-only groups of commentators with mixed hosting groups coming on the scene just a few years ago. It was not until Sept. 28 of this year that there was an all-female broadcast team was used to call an NFL ‘Thursday Night Football’ game.
Andrea Kremer and Hannah Storm changed the sports broadcasting world just weeks ago. Kremer and Storm were a part of the first all-female broadcast team for the game against the St. Louis Rams and Minnesota Vikings. This broadcast however, was only available for Amazon Prime users, but according to Melissa Jacobs, the NFL Editor of Sports Illustrator, it was hard to find.
With the positive comments came a lot negative and Storm fought back about these comment in an interview with Morning Edition.
“I think it’s extremely myopic to think that….. the NFL or really any sport is only for men,” Storm said.
I feel that it is very moronic for anyone to say that women can’t do sports commentating or broadcastinging. It is like saying men can’t cook, clean or be a good parent. The disrespect and stereotypes does not stop at the review, but continues in the google searches.
When I search “Female Sports Commentators ESPN” multiple articles and videos titled ‘Top 10 Hottest ESPN Female Anchors,’ come up, but when I replace the word female with male I get different results. There are no videos on the first page of results. Rather, articles titled ‘The Best Sports Personalities on ESPN’ and ‘25 Greatest SportsCenter Anchors in ESPN History’ come up, Why is that?
As we have stepped a few feet forward with women in the sports world, there is still miles to go. Girls do not be afraid to call the plays at the football games and boys do not be afraid cheer on the sidelines. How do I fit in? Actually better than I thought because I get to decide how I fit in. There already plans of action in place to help me better to fit into the puzzle, but the more people working, the faster it can be completed.
Women are often viewed as inferior to men when it comes to the world of sports. When someone has a question about sports, the typical first response is to ask one of the boys, not one of the girls. And even in today’s culture, which is ever-changing, women are still not seen as professionals working in sports
And the stereotype doesn’t just affect professional sports. Out of the 20 varsity sports offered at Roberson, 16 are coached only by men, and three are coached only by women. That leaves only one varsity sport that is coached by both a male and female. Girls teams like tennis, cross country and soccer are all coached by men, but there are no male teams coached by females only.
Slowly, more professional teams are starting to have some change. But it is slow and unusual. And if it is slow at the pro level, how long will it take for that mindset to reach the world of high school sports?
For nearly 100 years, the NFL has used male-only groups of commentators with mixed hosting groups coming on the scene just a few years ago. It was not until Sept. 28 of this year that there was an all-female broadcast team was used to call an NFL ‘Thursday Night Football’ game.
Andrea Kremer and Hannah Storm changed the sports broadcasting world just weeks ago. Kremer and Storm were a part of the first all-female broadcast team for the game against the St. Louis Rams and Minnesota Vikings. This broadcast however, was only available for Amazon Prime users, but according to Melissa Jacobs, the NFL Editor of Sports Illustrator, it was hard to find.
With the positive comments came a lot negative and Storm fought back about these comment in an interview with Morning Edition.
“I think it’s extremely myopic to think that….. the NFL or really any sport is only for men,” Storm said.
I feel that it is very moronic for anyone to say that women can’t do sports commentating or broadcastinging. It is like saying men can’t cook, clean or be a good parent. The disrespect and stereotypes does not stop at the review, but continues in the google searches.
When I search “Female Sports Commentators ESPN” multiple articles and videos titled ‘Top 10 Hottest ESPN Female Anchors,’ come up, but when I replace the word female with male I get different results. There are no videos on the first page of results. Rather, articles titled ‘The Best Sports Personalities on ESPN’ and ‘25 Greatest SportsCenter Anchors in ESPN History’ come up, Why is that?
As we have stepped a few feet forward with women in the sports world, there is still miles to go. Girls do not be afraid to call the plays at the football games and boys do not be afraid cheer on the sidelines. How do I fit in? Actually better than I thought because I get to decide how I fit in. There already plans of action in place to help me better to fit into the puzzle, but the more people working, the faster it can be completed.